集神州三寶感通錄 3.13

3.13

Regarding the Xitoushan Temple south of Hu County in Yongzhou: this mountain was originally where boatmen moored their boats alongside it, hence the name. In ancient times, before Mount Taiyi was cleft, the mountain connected Mount Taihang and Mount Wangwu, and the waters of the Bailu River collected in this valley, being called the Lesser Sea. When the Giant Spirit Great Man, Qin Honghai, was troubled by the vast, surging waters, he propped up Mount Taihua with his left palm and trod upon Mount Zhongtiao with his right foot. Because of this, Taiyi split apart; the river flowed through, land emerged, and the mountain then rose lofty and prominent, retaining its original designation. It is as Zhang Heng says in the *Rhapsody on the Western Capital*: ‘With high palm and distant tread, he let flow the river’s bends.’ The elders hand down that south of Xitou there is the Nine Caves Immortal Temple (Jiukong Xian Temple). Formerly, someone entered the mountains to gather firewood. As dusk encroached he did not know the way home, so he lodged near the forest. At night, hearing the sound of a bell nearby, he searched for it and suddenly saw a temple with over a hundred monks. They merely walked and sat without inquiring of him. The man wondered at this. At dawn, the temple had vanished. Since then, it has been nearby, but none have gone and found it. I once went to the mountain, but there were only layered peaks and fair forests, impossible to climb or traverse. It is also said that the mountain has nine caverns where immortals dwell. There was a monk of Guiyi Temple, Hongzang, beside Fuxi City in the Great Valley of Lantian, who was bold and courageous. Hearing of this, he went to search for them. Passing days and accumulating nights he circled the mountain ridges, only finding five caverns that were extremely round and clean, as if fashioned by humans, without flaw or crack, seeming as though someone lived there. Furthermore, Dhyāna Master Liao of Guangming Temple also went searching for them and lodged in a cavern for one summer; this is what is now called the Zhaoyang Cavern. It is quite enough to be a great sight in Huazhou and Wangchuan. Yet the Immortal Temple was never seen after all.