There are many strange stories of the "Nine Old Caves" in Emei Mountain, Sichuan, and it is creepy to hear, and the earliest one dates back to more than 90 years ago.
One day in the fifth month of the lunar calendar in 1927, a group of good men and women from Fushun County, Sichuan Province, donated a large bell and blew it all the way to Jiulao Cave, where they prepared to place the bell in the "Sanxiao Cave" behind Jiulao Cave.
After the people came to the mouth of the cave, they beat gongs and drums, and also sang the Sichuan opera drum "Three Xiao Counts and Balance the Yellow River Array" for the three immortal maidens enshrined in the cave: Jin Xiao, Yin Xiao and Bi Xiao.
The abbot of the small temple of Sanxiaodong, the monk", felt inappropriate, and he advised the crowd: "The Buddhist temple is a quiet place, and if it is noisy like this, the three ladies and ladies will probably blame it." ”
The crowd disagreed: "Singing in the temple and singing pilgrimage, since ancient times, the ladies and ladies are too late to be happy, how can they blame it?" ”
Three Xiao Niangniang
As a result, the cave was full of incense wax, cigarette smoke, gongs and drums, and people sang and danced, roared and sang.
Just as the crowd was singing and dancing, suddenly, there was a loud noise. I saw a string of red and yellow flames, like a fire dragon, accompanied by a huge thunderclap, coming out from the bottom of the cave. In an instant, the cave turned into a sea of fire.
The good men and women screamed incessantly and fled. Unfortunately, because the entrance to the cave was too small, only a few people escaped, and most of them were swallowed up by the sea of fire. It was rumored that 74 people were killed at the time.
On a stone stele excavated in 1992, a list of the victims at that time was recorded, including the monk "Yankong", 3 monks and many believers, a total of 49 people with names and surnames, and the inscription was paid in april of the lunar calendar in 1928.
Monument to the Shipwreck in Sanxiao Cave
How many people died in the cave at that time? Survivors are also unclear.
According to their descriptions, newspapers and periodicals across the country have reported on the incident under the titles of "The Massacre of the Three Xiaodong Caves on Mount Emei" and "The Appearance of the Lady of the Three Xiaos of Mount Emei, More Than Seventy People Lost Their Lives."
This mysterious incident is making a lot of noise in the local area. Emei and Fushun counties immediately sent working groups to investigate, but they found nothing when they came and went, so they had to order the sealing of the Sanxiao Cave and the demolition of the Niangniang Temple at the mouth of the cave.
Where did the fire come from? Is it really the ladies who are angry and appear to be holy? Nearby villagers are convinced.
Fan Meiqing, a professor at West China University, gave the answer in a later investigation.
He believes that it was the bells, drums, and noises of the crowd that shook the "miasma" (poisonous gas generated by the decay of animals and plants) in the cave, and the incense ignited these toxic gases, resulting in an explosion.
Others have also analyzed that it may be that the cave is full of incense candles, candles and the breathing of nearly a hundred people exhaust oxygen, causing a gas explosion... Exactly what happened is still inconclusive.
Emei Mountain belongs to the karst terrain, and there are many caves in the mountains, and jiulao caves can be regarded as the first caves in the mountains.
The mouth of the Nine Old Caves
The caves in jiulao cave are small and numerous, and the holes are full of holes and holes, such as a labyrinth. According to the literature, since the 4th century AD, there have been many famous heroes who have lived in the cave. From ancient times to the present, it has attracted countless people to explore.
In 1936, a man named Zhu Qi recorded in his travelogue that he and his friends held flashlights and entered with three or five companions. When you first enter the cave, you are like smoke and fog, and the number of bats is amazing. Further ahead, you need to crawl forward, the fog is thick and wet, and there is no end in the cave.....
Jucci concluded by saying that it was thanks to their markings at the fork in the road that they were able to return. He estimated that he, that is, the entrance to the cave was not deep, and he came out with a turn, because it was too terrible inside.
The mouth of Jiulao Cave is in the shape of a "human" character, and the height is about 4 meters. After people go in, the passage that can walk upright is only more than 100 meters, and the average person walks here, and then stops, and then goes inside, can't get up straight, and can't tell the direction at all.
Inside the Nine Old Caves
In 1956, 10 teachers and students from the Department of Biology of Sichuan University entered the cave to collect specimens and found a dry corpse in the cave.
Emei public security sent 5 cadres and policemen, loaded with guns and live ammunition, with enough dry food, and climbed in the cave for 3 days, but there was no result. Later, he warned the outside world not to easily enter the Nine Old Caves.
How many people entered the cave in the meantime is unknown. But a single distress of three Kunming students really made everyone nervous.
On July 24, 1983, two male students from Kunming Medical College and one female student from Kunming Normal College temporarily decided to enter Jiulao Cave without any expeditionary equipment while visiting Mount Emei.
Soon after they entered the cave, they got lost. After running out of candles and food, they climbed in the dark cave for 8 days, relying on the water in the cave to maintain their lives, and the three of them recognized themselves and wrote a suicide note in despair.
On the 9th day, the girl's weak cry for help at one of the openings was heard by a tourist who informed an old monk, who again called in patrol armed police and rescued them. At this time, all three were dying.
Shortly after the three students were in distress, in September 1983, Kong Jichuan, an employee of the Leshan Post and Telecommunications Bureau, and seven other people rescued a 19-year-old young man from Yibin, Jiang Ziqiang, from a depth of 700 meters in the cave. At this time, according to him, 15 days had passed since he was trapped in the cave, and when he came out, the man was in shock.
At the time, newspapers reported that three Kunming students were in distress
In August 2005, the Leshan Evening News also reported on a rescue deed.
Rick, an American student, went to the cave alone to explore. Qin Zhengxiang, a staff member of the Xianfeng Temple Management Station, saw that he had not returned for a long time, worried that he would have an accident, and two armed police soldiers entered the Jiulao Cave, and 3 people rescued the dying Rick in a cave more than 300 meters deep.
After a number of incidents of tourists being trapped, the 207 geological team of the Sichuan Bureau of Geology and Mineral Resources decided to take a moment to this mysterious cave.
They want to know, how deep is the Nine Old Caves? How many caves are there? How many undercurrents are there in the cave? How many animals survive? How many people are lost in the hole and can't get out?
The 13-person team showed that Jiulao Cave was once an underground river. Millions of years of erosion, cutting, and crust elevation have created a bizarre cave landscape.
In the passage that extends downward for more than 1500 meters, there are a total of 67 large and small caves, some of which are interconnected and some of which are not connected, which is simply a ecstasy array, and it is difficult for ordinary people to get out.
The geological expedition team also filmed this process into a documentary "Exploration of the Nine Old Caves".
Group photo at the mouth of the cave after the inspection team of Jiulao Cave in Mount Emei (photographed in June 1986)
According to Liu Huairen and Liu Mingyuan, the team members who participated in the investigation, they walked through all the large and small caves and found 19 recognizable corpses and bones. There are also many severed limb remains that are unrecognizable.
Some copper coins were also found in the cave, rusted into pieces, and there were "Qianlong Tongbao", "Jiaqing Tongbao", "Daoguang Tongbao" and so on. This shows that someone died here a long time ago.
They analyzed that the deceased may have had several situations:
First, venture into the hole, lost.
In the "Shentai" of Marshal Zhao Gong at the mouth of the cave, about 100 meters deep, 5 corpses were found. There are holes in this area, which are labyrinth-shaped. Kunming 3 students got lost in this area.
2. Volunteer to go to the cave to find death.
At the end of two narrow caverns, which are extremely difficult to enter, two skeletons were found. On the rock wall next to the bones, there are also ink pen inscriptions, which can be faintly seen: "Nowadays, people in the world are shallow, and the wine-colored wealth is exhausted", "The Buddhas and Bodhisattvas show their spirits, and bless their parents from disasters and difficulties to a hundred years".
Can bring pen and ink to the inscription in the cave, naturally it will not be a mistake into the death, it is estimated that these two are to find a quiet place to commit suicide.
3. Those who are not well prepared, have fallen into a dead hole or are unable to return.
Inside a T-shaped cave, 5 corpses were found. This T-shaped hole can jump when entering, and it is possible to jump down and fall to death, and if you are not dead, you cannot return.
To the sadness of the expedition, they found the body of a middle school student under a steep cliff like an eagle's beak.
There are also obvious scratches on the cave wall near the body, which can be imagined that the deceased was struggling before he died. Among the relics were flashlights, school bags, fountain pens and a copy of the Code for Secondary School Students.
The rescue team on the mountain said that there were many students in distress in the cave.
The reason is that in 1988, the whole country was setting off a "qigong fever" and a "martial arts fever". Many little boys were fascinated by this, thinking that they could practice divine skills by coming to the mountain.
There was a junior high school sophomore in Chengdu Nine, who was fascinated by what "nine yin white bone claws" and "one yang finger". Sneaking from home into Jiulao Cave, lost in the cave for 3 days, and finally luckily rescued.
The Nine Old Caves are mysteriously said to have nine old gods and immortals who once lived here, attracting countless people to come and observe. It has also made many suicidal and adventurous people regard it as a paradise.
In May 2000, a self-contained man dressed in a neatly dressed green duffel bag was found in a small hole 50 meters behind the Temple of Wealth. The man's suicide note read that he wanted to find a "quiet place."
Director Ding of the Management Office said that according to legend, jiulao cave is the place where immortals meet, and it is also said that after the death of the Tai'an ancestor of Xianfeng Temple, the flesh was preserved in the cave for 200 years without decay, which made many people dream of becoming immortals in the cave...
Emei Mountain, known as "Emei Tianxia Show", is one of the "four famous Buddhist mountains" in the mainland, the scenery is beautiful, although the "Nine Old Caves" legend is mysterious, the management office still reminds everyone: cherish life, listen to advice, and visit safely.