"Ancient and Modern Celebrities and Yunyang Mountain" Xu Xiake, a Ming Dynasty traveler, visited Yunyang Mountain (5)

On the 1th day of the first month in the tenth year of Chongzhen (1637), Xu Xiake, a great traveler in the Ming Dynasty, traveled from Qiaotou, Yongxin, Jiangxi Province (now in Sanbanqiao village, Lianhua County) along the southwest village road and entered Chaling via Jietouling for an eight-day tour.

During these eight days, Xu Xiake visited places of interest, such as Huangyixian, Yunshen Mountain, Lingyan Mountain, Yunyang Mountain, Qinren Cave, Shangqing Cave and Maye Cave, and recorded what he learned during his visit in Jiangyou Diary and Chuyou Diary, and included it in Chuyou Diary.

According to Xu Xiake's account, his eight-day trip was as follows:

On the tenth day of the first month, Xu Xiake temporarily changed his plan and "detoured" to visit the Xiandao Temple in Huanglu (in the territory of this town).

On the 11th, Xu Xiake changed his travel plan here. When the boat entered the Shi Cun section of today's Huotian Town, he left the boat and braved the wind and rain to explore Yunshen Temple on foot. Yunshen Temple, now called Luoyangshan Anzi. At that time, tigers were in trouble here. When he learned that he was going to Yunshen Temple in Yunshen Mountain, the enthusiastic drummer volunteered to be brave for him. They formed a small team of four people, holding torches and escorting Xu Xiake all the way to Yunshen Temple in the rain.

On the 12th, the north wind whistled, drizzled and the weather was cold. Xu Xiake disembarked from the south gate of Chaling Prefecture by boat at the mouth of Dongjiang River (that is, tea) and entered Chaling Prefecture. He originally planned to start from the West Gate (Ziweimen) and visit weizi and Yunyang Mountain to the west. On the way, he heard people say that there is a scenic spot of Chaling Lingyan fifteen miles south of could. So, I temporarily changed my plan for the third time, returned to the city to have breakfast, and then went down by boat from the south gate (not a mistake of "going upstream") to visit Lingyan.

Cheng Lushe

There are eight landscapes in Lingyan area, namely Guanyin phenomenon, Duishiyan, Biquan Rock, Fuhuyan, Liang Shi Rock, Huixianzhai and Xuetangyan, which Xu Xiake called "Eight Scenes of Lingyan". He narrated that among the eight scenic spots of Lingyan, the landscape around Liang Shi Rock is "the first among the eight scenic spots".

Photo by Cheng Lu

From 13th to 17th, Xu Xiake visited Yunyang Mountain, Qinren Cave, Luositan Cave, Shangqing Cave and Maye Cave at the western foot of Yunyang Mountain, covering Yunyang Mountain, Xiadong Street, Dongling Village in Zaoshi Town and Shuiyuan Village in Huju Town. The specific itinerary and tour situation are as follows:

On 13th, the weather remained the same, Xu Xiake returned to Chaling Prefecture by boat from Lingyan, and resumed his visit to Yunyang Mountain on 12th. On this day, Xu Xiake boarded Zhengyang Peak.

In Guanyin Temple, Xu Xiake asked Songyan, an old monk in the temple, about the way to climb Yunyang Mountain. Xu Xiake narrated that at first, because of dialect, he mistook "red pine" for "cave" in Songyan's narration, and when he came down from Yunyangxian to the red pine altar at the south foot, he discovered that the previously understood "cave altar" was wrong.

on 14th, trapped by the rain and snow, Xu Xiake was forced to cancel his plan to climb the summit of Ziwei Peak, the main peak of Yunyang Mountain, and went northwards from Chisongtan to curl up in Hongshan Temple to warm himself and wet his clothes.

on 15th, the weather still hasn't improved. Xu Xiake and Gu's servant braved the wind and snow to climb Ziwei Peak. Then, choose from the west slope. On the west slope, "the snow and ice are congested, the thorns are intertwined, and the steps are getting harder and harder." After two miles, there is no way to go ahead. Xu Xiake described that at that time, at the foot, "all the four concerns were cemented by freezing, and there was no way to move up and down." Probably I was deeply impressed by the trip to Yunshen Mountain. Seeing the hidden and thatched stones, Xu Xiake's master and servant suspected that it was a tiger. In a panic, climb straight to the top of the mountain where there is no direct road. In this way, Xu Xiake's master and servant climbed from the cliffs with the help of vine branches, and sometimes even fell straight down the rocks. In this regard, Xu Xiake humorously said that he "if Deng Ai falls flat under the cliff and rolls over the cliff, he will have all the skills, but he will be bare-handed and unable to wrap the felt." After walking five miles like this, I finally came to a place called Yaoli in the foothills. This is the western foot of Yunyang Mountain, and now it is in Dongling, Zaoshi Town.

On the morning of 16th, Xu Xiake asked a local named Duan in Dongling to be a guide, climbed Dongling, traveled several miles west to Qinren Cave, and visited the east and west caves of Qinren Cave successively. During lunch, people familiar with the road conditions said that what you saw in the morning was only the east entrance hole, not the west exit hole! Xu Xiake thinks this mistake is fortunate, which enables him to visit two caves. In the afternoon, Xu Xiake climbed mountains and mountains again and happily visited the west cave of Qinren Cave.

after breakfast on the 17th, Xu Xiake went north from Xin 'an, crossed Longtouling under the guidance of local people, and found Luositan and Shangqingtan in the north of Luositan.

After visiting the East Cave, Xu Xiake followed the western foot of the mountain and followed the water flowing out of the East Cave for three miles all the way to Maye Cave in Maye Bay, which is the west cave of the third cave of Qinren Cave. The local people pointed to Maye Cave and said to Xu Xiake, "There are monsters in it, and you can't take them unless you have magic." At first, everyone mistakenly thought that Xu Xiake was a "master" and was willing to be his guide. When Xu Xiake reported himself as a "Confucian", the guide was shocked and refused to enter the cave. Xu Xiake ventured into the cave with his servant fearlessly; The winding path in the cave leads to a secluded place, and the scenery is extraordinary. Unfortunately, there were not enough torches, so Xu Xiake couldn't swim all over the cave, so he had to climb out of the hole in a hurry before the torches burned out.

Source: Chaling Tourism

Copyright belongs to the original author, paying tribute to originality. Chaling (2) Xu Xiake (1) Yunyang (1)