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Stone Drum Town

On the mountain at the First Bend of the Yangtze River stands Stone Drum (Shigu) Town. This ancient town is named after a drum-shaped marble plaque. Built during the Jiaqing era (1548-1561) of the Ming Dynasty, the stone drum is a monument commemorating the victory of Lijiang's Naxi ruler over an invading Tibetan army. It is one point five meters (five feet) in diameter and zero point five meters (two feet) in thickness. The stone drum has an obvious vestige of what appears to be a "rip" in it. It is said that the stone drum would rupture prior to any war and then fold when peace returned.

 
Throughout time, Stone Drum Town was always a significant and vitally strategic military area where many famous historical events have been taken place. It was here that Zhuge Liang, the famous and highly acclaimed military strategist of the Three Kingdoms Period, chose to cross the Yangtze River and gain "battle advantage" over his opponents. The first emperor of the Yuan Dynasty, Kublai Khan, used this place for his expeditionary forces to ferry across the river in 1253 A.D. in his conquest of Yunnan. In April 1936, the Second Route of the Red Army, led by General He Long and Ren Bishi, crossed the river here and continued to march north. There are memorials here honoring the people whose histories are entwined with the Stone Drum Town.

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