This fairy land in southern Hunan, where Zhou Dunyi studied and enlightened, was praised as the first by Xu Xiake.

Speaking of Daoxian County, Hunan Province, many people may not have heard of it, but speaking of Zhou Dunyi, everyone who has read junior high school should know that there is an article "On Ailian" which has always been a classic in China ancient literature and must be memorized in Chinese textbooks.

Zhou Dunyi is a native of Daoxian County, Hunan Province, but he was also called Daozhou at that time, and he was also called the "Southern Four States" with Yongzhou, Chenzhou and Hengyang. This is an ancient city with a history of more than 2200 years. More than 600 years after Zhou Dunyi, in the Ming Dynasty, Jiangsu native Xu Xiake came to Daoxian County. He visited Zhou Dunyi's cave dwelling when he was a teenager, and wrote in Chu You Diary: "The scenery of Yongnanyan Temple is the first in Daozhou." More than 200 years later, Hong Xiuquan, a Cantonese, led 100,000 troops across Moon Rock and wrote a poem. What kind of scenic spot this is, generations have been so fascinated.

Yueyan, one of the eight scenic spots of the ancient road, is located in the south of Xiaoping Village, Qingtang Town, 20 kilometers west of Daoxian County, and about 10 kilometers away from Loutian Village, Zhou Dunyi's hometown. This is a large limestone cave under Dupangling.

Most scenic spots in Yongzhou are free, so is Moon Rock in Daoxian County. There is a small parking lot about 400 meters away from Moon Rock. After parking, you can walk from the wild stone road to Moon Rock.

As it rained incessantly that day, after visiting Lianxi's hometown, I have been thinking about whether to go to Moon Rock. When I arrived, I found that although the weather was bad and the photos were not ideal, it was still worth it. The key to such a scenic spot, which combines natural scenery and cultural attractions, is that it still preserves the most primitive form, surrounded by rolling mountains and large fields. Before reaching the Moon Rock, there were no roads or tourists except a parking lot.

Seen from a distance, the moon rock is a natural hole, but it is not just a simple hole. Moon Rock is a rare open cave, a big stone mountain with hollow top and abdomen. Nature is perfect and ingenious, and naturally forms two caves, East and West.

Most importantly, Moon Rock is not only a natural landscape, but also a sub-item of the national key cultural relics protection unit "Lianxi Hometown Ancient Architecture Complex", where 58 stone carvings have been preserved since the Song Dynasty.

When I entered the cave, I found a world inside. There is a day in the hole, and there is a hole in the hole. Judging from its shape, the moon rock should be a large-scale cave, with the top collapsing, leaving two holes in the east and west, with a bright blue sky in the middle.

The strangest thing is that from the west entrance, you can see the first quarter moon in the east, the full moon in the middle and the last quarter moon in the east entrance. So you can see the full moon here, and then the full moon, hence the name "Moon Rock".

Since Zhou Dunyi in the Northern Song Dynasty, Moon Rock has actually become a tourist attraction. Literati and scholars have come here to pay tribute to the place where Neo-Confucianism learned Taoism and enlightened. Nature left many inscriptions. This is the Cliff Stone Carving "The Last Quarter Moon" in the first year of Jiajing of Ming Dynasty in Cave (1522).

In the seventh year of Song Tiansheng (1029), 14-year-old Zhou Dunyi asked his parents for instructions. Accompanied by his servant Zhou Xing, Zhou Dunyi rushed to Yueyan with simple living luggage and books, and absorbed in reading and thinking with many incomprehensible questions.

Perhaps it is in the aura of nature that the boy feels that the moon moves when people move, and the moon is quiet when people are quiet, thus summing up the universal laws of movement, movement, profit and loss, yin and yang. Artest's Tai Chi Map overlaps with The Full Moon in My Heart and The Lost Moon, which made his later famous philosophical work Tai Chi Map.

The enlightenment of Yueyan's reading laid the foundation for Zhou Dunyi's later basic concepts of Neo-Confucianism, such as infinity, Tai Chi, Yin and Yang, five elements, movement, honesty, no desire and hue. This cave has also made a generation of great scholars and created a unique school for later generations.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand why so many literati came here after Zhou Dunyi. There is no doubt that this place can be called the holy land of Neo-Confucianism in Song and Ming Dynasties, and many students from later generations come here for pilgrimage.

Most of these cliff carvings, which have continued from the Song Dynasty to this day, praise the origin of Neo-Confucianism and the wonders of the moon.

After Zhou Dunyi studied here for more than 600 years, 1637, Amin Dynasty traveler Xu Xiake came to Hunan. He set out from Daozhou, visited Lianxi Temple (the former residence of Zhou Dunyi) and then went to Yueyan. He was attracted by the scenery of Moon Rock and stayed in Moon Rock for one night.

At that time, there were no temples and no families in Yueyan. How did Xu Xiake sleep? It is said that there are naturally formed "fairy beds" and "fairy accounts" in the cave. You can imagine how wonderful it is for Xu Xiake to lie on the moon of the earth and look at the moon in the sky. Later, he wrote in the Diary of Chu Ci: "The scenery of Yongnanyan Temple is the first in Daozhou." I can't express my praise for Moon Rock.

Xu Xiake spent more than 200 years after spending a night in Yueyan. Hong Xiuquan led an army through Yueyan. He wrote a poem: "100,000 soldiers crossed the state, traveled on the proud moon rock, rode horses in the clouds, and fought bullfights in mountains and rivers." The bonfire burns in the sky, and the sun and the moon shine on golden tiles. The natural scenery is endless, come back next year. " It's just that the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom was wiped out before he realized his wish of "visiting for another year".

Since 1029, 14-year-old Zhou Dunyi has been studying in Yueyan and gained enlightenment. For thousands of years, this place has become a place where later generations admire Confucianism, and the inscriptions are covered with cliffs hundreds of meters away from Moon Rock.

Being in the Moon Rock, you can not only feel the wonder of the full moon and the admiration of the cliff stone carvings, but also appreciate the unique cave outside the cave.

People have joys and sorrows, the moon is full of rain and shine, and the moon in Daozhou has remained unchanged for thousands of years, always maintaining its original posture.

Moon Rock in Daozhou, a scenic spot worth visiting, left behind the enlightenment of young Zhou Dunyi and the dream of old Xu Xiake, and also witnessed the arrogance of Hong Xiuquan in his prime. For thousands of years, it has been quietly hidden in the land of Sanxiang. When you are in the moon rock, it seems that time is staggered. Young Zhou Dunyi and old Xu Xiake have enjoyed here just like you.

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