Dear tourists, welcome to Guniujiang Scenic Area in Shitai.
Guniujiang in Shitai was called "West Huangshan" in ancient times. According to the "Jiangnan General Records", there were thirty-six walls on West Huangshan, standing opposite to Huangshan in She County. From the highest peak, the Ancient Bull Ridge, one could see Mount Lu. It can be seen that Guniujiang was as famous as Huangshan in ancient times. Its main peak has an altitude of 1,727.6 meters. Together with the Lotus Peak of Huangshan with an altitude of 1,873 meters and the Qingliang Peak with an altitude of 1,787 meters, they are the three highest peaks in southern Anhui. From west to east, they are like three giants standing side by side in southern Anhui.
The mountain body of Guniujiang looks just like a divine bull descending from the sky. According to legend, the predecessor of this mountain was the green bull that was the mount of Lord Lao Zi. Before Lord Lao Zi attained the Tao and ascended to heaven, the bull carried him around to preach scriptures and influence all living beings, making great contributions. Later, when Lord Lao Zi ascended to heaven, he also took it to the Heavenly Court. Unexpectedly, after becoming an immortal, the bull became conceited, ate without working and no longer obeyed Lord Lao Zi's orders. In a fit of anger, Lord Lao Zi sent it down to the mortal world and it turned into a mountain shape. This is the origin of "Guniujiang", which means the divine bull descending from the sky.
Guniujiang has gone through great changes over time. During the Xuefeng orogeny about 850 million years ago, its main peak was uplifted, ending the history of marine transgression. During the Indosinian movement in the Mesozoic Era about 200 million years ago, the northern part of Guniujiang was also uplifted one after another and integrated with its main body, and granodiorite bodies intruded. Later, after the Yanshanian movement and the Himalayan movement, it gradually evolved into what it is today. The great power and ingenuity of nature have shaped the Guniujiang mountain body with lofty peaks, steep cliffs and deep valleys, making it look majestic and beautiful and turning it into another magnificent mountain in southern Anhui.
Due to the long history of Guniujiang mountain area becoming land and the complex terrain changes, a large number of ancient animal and plant species that once lived in the Tertiary and early Quaternary periods about 70 million to 2 million years ago can still be found here. For example, Cunninghamia lanceolata, Taxus chinensis, Cephalotaxus fortunei and other relict tree species before the Tertiary Period, and Ginkgo biloba is a famous "living fossil" among plants. Guniujiang is rich in biological species. According to statistics, there are 230 families, 726 genera and 1,348 species of plants here, including 13 species of plants and 29 species of animals under national key protection. In addition, reptiles are also abundant here, with more than 26 species of snakes, so it is called the "Kingdom of Snakes".
Guniujiang is not only a famous comprehensive nature reserve in China but also a rare mountainous tourist scenic area. Here, green mountains and clear waters depend on each other, and clouds and mists change constantly. It shows tenderness in the midst of precipitousness, tranquility in the midst of beauty, and elegance in the midst of fantasy. The ecological environment is extremely beautiful, and the natural scenery combines grandeur, strangeness, seclusion and beauty. Moreover, this place is endowed with outstanding people and a profound cultural heritage as well as a glorious revolutionary tradition. Wu Yingji, the leader of the Restoration Society in the late Ming Dynasty, a litterateur and a patriotic poet, once studied, sought knowledge, trained troops and resisted the Qing Dynasty here. Zheng Zhizhen, a great playwright in the Ming Dynasty, lived here and spent his whole life compiling the Mulian Opera "Mulian Rescuing His Mother and Admonishing People to Do Good", which is regarded as a living fossil of Chinese drama, as well as the Red Army's slogan wall for going north to resist the Japanese aggression, which reflects the historical vicissitudes of more than half a century in China.
From the perspective of tourism, as the "last primeval forest in East China", Guniujiang has four major scenic areas: the Main Peak Scenic Area, the Longmen Scenic Area, the Qifeng Scenic Area and the Shuanghekou Scenic Area. The Main Peak Scenic Area mainly has four highlights: strange pines, grotesque rocks, sea of clouds and Buddha's light. From the perspective of scientific investigation, it has rich rare animal and plant resources such as clouded leopards, black muntjacs, pangolins, serows, white-necked long-tailed pheasants, Huangshan stump-tailed macaques, Qishan snakes, cobras and Liriodendron chinense, Cephalotaxus fortunei, Emmenopterys henryi, Monimopetalum chinense and so on.
Precisely because of its complex natural conditions, rich biological resources and intact ecosystems, Guniujiang has become a national nature reserve, a national education base for protecting natural ecology, and a gene pool of animals and plants in East China. It is called the "Green Natural Museum" by ecologists. In September 2010, it was officially approved as a AAAA-level tourist scenic area by the National Tourism Administration. At the same time, it is also recognized as the "Top Tourist Destination for China's Original Ecology" by the envoys of 30 countries including Russia, the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Italy and so on.
Well, that's the general introduction to Guniujiang. After you take the scenic area shuttle bus, you can enter the scenic area immediately.
1. Three Ancient Trees: Dear tourists, as mentioned before, the main peak of Guniujiang has an altitude of 1,727.6 meters and is one of the three highest peaks in southern Anhui together with the Lotus Peak of Huangshan and the Qingliang Peak. Although these three highest peaks cannot be presented in front of you all at once, don't be disappointed. Guniujiang has prepared a delicate and condensed version for you, moving those three peaks as a whole to your front. These are the three thousand-year-old ancient trees standing at the entrance of the scenic area, one Chinese wingnut tree and two camphor trees. Look, their iron-like branches and copper-like trunks reflect the vigor of the three high peaks, and their trunks reaching straight into the sky represent the grandeur of the three high peaks.
2. Crocodile-playing Beach: Dear tourists, the scenic area we are visiting now is called Longmen. It got its name because the two mountains facing each other in front look like two wide-open mountain gates. "Crocodile-playing Beach" is the first scenic spot when entering Longmen. If you stand at the right angle, you will surely see groups of rocks on the inner wall of the river extending from the mountain to the water surface, just like a group of crocodiles ready to go ashore. Although the divine fish can only be seen "with its head but not its tail", the undulating fish ridges and the wrinkled folds on the stones above have already made these crocodiles vivid and lifelike.
3. Five Blessings Spring and Five Blessings Pavilion: This scenic spot is called Five Blessings Spring. The term "Five Blessings" comes from "The Book of History - Hong Fan": "The Five Blessings are: first, longevity; second, wealth; third, health and peace; fourth, the cultivation of virtue; fifth, a peaceful end." In plain language, the five elements that make up a happy and perfect life are: long life, wealth, health and peace, the cultivation of virtue, and a peaceful end. However, the connotation of this "Five Blessings Spring" has another meaning. Zheng Zhizhen, a great dramatist in the Ming Dynasty, was from Qingxi, Qimen on the south side of Guniujiang Mountain, but he had long been active in the villages along the Shanchi River on the north side of Guniujiang Mountain. And it was here that he completed his first masterpiece in the history of Chinese drama development, the voluminous "Mulian Rescuing His Mother and Admonishing People to Do Good". After becoming famous overnight, the Su family in Jiaocun, Taiping, not far from here, invited him to compile his second work "The Story of Five Blessings" for the filial piety story of "the son dying for the father" that had happened in their family history. In order to congratulate Zheng Zhizhen on the birth of "The Story of Five Blessings", the villagers along the Shanchi River named this spring "Five Blessings Spring".
It is clearly recorded in history that when Zheng Zhizhen was a child, he suffered from smallpox, which caused serious eye diseases and brought him lifelong pain. He was originally gifted and talented, but he never passed the imperial examinations in his life. Why? Mainly because of his poor eyesight. Fortunately, when Zheng Zhizhen lived by the Shanchi River and compiled the "Mulian Rescuing His Mother and Admonishing People to Do Good" in those years, he often came to this spring, scooped up the clear spring water to wash his face to relieve fatigue. As time passed, his eye diseases were unexpectedly cured, enabling him not only to successfully complete the voluminous "Mulian Rescuing His Mother and Admonishing People to Do Good" with hundreds of thousands of words but also to continue to complete the creation of "The Story of Five Blessings". Some people said that it was because Zheng Zhizhen wrote the good play "Mulian Rescuing His Mother" to persuade people to do good deeds that he moved the Buddha, and it was the Buddha who blessed him to recover from his eye diseases. Some people said that it was this "magic spring" that washed away Zheng Zhizhen's eye diseases and endowed him with "spiritual energy". Anyway, the place got its name from the person. Later generations, in order to commemorate this strange event, pooled their funds to build a pavilion beside the spring and jointly wrote a couplet: Filial piety arises from the heart and gives birth to all kinds of goodness; The pavilion is built beside the spring and named Five Blessings.
4. Longmen: Here, the cliffs on both sides of the river are towering, and the deep green pools and flowing waters lie across. It is just like two armies facing each other, on the verge of breaking out into battle. Because of its dangerous terrain, people naturally named this landscape Longmen. Longmen is not only the origin of the name of the Longmen Scenic Area; at the same time, it also seems to have a certain special symbolic meaning. From a specific aspect, it is the last door of the entire Ming Dynasty history: - Deep inside Longmen lies the last tragic scene of the Zhu Ming Dynasty; outside Longmen, at that time, it was completely the world of Emperor Shizu of the Qing Dynasty, Aisin Gioro.
As we all know, from the time when Zhu Yuanzhang officially proclaimed himself emperor in 1368 to the time when Emperor Chongzhen, Zhu Youjian, hanged himself in Jingshan Park on the 19th day of the third lunar month in 1644, the Zhu Ming Dynasty lasted for 277 years in total. However, this is just a way of expressing it from the perspective of historical chronology. In fact, the vast areas south of the Yangtze River were still under the control of the power jurisdiction of King Fu - the Hongguang court of the Southern Ming Dynasty, Zhu Yousong. After the fall of the Hongguang court, there was then Zhu Yujian, the Tang King in a remote area of Fujian, who organized an armed struggle to restore the Ming Dynasty under the name of "Longwu" Emperor. The anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming Dynasty armed forces organized by Wu Yingji, the leader of the Restoration Society in the Ming Dynasty, the patriotic poet and an important role in the top ten classical tragedies in China, "Peach Blossom Fan", mentioned earlier, were the products of this specific historical background: it was both a conscious action of him and his colleagues and was closely related to the "imperial edict" of Emperor Longwu. Putting aside the historical limitations, Wu Yingji's joining the army and organizing the armed struggle to restore the Ming Dynasty and resist the Qing Dynasty did not mean that he knew it was impossible but still forced himself to do it. The key was that he wanted to fulfill his life promise with his own blood and unyielding integrity.
Let's turn the topic back to the event of the "closing" of the Ming Dynasty history related to "Longmen". The area around Niwan in Guichi District, 60 kilometers away from Guniujiang, was once the first line of defense for Wu Yingji's anti-Qing and restoration of the Ming Dynasty military deployment, and the long and deep canyon inside Longmen was the headquarters of Wu Yingji's Restoration Camp - the place where military secrets were discussed. When the imperial edict of Emperor Longwu was passed around and finally reached Wu Yingji's Restoration Camp, unfortunately, it was betrayed by a traitor, and immediately attracted a large number of Qing troops to surround it. Eventually, outnumbered, they were defeated at Longmen. Based on the close connection between this major historical event and the end of an era, Longmen is not only a rather exciting landscape in this scenic area; at the same time, it is also a "landmark" checkpoint where two different eras change positions.
5. Longmen Pool: The deep green pool below Longmen is Longmen Pool. The water in the pool is clear and green, as beautiful as emerald, and is known as the "First Water in East China" and "Little Jiuzhaigou". So, why is the water here so green? There are four necessary conditions: First, the sediment content in the water is extremely low. In fact, it is zero here. Second, the water should have a certain depth. The deeper the water, the greener it is. Third, the surrounding ecological vegetation is good, and the vegetation coverage rate is high. As people say, "Green mountains and clear waters", without green mountains, there would be no clear waters. Fourth, there should be sunlight irradiation. Now, we can explain why the water is so green in one sentence, that is, the sunlight refracts the green color of the surrounding plants into the clear deep water.
6. Baizhangya: The stone wall on the left side of Longmen is several dozen feet high, steep and rugged, and is known as "Baizhangya". Due to its dangerous terrain, it has the势 of "One man guards the pass, ten thousand men cannot open it". Historically, it once became an important barrier for Wu Yingji to resist the Qing troops. It is said that in those days, several earthen cannons were placed on the top of the cliff, and the ruins still exist today.
6. Longmen Stone Valley: Dear tourists, if we go up from here, we can see a canyon that stretches for several miles and is full of jumbled rocks. The locals call it Longmen Canyon. The stones here have different postures and rich colors, and black-gray stones are the most common. They are called metamorphic rocks. The main components of these stones are silicon dioxide and calcium carbonate, which are formed by the metamorphism of limestone. In other words, they are the carbonate substances that were deposited in the Guniujiang area for a long time before getting rid of the seawater invasion. From the perspective of popular science, these stones with different colors and complex compositions provide a platform for geoscience researchers to fully display their talents. So, Guniujiang is not only a kingdom of animals and plants but also a typical specimen for geological scientific research.
7. Admonishing Bridge: The suspension bridge in front is called Admonishing Bridge. It was named to commemorate the publication of Zheng Zhizhen's "Mulian Rescuing His Mother and Admonishing People to Do Good". Of course, now that the old name is brought up again here, it also has the connotation of keeping pace with the times. It's always better to be kind to others. For example, when passing through this suspension bridge, don't crowd, be polite to each other, think about the safety of others, and you will also be safe. Dear tourists, while taking care of yourself, don't forget to help the elderly and children beside you!
8. Horse Stopping Pavilion: After crossing the Admonishing Bridge, you can see a pavilion. This is the Horse Stopping Pavilion. As we mentioned before, inside Longmen is Wu Yingji's Restoration Camp, that is, the rear general headquarters of Wu Yingji's anti-Qing armed forces. It is said that in those days, when the generals under Wu Yingji came into the mountain to discuss military secrets, they often tied their warhorses in this place, and the pavilion got its name from this. Now it has become a recreational place with commemorative significance, providing an excellent platform for people to explore the past and enjoy the secluded charm.
9. Mainstay: A huge boulder flying in the air stands in the middle of the river, forcing the river water to flow around it on both sides, making people feel that it is rather "domineering". When mountain torrents break out, the waves roll and rush about like wild horses, but this huge boulder can stand firm, which makes people feel that it is quite "principled". Because it is unwilling to drift with the tide easily, people call it "Mainstay". It, like the black-gray stones in the canyon, is a masterpiece of nature's mountain-building movement. Of course, if we further open up our thinking space, this firm boulder seems to tell the story of Wu Yingji's strong patriotism and brave social responsibility in those days.
10. Bell and Drum Stones, Jasper Pool: On the opposite bank of the river, there is a flat and huge stone that looks like a drum, so it is named the Stone Drum. Here on this side, there is another huge stone. The side facing the riverbed is round, with a small top and a big bottom, resembling a bell, thus it is named the Stone Bell. Combining these two stones, they are named "Bell and Drum Stones". There is a pool of clear water between the "bell" and the "drum", which is as green as emerald, and people naturally call it "Jasper Pool". I wonder if you can think of the sentences "Play the zither and harp to be friends; Play the bell and drum to be happy" in "The Book of Songs" when you see this scene. Here, every summer when there is plenty of rain, the magnificent mountain spring water rushes past the Bell and Drum Stones. If you listen carefully, you will find that it sounds like the beating of drums one after another, forming an interesting contrast with nature. That's why it is called "The Beating of Drums Shakes the Jasper Pool".
11. Xiangguo Mound: This flat small highland is customarily called "mound" by local residents. It is named "Xiangguo Mound" because it is located in a specific environment where Emmenopterys henryi trees grow in clusters. Emmenopterys henryi is a national second-class protected plant, belonging to deciduous large arbor trees and has high ornamental value. Its leaves are opposite and oval-shaped. The flowers are white and turn pink when fruiting and remain on the fruits. The fruits are spindle-shaped, and the seeds have irregular wings. It is a plant endemic to China. The wood of Emmenopterys henryi is of excellent quality and has a wide range of uses. The fiber of its branch bark is soft and fine, which is a raw material for making wax paper or artificial cotton. The road on the left side of Xiangguo Mound is a plank road that leads to the Shuanglong Valley Scenic Area along the river on foot (the Shuanglong Valley is not fully open yet).
12. Wild Boar Shed: Let's look at this thatched shed on the mound. The locals call it the Wild Boar Shed. Why is it named like this? Originally, Guniujiang has deep valleys and dangerous gorges, high mountains and steep slopes, and there have been few farmlands since ancient times. Mountain villagers mostly planted corn and sorghum on the mountainous land to make a living. However, in the Guniujiang area, due to a wide variety of animal species, it is quite common for wild animals and birds such as wild boars, black muntjacs, macaques, serows, squirrels, pheasants, and long-tailed pheasants to damage the crops. To protect their labor achievements, the mountain villagers had to build sheds in the crop fields and take care of them day and night. Everyone can go into the shed to take a rest and personally experience the hardship and difficulty of the ancient mountain villagers in making a living. However, the original wild boar shed no longer exists, and this one is rebuilt on the original site.
13. Natural Maze: There is a maze here, which is full of twists and turns. If you are not careful, you will easily get lost. It is said that during the chaotic times of war and famine, some local residents hid in the caves here and really managed to avoid many life-threatening disasters. According to geological investigations, in ancient times, the mountain structure here was extremely unstable. When the earth's crust changed, the mountains squeezed and impacted each other, and during the process of sliding and rolling downwards, ground caves of different sizes were "built up". This maze was formed naturally in this way.
14. Ox-tying Stone: As mentioned before, Guniujiang was formed by a divine bull sitting in meditation and turning into a mountain. Well, let's start from this myth. Why is there such a big mountain in southern Anhui that looks like a divine bull standing here? It is mainly due to this huge "Ox-tying Stone". It is said that in ancient times, the "Guniu" that descended from the sky was not content with folk labor at first. So, in a fit of anger, the Jade Emperor threw his dragon-headed crutch down to the mortal world, which turned into this huge Ox-tying Stone and tied the "Guniu" here forever.
15. Rural Scenery: There is a terraced field between two small hills. Above the terraced fields are folk houses scattered among the woods, with white walls and black tiles, arranged in a scattered and orderly manner. Whenever spring comes with blooming flowers and sunny days, the terraced fields are filled with colorful flowers and green plants, dotted with white walls and black tiles, forming a beautiful "rural scenery picture", which seems to echo the wonderful artistic conception in Fan Chengda's rural poem in the Song Dynasty: "The wheat in the high fields connects with the green mountains, and the low fields beside the water are still green and uncultivated; The peach blossoms fill the village like brocade in spring, and people pass the Qingming Festival singing and beating drums." Although the alpine terraced fields here are not large in area, entering from Longmen, it really gives a sense of a paradise away from the world. The scenery here is different in all four seasons, making it an excellent photography spot.
16. Wu Men (No Door): This is a naturally formed stone gate called "Wu Men (No Door)". You may be very curious. Since there is clearly a gate, why is it called "no door"? This has to do with Wu Yingji again. The locals say that in the 22nd year of Wanli in the reign of Emperor Shenzong of the Ming Dynasty, Wu Yingji, who was born at the foot of Guniujiang Mountain, became famous in the capital when he was just in his early twenties. Wen Ruilin in the Qing Dynasty said in "The History of the Southern Frontier - The Biography of Wu Yingji" that "his remarks and opinions were so influential that scholars rushed to follow him; Officials below the dukes and ministers regarded his praise or criticism as honor or disgrace." However, although he "had the Nine Classics and Twenty-One Histories in his mind and clearly understood the rise and fall and the trend of ancient and modern times", due to his distinct personality of loving and hating clearly and being high-spirited, he failed in the imperial examinations eight times. As a result, he angrily returned to his hometown, came here, closed his door to visitors, and devoted himself to writing books. In his spare time, when he visited the stone gate, thinking of the vastness of heaven and earth, he couldn't help but feel sad and shed tears, deeply feeling that he had lofty aspirations but no way to serve the country. In his disappointment, he wrote the four big characters "Having No Way to Serve the Country" on the stone wall. That's how the name "Wu Men (No Door)" came about. Unfortunately, after more than 370 years of being eroded by wind and rain, the handwriting on the rock has long disappeared.
17. The Collection of Loushan Hall: Look, doesn't this square stone look like a thick book? Yes, it is exactly a bound volume compiled by Wu Yingji, a great talent, with 27 volumes of articles, 1 volume of poems, and 7 volumes of essays written by him at "Wu Men (No Door)", and prefaced by Hou Fangyu, a prose writer in the late Ming and early Qing Dynasties, one of the "Four Young Masters" in the late Ming Dynasty and the leader of the Restoration Society. Mr. Lu Xun, a great master of modern literature, highly praised this collection of works, and it was often placed on his desk. However, after being weathered for hundreds of years, no one can open this book we see now.
18. Ecological Tea Garden: This is a rather inconspicuous landscape. Although it is ordinary, it is natural. Guniujiang has high mountains and dense forests, and coupled with its warm and humid climate, it is a place that produces famous teas. Since ancient times, tea lovers have flocked here. Therefore, mountain villagers naturally "catered to their preferences" and opened up mountains to plant tea trees on a large scale. The tea leaves on this slope are the fruits of the labor of the ancestors in Guniujiang. Don't underestimate these scattered tea trees. In their thick tea soup like mellow wine, there is a magical trace element, which is selenium, known as the "cancer killer". Scientific tests show that the selenium content in every kilogram of tea in this area is between 0.4 and 4.4 milligrams, which exactly meets the human body's demand. In December 2012, the Shitai selenium-rich tea with the Guniujiang mountain range as the main production area was approved as a national geographical indication product.
19. Exploring the Secluded Bamboo Forest: "At dusk I left the green mountain, with the moon following me home; Looking back on the path I'd taken, it was veiled in green and blue. I went hand in hand with my friends to a cottage, where a child opened the wicket gate; Green bamboos led us to a secluded path, where green vines brushed our clothes..." Dear tourists, when you wander along this mountain path hidden among thousands of green bamboos, accompanied by the swaying green bamboos and listening to the sound of the mountain wind like the strings of a musical instrument, have you already been immersed in the artistic conception of this poem "Down Zhongnan Mountain to Spend the Night at the Cottage of Hu Si" by the great poet Li Bai? Although the poet didn't write about Guniujiang, in your eyes, compared with the scenery of Zhongnan Mountain, do you think the scenery here is even better?
20. Viewing the Waterfall in the Bamboo Forest: Dear tourists, as we said, there are beautiful scenes everywhere in Guniujiang, and the scenery changes with every step. Well, just after walking out of the secluded bamboo forest path, as long as you slightly raise your head, a white waterfall in the distance will come into your sight. This landscape is called "Viewing the Waterfall in the Bamboo Forest". Through the swaying leaves, standing on tiptoe even though you are tired, a huge landscape painting with mountain rocks as the canvas and green bamboos as the frame, showing the magnificent momentum of "A waterfall hangs like a long river from afar", unfolds completely in front of you.
21. Four-Fold Waterfall: The Four-Fold Waterfall is the largest waterfall in the Longmen Scenic Area. Because the waterfall forms four folds from top to bottom, it is named the "Four-Fold Waterfall". The water on this precipice flows continuously all year round. Especially in the wet season, the water splashes like silver flowers, spurts and sprays like pearls, flows down rapidly, and the sound can be heard for several miles. Around the waterfall, the fresh air is refreshing. This is because when the waterfall water impacts and beats against the stone cliff, water molecules release a large number of negative oxygen ions during the atomization process, bringing people a pleasant feeling. Negative oxygen ions are also known as "air vitamins" or "longevity elements", and they have obvious auxiliary effects on human health and longevity as well as on the treatment of chronic diseases such as tracheitis, cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. The World Health Organization has determined that the concentration of negative oxygen ions in normal fresh air is between 1,000 and 1,500 per cubic centimeter. However, the instantaneous negative ion concentration here is as high as 310,000 per cubic centimeter, ranking among the top of various famous scenic spots in the country. It can be said that such a high concentration of negative oxygen ions is a "health treasure" given by nature to Guniujiang Scenic Area and presented to every tourist.
22. Lover's Valley: There is a valley here, where a touching love story was once staged. The Yan and Tang families at the foot of Guniujiang Mountain had prejudices in history and did not intermarry for generations. However, there were two young people from these two families who fell in love with each other and secretly promised to marry each other. Unfortunately, secrets can't be kept forever. After the two families learned about the love between the two young people, it immediately caused a great uproar. Both the man and the woman had to receive severe punishment under the family rules in their respective ancestral halls. What's more important is that even after receiving severe punishment, they were still not allowed to get married. In order to challenge this tyrannical family rule, the two young people in love from the Yan and Tang families took advantage of the time when the two families gathered their members and were about to implement the "family rule". They made an appointment to run into this mountain valley, climbed up this cliff, and firmly stated their attitude to the family members who chased after them: if the elders of both families could agree to their marriage, they would immediately go down the mountain along the original path; otherwise, they would jump off the cliff to sacrifice their lives and smash the most beautiful thing in the world in front of everyone. This move made the beards of the patriarchs of both families, which were originally raised in anger, suddenly droop like willows beaten by frost. The family rule couldn't be broken, and they couldn't lose their own flesh and blood. The two families, who had been quiet but then became active, immediately gave the two young people a compromise-like reply that wasn't really a compromise: unless they voluntarily left the family, changed their surnames, and went far away, they would never be allowed to get married! The two young people standing on the cliff chose the former and immediately disappeared into the deep mountains and dense forests of Guniujiang, leaving a passionate love story on this cliff forever. Since then, this cliff has been called the "Lover's Cliff", and this valley has been called the "Lover's Valley". Look, that long stone slab is the "Lover's Bed", and the red water marks are the "Lover's Tears".
23. Mandarin Duck Pool: The deep pool below the plank road is called the Mandarin Duck Pool. Before its development, there were few people here, and mandarin ducks often played in the pool, so it got its name. Now that it has been developed and opened as a scenic spot, coupled with the changes in the surrounding environment, mandarin ducks in the mountains have become rare guests here and are hard to be seen. However, it doesn't matter. There are actually many more "human mandarin ducks" - couples who come here to visit. It's just that these mandarin ducks are different from those in the pool, and they are fragrant with perfume.
24. Ancient Mill: Dear tourists, as mentioned before, Guniujiang Scenic Area not only has beautiful natural landscapes but also rich cultural connotations and regional characteristics in its cultural landscapes. The scenic spots that will appear one after another below will introduce to you from aspects such as farming, architecture, clans, and revolutionary culture. Look, there is an old house not far away. That's the Ancient Mill. There are stone mills and water-powered pestles inside. The stone mill is used to grind grains into powder by manpower, while the water-powered pestle is a tool for pounding rice from paddy or processing some other grain products by using water power.
24. Farm Tool House: The Farm Tool House is furnished with old-fashioned farm tools, such as plows, harrows, rakes, spinning wheels, waterwheels, water scooping barrels, and fans for cleaning impurities in grains. Both the Ancient Mill and the Farm Tool House belong to "agricultural nostalgic tourism". Through this kind of tourism activities, people can understand some past farming activities, recognize the progress of society, and feel the wisdom of the working people.
25. Yan Family Ancient Village: The Yan Family Ancient Village is inhabited by the descendants of Yan Ziling, a hermit in the Eastern Han Dynasty. Yan Ziling and Liu Xiu, the Emperor Guangwu of the Eastern Han Dynasty, were classmates and friends. After Liu Xiu ascended the throne, he invited Yan Ziling to serve in the court, but unexpectedly, Yan Ziling refused. The historical fact that Yan Ziling refused to be an official has left a lot of room for scholars and experts in later generations to study or speculate. One view is that Yan Ziling was indifferent to fame and fortune, disdained being an official, and was willing to farm by himself and live in the fields until his old age. Another view is that it was because of the intervention of Hou Ba, the Grand Minister over the Masses who was deeply trusted and relied on by Emperor Guangwu Liu Xiu at that time, that Yan Ziling finally became a "hermit". Because when Wang Mang was in power, Hou Ba once threw himself into Wang Mang's arms and became the "Prefect of Huai Ping County" under Wang Mang. Now that Liu Xiu made a comeback, Hou Ba again threw himself into Liu Xiu's arms and became the "Grand Minister over the Masses" in Liu Xiu's court. Facing such a fact, Yan Ziling felt that if he really accepted the invitation to serve in the court, he would have to live with speculators like Hou Ba day and night in the future. In this way, even if it wasn't a shame, his personal style and sentiment would surely be greatly aggrieved. Therefore, Yan Ziling chose the actual avoidance and the nominal "indifference" that he had to take, and decided to live in seclusion, leaving an immortal and noble reputation for later generations.
Of course, as the saying goes, "Each wave in the Yangtze River pushes at the one before", and new people in the world always surpass the old ones. In the modern revolutionary struggle history, the descendants of the Yan family adopted a positive "entering the world" attitude. Seven passionate young men successively sacrificed their precious lives for the victory of the revolution and the establishment of the People's Republic of China. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, they were recognized as "revolutionary martyrs" by the Ministry of Civil Affairs of the People's Republic of China. Therefore, the Yan Family Ancient Village has become a well-known "Hero Village".
26. Incense Making Hall: The production of ancient incense is a traditional handicraft in Yan Family Ancient Village. This handicraft technique has been included in the first batch of Anhui Province's intangible cultural heritage list. The ancient incense made in Yan Family Ancient Village is made with particular attention to materials, has a unique formula and a wide variety of types, including incense for ordinary sacrifices, incense for rituals on special occasions, and daily life incense for repelling mosquitoes and removing odors. The production and sales of ancient incense are an important source of income for the villagers in Yan Family Ancient Village.
This ancient folk house has been lived in by five generations since it was first built and has a history of more than 150 years. It is quite representative in Yan Family Ancient Village: it is backed by mountains and faces water, with a courtyard in front of the door, meeting the requirement of the homeowner to maintain a certain private space. The interior layout is symmetrical. There is a patio in the middle, with water flowing into the patio from all directions, symbolizing that wealth will not flow out. It has brick carvings and wood carvings, showing the distinct characteristics of Huizhou-style architecture. The floors of the front hall and the back courtyard are made by hammering clean sand and lime, and the interior is all wooden floors. The windows facing the patio are all equipped with window panels, which are convenient for looking out while not being easily noticed by others, facilitating the preservation of indoor privacy. Besides having the common features of Huizhou-style ancient folk houses, it also has its own unique "personality": when building the house, the homeowner also built a wall-attached memorial archway. In the feudal era, if the owner of a house wanted to build a memorial archway, he must obtain the approval of the court and the "imperial edict" of the emperor; otherwise, it was an illegal act. The first-generation homeowner of this ancient folk house, Granny Wu Xiaxiang, lost her husband when she was less than 30 years old. Since then, she had lived in widowhood, went through countless hardships and brought up her four sons. After growing up, all four sons were quite promising. To show their filial piety to their mother, when building the walls of this ancient folk house, the four sons decided to adopt this flexible approach after discussion: they built the main gate tower in the style of a chastity memorial archway to always remember their mother's kindness in raising them.
27. Slogan Wall: A slogan wall reflects the historical vicissitudes of more than half a century in China. The slogan "Eliminate the Baojia System and Overthrow the Kuomintang Bandit Party" was written by the political organizations affiliated with the "Revolutionary Base Area in Northeast Jiangxi" led by Fang Zhimin at the end of 1932 or in 1933, with the inscription "Propaganda of the Red Army's Political Department". The slogan "The vanguard force for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression going north is the savior of your difficulties at the end of the year. The only way to break through the difficulties at the end of the year is through revolution" was the red mark left by the vanguard force for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression led by Fang Zhimin when they fought against the Kuomintang army that was chasing and blocking them in the Guniujiang mountain area for the purpose of promoting the revolution, with the inscription "Propaganda of the vanguard force for the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression going north". Slogans like "The whole people should engage in industry. Strive to catch up with or surpass the UK in industrial products within ten or twenty years" reflected the impetuous mood of the times. Slogans like "In a class society, everyone lives in a certain class status. All kinds of ideas are branded with the mark of class" were the "marks" left by the "Cultural Revolution" in history. Standing in front of the slogan wall and looking back on the past events, one can't help but feel a myriad of emotions.
28. Yan Family Ancestral Hall: There are many ancestral halls in Shitai, and more than 20 of them have survived to this day. The Yan Family Ancestral Hall in Guniujiang is a typical representative. The Yan Family Ancestral Hall was built in 1898, the 24th year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, and it has a history of more than 110 years. This ancestral hall is named "Fuchun Hall", which is a place for the descendants of the Yan family to offer sacrifices to their ancestors. It is named "Fuchun Hall" because the descendants of the Yan family named it to commemorate the historical event that their ancestor Yan Ziling once fished by the Fuchun River. On the wall of the back courtyard of the ancestral hall hangs the portrait of the ancestor of the Yan family, that is, the portrait of Yan Ziling. On the wall on the left side of the main entrance hangs the scene of Yan Ziling fishing by the Fuchun River back then. On both sides of the ancestral hall are the portraits of the famous people of the Yan family in different dynasties.
29. Fengshui Forest: There is a tall and dense forest in front, which is the fengshui forest of Yan Family Ancient Village. From the old and mottled wrinkles of the nearly thousand-year-old camphor trees in the forest, one can see the long and distant history of the Yan family clan in the village. The location of Yan Family Ancient Village is closely connected with the old Huizhou area; to put it directly, it is separated by just one mountain. Due to the close connection in geographical location, the mutual infiltration in folk customs and the mutual influence in architectural culture have become inevitable. Based on this premise, the layout of Yan Family Ancient Village also reflects the Huizhou-style architecture: the village is located at the upper reaches of the water system, and the scenic forest or the fengshui forest is located at the lower end of the village. This layout not only embodies the traditional implicit beauty of the Chinese nation but also has the practical functions of windbreak and village protection. Due to multiple functions such as fengshui, scenery and windbreak, effectively protecting this forest has become the conscious awareness and action passed down from generation to generation by all the villagers in the village. This is the social and psychological basis or cultural background for this fengshui forest to remain intact and lush. The most precious tree species in the forest is Ginkgo biloba, also known as "White Fruit Tree" or "Grandfather-Grandson Tree". It is a relict plant from the Quaternary glaciation and is called a "living fossil" of plants. The active substances such as flavonoids and vitamin C contained in ginkgo biloba leaves can dilate blood vessels, improve microcirculation, prevent and treat cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases, as well as have the effects of reducing body temperature, losing weight, anti-aging and anti-cancer. According to relevant information, during World War II, when the United States dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan, the only plant that survived in the explosion area was ginkgo biloba. It can be seen that ginkgo biloba also has a strong anti-radiation function. Everyone might as well pick up a few leaves. On the one hand, they can be used for appreciation, and on the other hand, they can be used to make tea, and perhaps they can play a special role in losing weight and anti-aging.
30. Ziling Bridge: This bridge is named Ziling Bridge. Needless to say, it was named by the descendants of the Yan family to commemorate their famous ancestor, Yan Ziling. This bridge was rebuilt at the beginning of this century.
31. Penalty Opera Stele: Dear tourists, the scenic spot we are looking at now is a bit special. Although there is only a lonely stone stele in front of us and there seems to be nothing to see in terms of scenery, it has profound significance. Everyone must know the popular saying nowadays: "Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets." Little do people know that as early as the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty 330 years ago, the villagers in Guniujiang already had the concept of protecting mountain forests.
What is the "penalty opera"? Let's first look at a section of the inscription on the stele: 1. If a clan member privately cuts trees illegally in the area of Guniujiang's Yanyuan, once found out, he will be fined with a banquet of wine. If the person who first knows about it but doesn't report it, he will also be punished as usual without leniency. 2. It is strictly prohibited for people with other surnames to cut trees illegally in the area of Hengshan's Yanyuan. Once found out, they will be fined to perform the Mulian Opera for three days and nights and prepare ten banquets of wine. If a clan member who first knows about it but doesn't report it, once found out, he will be fined to perform an opera for one day and prepare ten banquets of wine... Although these words are incomplete and rather obscure and difficult to understand, I think everyone can probably understand the general meaning. Here, the simple and primitive folk customs are preserved, and the intact natural form of Guniujiang can be traced back to the governance of the local village regulations and folk agreements with a history of hundreds of years. The villagers have lived by picking tea and farming for generations, without random logging or overfishing. The "penalty opera regulations" jointly observed by Hengshan, Aotou, Yanjia Village and other places around Guniujiang reflect the profound humanistic management culture and green environmental protection culture. Through this stele, it not only embodies the ancient thought of the unity of man and nature but also serves as a warning for people today to cherish nature and protect the ecology.
32. Shigong Bridge: The bridge in front of us is called Shigong Bridge. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, there was a talented scholar on the south side of Guniujiang Mountain. He is Zheng Zhizhen we mentioned before. Zheng Zhizhen, with the courtesy name of Ru Xi and the pseudonym of Gao Shi, created the "New Edition of Mulian Rescuing His Mother and Admonishing People to Do Good" when he lived by the Shanchi River, and became famous overnight. The local people held him in high esteem. To commemorate him, they named the bridge that he often walked across in those days as "Shigong Bridge". Of course, the original bridge was a wooden bridge, and the current simple reinforced concrete bridge was rebuilt on the original site.
33. Loushan Bridge: Now we are passing through the last scenic spot in Guniujiang - Loushan Bridge. Crossing this bridge marks the successful end of the main scenic area of Guniujiang Scenic Area. However, it should be added that the origin of the name of this bridge has something to do with Wu Yingji. Wu Yingji, with the courtesy name of Ci Wei and the pseudonym of Loushan, was a local historical and cultural celebrity born and raised here and enjoyed high prestige and status among the people. To show respect and remembrance for this patriotic figure, people named this bridge after his pseudonym.
"Seeing you off in the mountains, I close the wicket gate at dusk." It's getting late, and it's time to say goodbye to you all. Here, the Guniujiang Scenic Area sincerely wishes you all a pleasant journey and a safe trip. May the grass be green every spring, and we look forward to your return. The hospitable people in Guniujiang are waiting for your next visit! Goodbye!
Garden Management Branch of Anhui Shitai Tourism Development Co., Ltd.
May 2019
