Jiuhua Mountain

   

Tiantai Temple on Jiuhua Mountain.

    Jiuhua Mountain in Chizhou City is one of China's four main Buddhist sanctuaries. Its nine peaks inspired the mountain's original name Jiuzi, meaning nine masters. Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai was so captivated by the lotus-like alignment of its graceful peaks that he immortalized them in the lines: "The mountain of gods comes into blossom." The mountain has since been called Jiuhua, meaning nine flowers.

    The view from any point on the mountain presents vistas of steep ridges cloaked in mist, densely embowered abysmal rifts, gurgling brooks and strangely shaped rocks. The mountain bears 1,000 inscriptions by personages of past millennia. People say that each of its rocks has been trodden by at least one historical figure.

    Clusters of monasteries sequestered in the mountain folds emit the chime of temple bells and the rhythmic hum of prayer chants. At its peak Jiuhua was site of 300 to 400 Buddhist shrines, and received more pilgrims than any other of China's four Buddhist retreats. Today, 99 temples still stand on Jiuhua, each with its hoard of cultural relics such as mantra transcripts from past dynasties, imperial edicts and emperors' inscriptions.

    Jiuhua's nexus with Buddhism began with Kim Kyo Gak, Prince of Silla (a kingdom in the Korean Peninsula from 57 BC to AD 935) and the incarnation of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva. Born in 696, Kim Kyo Gak was an intelligent, diligent child who grew to be a young man of unique looks. Disdaining the sensual pleasures and power struggles of his peers, Kim Kyo Gak buried himself in Buddhist study. At age 24 he and his dog boarded a boat and six months later arrived in the Tang Empire.

    Kim Kyo Gak traveled through beautiful mountains and rivers throughout China before coming to Jiuhua. He met in a village on the northern slope of the mountain a generous elder named Wu Yongzhi, who provided him with room and board and introduced him to Min, owner of Jiuhua. When Kim Kyo Gak implored of Min a piece of land the size of his robe on which to build a shelter, Min agreed, saying: "Choose which ever part you want." Kim Kyo Gak threw his robe into the air, and it expanded to cover the whole mountain. Overwhelmed at this display of magic, Min prostrated himself before the monk, offering him the whole mountain and his own son as an attendant. Min converted to Buddhism soon after. Today, statues of Min and his son, known as Monk Daoming, often flank the deity Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

    At the time it was endowed upon Kim Kyo Gak, Jiuhua was a sheer wilderness. After making a detailed survey of the mountain he eventually settled in a south-facing cave. To test his will, the guardian of the mountain sent serpents to assault Kim Kyo Gad as he meditated, but the young monk stood his ground.

    In 794, Kim Kyo Gak turned 99. On the 30th day of the seventh month of the lunar calendar he summoned his disciples and bid them: "Please see me off. I am taking a rough trip on a dharma vehicle," and thereupon entered nirvana. At the moment a wailing cascade of rocks tumbled down the mountain, and the temple bell fell, mute, to the ground. Kim Kyo Gag's body was placed in a stone case in a sitting position. When, three years later, the coffin was reopened, his body appeared alive and made metallic sounds when tapped. This convinced local monks that Kim Kyo Gak was an incarnation of the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva.

    Jiuhua's mystical aura has been reinforced by 14 more instances of uncorrupted remains of senior monks and nuns. Various explanations, scientific and religious, have been raised for this unaccountable phenomenon, but none are conclusive.

    Jiuhua's sights, in addition to its peaks and rivers, include a sea of clouds, glorious sunrises, and rimes. Full enjoyment of everything the mountain has to offer takes days, if not weeks.

Yellow Mountain (Mount Huang)

    Originally named Yishan, Yellow Mountain was so named after the Yellow Emperor, legendary forefather of the Chinese people, who is said to have ascended to heaven from its summit. The mountain has provided inspiration for painters and writers for centuries, and is the subject of many artistic masterpieces. Xu Xiake (1586-1641), a Ming geographer and adventurer, accorded to Yellow Mountain the accolade that it outdid in beauty all others in the nation, including the five sacred mountains of Mount Heng, Mount Tai, Mount Hua, Mount Song and Mount Heng.

    A UNESCO world natural and cultural heritage site and a world geo-park, the Yellow Mountain offers a kaleidoscope of fascinating sights year round that have dumbfounded the most eloquent of essayists and thrilled the most seasoned of travelers.

Yixian County

Hongcun Village.

    Xidi and Hongcun villages, two world cultural heritage sites, are in Yixian County on the southern slopes of the Yellow Mountain. More than 3,700 well preserved Ming and Qing dynasty buildings stand in the hundreds of historical hamlets in the area.

    Large villages in Yixian are generally the habitat of one clan. For instance, residents of Xidi Village are of the Hu clan, and those in Hongcun Village of the Wang family. Many families took refuge in Yixian during frequent warring periods. Scant farmland in the mountainous county was insufficient to support the influx of immigrants, and many locals left home as young as 12 or 13 to seek their fortunes in other parts of the country, or even abroad. They constituted the crusading vanguard of business-savvy Anhui merchants who have carved themselves a niche in China's commercial history.

    These commercial adventurers seldom returned home but often sent funds to their families, bidding them build palatial houses to bring honor on the family and pay tribute to their ancestors.

    Civil buildings in Yixian have uniform whitewashed walls and dark-tiled roofs. This color scheme is a remnant of feudal times, when the common people were forbidden to decorate their homes in colorful patterns or designs. These peaceful communities of black and white residences provide a perfect foil for their exotic surroundings of verdant mountains and clear rivers.

    Local buildings are distinct for windowless, rugged-topped sidewalls that tower above the roof ridge. Although effective as firewalls and thief deterrents, they also block out sunlight and ventilation. Patios consequently became a feature of Yixian residences, the sky above them often the only hint to high-born women confined to quarters under feudal regimes, and elderly wives of Yixian businessmen perennially alone at home, off the bigger world beyond.

    Anhui people traditionally give utmost priority to children's education, as apparent in the folk maxim "Having a child without schooling is no better than keeping a pig" that, among other couplets, commonly adorns local homes. There are more than 1,000 ancient couplet inscriptions in Yixian, mostly themed on frugality, diligence, filial piety and leniency. They represent the local core values upheld for generations.

    Hongcun Village is one of the few communities in China arranged along an artificial water system. All its houses stand by ditches or springs that intertwine into a labyrinth. Seen from above, the village resembles a cow, its head a mound, its horns the woods, its body the conglomeration of buildings and its legs the village's four bridges.

Shexian County

    Shexian County, when known by its original named of Huizhou, was a political, cultural and financial center in the region. Millennium-old Huizhou City, its age-old bridges, towers, pavements and archways largely intact, stands in the county's downtown area. Stone archways are a feature of Anhui architecture. That archway to commemorate Xu Guo (1527-1596), a Shexian native and scholar-turned official of the Ming Dynasty, is distinct for its tower-like structure. The archway is made of large chunks of stone weighing as much as four to five tons each. Each surface bears complicated carved patterns of auspicious connotation.

    The Xin'an River traversing Shexian has been compared to a continuous gallery of landscape paintings. The view along it is of rolling mountain ranges, sporadic cottages, mills and orchards which, juxtaposed against the river scenery, resembles a series of picture postcards.

Jixi County

Zhangshan Mountain.

    Jixi, a county 1,126 sq km in area, has a history of 1,470 years and a population of 180,000. A 40-minute drive from the Xin'anjiang Scenic Area, it is the cradle of Anhui cuisine and ancestral home to many noted figures. Hu Xueyan, a Qing Dynasty legendary magnate whose rags-to-riches story has inspired many books and dramas, is one.

    The Hu family lived in Longchuan Village, 12 km from downtown Jixi. Nestling between the Dragon Peak to the east, Phoenix Peak to the west, the Dengyuan River to the north and Heavenly Horse Mountain to the south, the village occupies a propitious geomantic site. Locals attribute the Hu family prosperity to the village's auspicious location. A dozen Hu family members held senior government positions over dynasties. Many more won academic laurels by passing the regional and national imperial exams. Of the 14 archways in their honor, those built in 1562 in tribute to Ming Dynasty ministers Hu Fu and Hu Zongxian are the only two still standing. The village entrance is a showcase of classical Anhui stone carving.

    The ancestral temple is the centerpiece of any old village. The Hu family ancestral temple was built in the Song Dynasty (960-1279), and expanded during the reign of Ming Emperor Jiajing (1507-1566). The tablet hanging in the main temple hall bears the personal inscription of Prince Guangze, uncle of Emperor Jiajing, dated 1547.

    The temple houses a splendid display of rock and stone carvings, as well as paintings, and contains 600 enchased woodcarvings. Forty-eight of the original 100 panels ornamented with floral patterns, for instance the finely chiseled lotus blossoms and depictions of aquatic life and fowl on 20 compartment panels, remain. No two carved lotus leaves are the same. Some droop under the scorching sun, some bow to wind and rain, others furl at the tip in the dawn chill. The components of each picture combine to express good wishes. For example, a lotus (he) and a crab (xie) also mean hexie, or harmony, in Chinese.

    The UN-endorsed Zhangshan Mountain Grand Canyon eco-demonstration region is 10 km from Longchuan Village. Zhangshan was the demarcation line between the feuding Wu and Yue kingdoms during the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476 B.C.). The King of Yue annexed Wu through a famous sex-trap strategy. Xi Shi, its perpetrator, was one of the four great beauties in Chinese history. She and her son by the King of Wu fled to Zhangshan. The prince is said to be buried in the canyon.

    The ancient Anhui-Hangzhou trail trodden for thousands of years shimmers through the valley. Along it strode Wang Hua, leader of a peasant uprising in the Sui Dynasty (581-618), Hu Xueyan, a plutocrat with official title (a rare honor in imperial times, when merchants were traditionally disdained), and Hu Shi, renowned modern philosopher and writer. Their legacies are still cherished today.

    For lovers of scenic splendor and appreciators of living, as well as bygone history, Southern Anhui is a must place to go.