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Yueyang Tower (World Wonder)

Yueyang Tower is located on the shore of Dongting Lake, south of the Yangtze River. Yueyang Tower was praised for its grand and elegant structure, its helmet-shaped roof lined with vivid-colored tiles, and its breathtaking scenery. As the saying goes, "Dongting is the best water of All under Heaven, and Yueyang is the best tower of All under Heaven". Yueyang Tower was originally built by Lu Su during the Three Kingdoms Period as a military watchtower, to supervise the navy training in Dongting Lake. Over time, it gradually lost its military function. Due to its proximity to the Yangtze River and the Dongting Lake, Yueyang Tower was easily accessible by land and water. Added with the scenic beauty, many literati had climbed the tower and wrote write poems on their journey from the north to the south (indeed, quite a few of them were forced to travel as they were demoted to the southern part of the country). During the Northern Song Dynasty, Teng Zongliang (also known as Teng Zijing) was demoted to Yue Province as a victim of smear tactics, and he rebuilt Yueyang Mansion and constructed the Yanhong Waterworks. After the restoration of Yueyang Tower, he wrote a letter to his friend Fan Zhongyan, and asked the latter to write a passge for the commemorating the event. Fan Zhongyan wrote the masterpiece “Memorial to Yueyang Tower”. The famous quote “be the first to worry about the affairs of the state, and be the last to enjoy oneself” came from this passage, and was considered an exemplar of the Chinese scholar-bureacrats' ideals to serve the society.



Supports English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese and Japanese.


Credits
Special thanks to IthildinX and MC100 for importing the model.