廬山記 2.2.1

2.2.1

Traveling twenty li from Yuantong, one reaches Jingde Abbey in King Kang Valley, formerly named King Kang Abbey. Entering the valley and traveling five li upstream along the torrent, one reaches the Longquan Cloister. Another twenty li further, there is the Water Curtain; the flying spring drapes the cliff and cascades down in twenty or thirty streams. Its height cannot be measured, and its breadth is more than seventy feet. Lu Hongjian in his Cha jing once ranked its water as the finest under Heaven. Old traditions say that King Kang of Chu was hard-pressed by the Qin general Wang Jian and hid within this valley; because he secluded himself here, it was called King Kang Valley. The stele inscriptions at the abbey all state this to be so, but examining the facts shows it is incorrect. King Kang of Chu, Zhao, was buried outside the west gate in the twenty-eighth year of Duke Xiang of Lu in the Spring and Autumn period, together with the rulers of Song, Lu, Chen, Zheng, and Xu, and the grandees of the feudal lords all arrived at his tomb. At that time Chu was just growing strong; from then until Wang Jian captured Fuchu and extinguished Chu was a full 326 years. In the intervening time there could not have been another King Kang. That when the state fell someone hid himself in the mountain valleys—perhaps a descendant of King Kang—is not known. The old site of the abbey was inside the valley, founded in the second year of Datong of the Liang by the Daoist master Zhang Fashi. In the tenth year of Kaihuang of the Sui, the Daoist master Ding Xuanzhen, who was able to subdue ghosts and spirits, moved the Bronze Horse Shrine into the valley and founded the present abbey. Half a li west of King Kang Abbey, there is the Daming Hermitage. From Daming Hermitage to Pilu Hermitage and Changxing Hermitage, each is two li. Five li south of King Kang Abbey, there is also Qianshou Hermitage. From Qianshou it is two li to Renwang Cloister. From Renwang it is seven li to Jinghui Cloister. From King Kang Abbey via the official post road, it is also fifteen li to Jinghui Chan Cloister. Jinghui was formerly named Huanglong Lingtang Cloister. It has a hot spring, boiling in all four seasons, emitting a smell of sulphur. In a brief moment it cooks raw things; people suffering from sores bathe in it and are healed. Mount Huanglong lies south of Lingtang and is also a separate peak of Lushan. Ten li south of it, there is also Qingxia Abbey. Two li east of Lingtang, beside the road, is Duke Xie of Kangle's Platform for Sutra [Chanting]. Another three li past the source of Lili, there is Magistrate Tao's Drunken Stone. Magistrate Tao's name was Qian, with the style Yuanliang; some say his style was Yuanming. In the third year of Yixi, while serving as magistrate of Pengze, he said, “How can I, for the sake of five pecks of rice, bend my waist to a village youth?” and thereupon abandoned his post and left, composing Returning Home. The Jin shu and Nan shi have biographies for him. At his residence in Lili, between two mountains, there is a great stone; gazing upward, one looks at a hanging waterfall, and the stone's flat expanse can seat over ten people. Yuanliang gave himself over to wine, hence it was named the Drunken Stone. Three li from Lili, one reaches Chengtian Guizong Chan Cloister. In the sixth year of Xiankang of the Jin, Wang Xizhi, General of Pacifying Remoteness and Regional Inspector of Jiangzhou, established it to house the Indian monk the venerable Narendrayaśas, also named Dharmottara; hence there is the Ink Pond of the General of the Right Army. When the Baoli reign era of the Tang began, the monk Zhichang resided there and first greatly expanded the Chan monastery. In the Dali reign era, Zhichang attained the Dharma from Chan Master Daoyi of Jiangxi; Daoyi was surnamed Ma, and the monastic histories refer to him as Patriarch Ma. Zhichang had double pupils in his eyes; he rubbed them with poisonous herbs to make the canthi completely red, and the world called him Red-Eyed Guizong. The dialogues between Li Bo, Regional Inspector of Jiangzhou, and Chang are recorded in the Jingde chuandeng lu. In the grandeur of its timber and masonry, it ranks first on the south side of the mountain. Jinlun Peak and Shangxiao Peak sit directly behind it; on the left and right the ridges sprawl, their aspect level and far-reaching. Divining the site in the past, someone said, “This mountain has the posture of a soaring luan spreading its wings.” The water east of the cloister is thus named Luan Stream. There is a bridge over the stream; west of the stream a stone channel carries a flowing spring for more than two hundred zhang. Using the water they run a mill, water the gardens, and plant vegetables; its scale and atmosphere are all noteworthy. On the left and right of Jinlun Peak are stone mirrors; they appear and disappear unpredictably, glossy and smooth like bronze mirrors. In the summer of the fifth year of Xining, a traveler visited Guizong and returned to tell me: “Today, above the temple gate, I saw the stone mirror of Jinlun Peak. The temple monks said there are those who have lived here for years and never seen it.” Shangxiao Peak is remarkably the highest; the First Emperor of Qin climbed it and said that it touched the firmament, whence its name was derived. A poem by Liu Shan, Court Director of the Imperial Stud under the Chen, says: “The First Emperor of Qin gazed across the universe; / The Han emperor hoisted his banners,” which refers precisely to this. Tradition says that halfway up the peak there seems to be a stone chamber containing writing said to have been carved by Yu of the Xia. The characters are as large as a palm, the text completely in low relief, shielded on the outside by a stone wall; one can reach it only by dangling from ropes above. In spring and summer the flowing springs make it indistinguishable; in autumn and winter it becomes clear. In the past a curious person went to make rubbings of it, obtaining only a hundred-odd words; nowadays people no longer reach it. The Biandichi (Boat Bottom Pond) also lies behind Shangxiao Peak. The Xunyang ji says that Wu Meng rode in a boat carried by dragons; Meng warned the boatmen to keep their eyes closed, but the boatmen, hearing the sounds of the boat dragging and colliding against the forest trees, were frightened and peeked secretly; the dragons then abandoned the boat on the mountainside. Old traditions say that former elders truly saw the derelict boat still on the mountain peak. East behind Qixian is the Broken Oar Source, also named because of Meng. The years have been long, and it can no longer be verified. The Xunyang ji also says that the mountain has three stone bridges, several zhang long and less than a foot wide, bottomless and unfathomable. Wu Meng crossed along the stone bridges with his disciples and saw golden gates and jade rooms, the ground all in five-colored patterns, the stones shaped like pheasant eggs, together with chessboard trees, all over a zhang high. As a gentle breeze occasionally passed by, the sounds of bells and lithophones were heard. They saw an old man sitting beneath a cassia tree, who offered Meng sweet dew syrup in a jade cup. They also met several people who appeared like old acquaintances, and jade ointment was again served. A disciple of Meng impulsively stole a precious vessel, wanting to return and show it to worldly people; in an instant, clouds and mists turned dark and dim, and the bridges shrank to the size of a finger. Meng ordered it returned; then taking his disciples by the hand, they closed their eyes and returned. Hence Liu Shan's poem says: “A perilous bridge crosses the great gorge; / A waterfall trails across mid-sky.” Li Bai's poem also says: “Golden gates open in front, the two peaks are long; / The Milky Way hangs upside down over three stone bridges.” As for matters of the immortals, their whereabouts can indeed never be known. Walking more than a hundred paces west beside Guizong, there is Xiangfu Abbey, formerly named Lingxi.