Visit the West Lake cliff carvings: what did the ancients have in the circle of friends by the West Lake?

Hangzhou, March 3 (Chinanews.com) Question: Visiting the West Lake cliff carvings: What did the ancients have in the circle of friends by the West Lake?

Author Wang inscription

"This is the circle of friends sent by the ancients by the West Lake." Wei Zhuting said.

Wei Zhuting is the deputy director of the Wuyue National History and Culture Research Center of the Zhejiang Provincial Museum (preparation), and the curator of the "Hushan Yiyong - Hangzhou West Lake Cliff Inscription Extension Exhibition".

Recently, many people have come to Zhejiang West Lake Art Museum to see the circle of friends sent by the ancients by West Lake from more than 200 copies of West Lake cliff inscriptions.

Wei Zhuting told the author that there are more than 1000,<> inscriptions on the cliffs of West Lake, most of which are inscriptions and lists, which are records of the travel careers of literati for thousands of years, and are also witnesses of the history of the development of the West Lake landscape.

On the rock wall of Damai Ridge in Nanshan Mountain of West Lake, there is an inscription left behind "Su Shi Wang Yu Yang Jie Zhang Xuan Traveled Tianzhu Over Mai Ling", which is a day trip to West Lake in the fifth year of Yuan You (1090), when Su Shi of Hangzhou Zhizhou.

Song Gaozong's "loyal" list book Wei Zhuting photo provided

Wei Zhuting said that Su Shi and others "traveled together in Tianzhu and crossed Mailing," taking a tour route from Phoenix Mountain in Hangzhou Prefecture, passing through Nanping Mountain Jingci Temple, passing through Damai Ridge and Fenghuangling Ridge, and reaching Feilaifeng Tianzhu Temple, Lingvin Temple, and Lingyin Temple. This route runs through the South Mountain and North Mountain of West Lake, connecting the two classic attractions of Nanping Mountain in Nanshan and Feilai Peak in Beishan, which can not only see the victory of West Lake, but also traverse the ghost of Lingzhu, and finally stay in the temple, which is a classic one-day trip.

In March 2019, Wei Zhuting and his colleague Xi Zhengqiang found the inscription of the Qianlong Emperor's imperial poem "You Xiaoyou Tianyuan Climbing to the Top" in Nanping Mountain by West Lake. The Qianlong Emperor went to Jiangnan six times, traveled seven times to Xiaoyoutianyuan, and wrote poems every time, "I love West Lake Xiaoyoutian the most", and his favorite secret garden of West Lake, Xiaoyoutianyuan, returned to the attention of contemporary people.

Six Song Dynasty inscriptions were also found here, including Sima Guang, Mi Fu, Zhang Ruogu, Su Shunqin and other big coffee.

"Tourists after a thousand years, standing under these titles, caressing the landscape stones, wanting to see the victorious travel scene of the day, and empathizing with the ancients. This is also the special value of the cliff inscription that distinguishes it from historical documents. Wei Zhuting said frankly.

Jia Xidao Longhong Cave inscription Wei Zhuting photo

The cliff carvings record not only the visit here, but also the vicissitudes of history.

In late February of the sixth year of the Xining Dynasty of the Northern Song Dynasty (1073), Hangzhou sentenced Su Shi to meet with his colleagues to travel, and stayed here in Shiwu Cave: Chen Xiang, Su Song, Sun Yi, Huang Hao, Zeng Xiaozhang, and Su Shi traveled together, and Xining <> February <>.

However, at the end of the Song Dynasty, the Yuanyu party banned, Su Shi was blacklisted, and the word "Su Shi" was worn away until it was re-engraved in the Ming Dynasty.

Emperor Gaozong of Song Zhao inscribed the word "faithful" in italics at the Shengguo Temple on Phoenix Mountain, which is also one of the few relics of the imperial city of the Southern Song Dynasty in Hangzhou, and Wei Zhuting speculated that the Shengguo Temple was the chief of the temple at that time, and the Yulin Army was stationed here. Zhao Shu's "loyalty" was written for the Yulin Army.

In the Longhong Cave of Feilaifeng Peak, there is an inscription by Jia Xidao, the prime minister of the late Southern Song Dynasty: "On the 1267th day of July in Xianchun Ding, Jia Xiandao prayed for the years and returned to Zhu and rested here." Guest Shu Yuanzhe, Yu Xin, Zhang Huan, Huang Gongshao, Wang Tingcong. Zi Desheng attendant. Those who do not arrive are Liao Yingzhong. Shen Jianke. It is to the effect that in the summer of the third year of Xianchun (<>), Jia Xidao returned with a group of relatives and friends who went to Shangtianzhu to burn incense, and went to Lingyin Temple to ask for Buddha, and also criticized those who made appointments.

In 1267, the year that Jia Xiandao inscribed, Kublai Khan ordered an attack on Xiangyang, an important town of the Southern Song Dynasty. Jia Xidao had no way to save the country, so he rushed to Shangtianzhu to pray for peace and peace, and the "years affair" written in the inscription refers to this matter.

Also in Hangzhou Feilai Peak, in 1022, Hu Chengde of the Song Dynasty spent a huge amount of money to ask stonemasons to carve reliefs between the cliffs to pray for his family.

What is rare is that this Hu Chengde, who has no record in history, has a very high pattern, and he inscribed "the hope to come and go, and live in the pure land together", and he wanted to "share" this wish with those who come to this place to observe in future generations.

As of this year, 1001 years have passed, thank you, Hu Chengde. (End)