|
Places of interests
Places of historical interest and scenic spots: towers, caves, stone steps, temples and pavilions can be found everywhere. The cloud-enshrouded cliff path, the sculptured rocky cliff, the floating-in-the-air Somersault Cliff, the cliff-excavated Thousand-Foot Precipice with 370-odd stone steps, the Hundred-Foot Valley, the Laojun's Furrow with 570-odd stone steps, the Ear-Touching Cliff, the Up-the-Heaven's Ladder and so on, are all marvelous views of precipitous and perilous cliff paths.
In ancient times, many emperors came here to make sacrifices to their ancestors, and celebrities visited Huashan Mountain leaving quite a lot of stone inscriptions of poems. Huashan Mountain has many places of historic interest and scenic beauty, as well as many fantastic and legendary stories. Its fascination lasts forever.
Taoist holy land
The south peak is the main peak and also the steepest of Huashan Mountain. Legend has it that Laozi, the originator of Taoism, used to missionize here. Among the many temples, the Jintian Palace, the Zhenyue Palace and the Chunyang Temple are the listed among the state-level Taoist structures.
The Green Cloud Temple at West Peak is also called the Holy Mother Temple. It enshrines statues of three holy mothers. There is a large stone cut into three parts outside. It is the well-known "Ax Cutting Stone" for it looks as if it is being cut by an ax. Beside the stone, there is a huge ax. According to legend Baolian Deng (The Lotus Lamp), it was used by Chen Xiang to save his mother.
It is on the central peak of Huashan Mountain and stands on a natural stone tortoise. The Jade maiden was said to be Nong Yu -- daughter of Duke Mu of the Qin Dynasty(221-206BC). The story took place in the Spring and Autumn Period(770-476BC): A young man named Xiao Shi was good at playing bamboo flute. Nong Yu, who fell deeply in love with the poor young man, gave up all her nabobism to marry Xiao. The lovers came to Huashan Mountain and lived here for the rest of their life. To commemorate the couple, people built the Jade Maiden Shrine.
|
