In the land of Sanqin, on the Guanzhong Plain, there is a famous mountain.
It is a mountain of stones, towering into the clouds, bordering the Qinling Mountains in the south and Huangwei in the north. In the land of China, it has always been revered as the "root of China", and the elegant name is Taihua.
According to legend, Xiao Shi and Nong Yu and his wife Sheng Zhen and Ming respected each other as guests, and eventually both rode the dragon across the phoenix and lived in seclusion here. In order to save his mother, Agarwood split the mountain with a giant axe, achieving a classic myth. Mr. Jin Yong deliberately implanted this place perfectly into classic martial arts novels such as "The Legend of the Eagle Shooter" and "The Condor Hero", and transformed it into the supreme duel holy land in the martial arts world.
This is Mount Hua, the first mountain in the world of strange dangers.
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Among the famous mountains and rivers in China, Mount Hua is known for its steep mountains and protruding peaks. Unlike the other mountains, this Huashan Mountain, which now stands on the boundary of Shaanxi Province, was at first just a stone in the vast sea.
120 million years ago, due to an orogenic movement, this boulder hidden deep in the seabed was strongly squeezed, then uplifted, and caused many granite intrusions, and over time, under the action of weathering, the rounded giant petrified became an angular mountain, standing between heaven and earth.
Photo| Huashan · Figureworm Creative ©
Huashan, which is transformed by a boulder, is not actually a "self-contained faction". Overlooking the entire Guanzhong land, it can be seen that Mount Hua originated from the Qinling Mountain System, starting from Shangzhou and Lantian areas, winding and winding for more than 500 kilometers.
Sometimes towering and upright, sometimes gentle and gentle, continuous, consisting of six parts, including Shaohua Mountain, QiuShan Mountain, Huaishan Mountain, and Taihua Mountain.
Photo | Huashan Cable Car Route · Splendid human geography mapping
Historical accounts of the origin of the name of Mount Huashan vary. However, it can be seen that it is recorded in the earliest Geographical Works of Shang Shu YuGong in China and the ancient book of Mountains and Seas in the pre-Qin Dynasty. As stated in the Classic of Mountains and Seas: "The mountain of Taihua is cut into four directions, its height is five thousand taels, its breadth is ten miles, and the birds and beasts are not inhabited." With only a few words, it revealed the height and danger of Mount Hua.
According to the "White Tiger Tongyi" written by The Eastern Han Dynasty Ban Gu and others, "Xiyue is the one who is Huashan, and Huazhi is the one who gets the words." All things are born, so it is called Huashan. "Mount Hua is actually the ancient "mountain of acquisition". Because Huashan is located in the Guanzhong Plain, when the Yellow River has not yet been diverted and flooded, it is the earliest "Kingdom of Heavenly Capital" in the land of China, whenever autumn comes, everything matures, from the mountain down, a prosperous and rich scene.
Picture| Autumn Colors of Huashan · Figureworm Creative ©
Another way of saying that Mount Hua has experienced thousands of years of wind erosion, and the thin peaks of Mount Hua look like a lotus flower that blooms to the extreme from a distance. As Li Daoyuan wrote in the "Notes on the Water Classic", this mountain is "far away and looking at it, and it is like a Hua shape", and the ancient "Hua" is through "hua", so it is called "Hua Mountain".
This statement has been quoted many times in the pen of later generations of literati and inkers, such as calling Mount Hua "Lotus Mountain", "Bilian Peak", "Lotus Mountain" and so on. Some people say that the name comes from the lotus pond at the top of Mount Hua. In this regard, the Qing Dynasty poet Zhu Yaonan once left such a verse in the "Record of Huashan": In the pond at the top of the mountain, there are thousands of leaves. Fu no No Hawa, because of the name Huashan.
Photo| Huashan · Photogram Network ©
Today's huashan main body consists of a total of five peaks. According to the orientation, it can be divided into East Peak Chaoyang, West Peak Lotus, South Peak Falling Goose, North Peak Yuntai, Middle Peak Jade Girl, in these 5 peaks, the peaks from the four directions of southeast, southwest and northwest around the middle peak, in the shape of the stars arching the moon, the distant view is like a flower, called Mount Hua, just right.
Photo| Huayin City under Mount Hua · Photogram Network ©
With the protection of Mount Hua, the names of nearby places have also changed. As the so-called", "landscape yin and yang", in the north of Mount Hua, under the shady slope where the sun cannot shine, this place is called Huayin County. In the south of Mount Hua, the place facing the sunny slope is named Huayang.
What's more, Mr. Zhang Taiyan believes that the origin of today's Chinese national culture also began in Huashan. It is said that China's first hereditary dynasty, Xia, whose ancestors lived for generations at the foot of the rich Huashan Mountain, took "Huashan as the limit, and named its land Yuehua", collectively known as Huaxia.
Picture | Relief of Xia Dynasty Civilization · Figureworm Creative ©
Of course, from the geographical point of view, the Huashan area can also be called "a place where soldiers must fight". To the west of Mount Hua is the Xihe area, a strategic area in the pre-Qin period. For the old Qin people, the Xihe area can be called the key to the Qin state. Those who get the west river, the east can get the world. Otherwise, the loss of the Xihe region would seriously restrict the development of the Qin state.
Perhaps it is for this reason that from the Spring and Autumn Warring States period onwards, successive emperors such as Qin Shi Huang, Emperor Wu of Han, Tang Xuanzong, etc. came here to hold large-scale sacrifices and honor mountain gods.
The ruins of the Warring States Wei Great Wall, the ruins of the Great Wall of Wei start from the west of the Yuandong of the Huashan Dynasty in the south, and wind north according to the terrain, which is the dividing line between the Qin state and the Wei state during the Warring States period · Figureworm Creative ©
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Mount Hua is called Xiyue,along with Mount Taishan of Dongyue, but it began in the Eastern Zhou Dynasty. At that time, king Ping of Zhou moved the country to the east, and Mount Hua was west of Luoyang in Eastern Zhou, so it was called "Xiyue".
Later, the Qin and Han dynasties successively set the capitals of Xianyang and Chang'an, and Mount Hua was higher than the two places. As a result, Mount Hua is no longer known as Xiyue. It was not until the Eastern Han Dynasty, when Emperor Guangwu of Han moved the capital to Luoyang again, that Mount Hua was able to restore the title of "Xiyue" and continue to use it today.
Photo| Huashan Mountain Trail · Figureworm Creative ©
However, this did not hinder the determination of successive emperors to seal The Mountain of Zen. During the non-"Xiyue" period, Emperor Wu of han personally visited Mount Hua to worship the mountain gods. Due to the towering and dangerous Mount Hua, in order to ensure the safety of the emperor, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty could only overlook Mount Hua in the distance and worship the mountain gods. At the foot of Mount Hua, south of today's Dongqiaoying Village on the Luofu River, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty ordered the construction of the Jiling Palace as an altar for worshipping Mount Hua, and stipulated that thereafter it would be worshipped four times a year on time to show the value of Mount Hua.
Out of respect and trust for the god of Mount Huashan, Emperor Wudi of the Han Dynasty also set up a large national granary for storing and transporting grain for the capital Chang'an, and used the Huashan Mountain to guard it to ensure that the frontline soldiers received certain guarantees during the conquest for the country.
Under the protection of Mount Hua, during the reign of Emperor Wu of Han, he fought south and south Vietnam, attacked the Xiongnu in the north, swallowed Korea in the east, and sent envoys to the western region, pushing the prosperity of the Han Dynasty to the peak.
Photo| Sculpture of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty · Figureworm Creative ©
Because of this, the tradition of the emperor worshipping the god Huashan mountain was continued. During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the sacrifice of Mount Hua was formally determined, and the sacrifices that had previously been held in the Jiling Palace were also transferred to the new Xiyue Temple.
Today, Xiyue Temple is known as the "Small Forbidden City of Shaanxi" in the local area, because all generations of emperors have expanded and added to this temple dedicated to the god of Mount Huashan, making it form a palace-like main building facing north and south facing the main peak of Mount Hua, such as Xiyue Temple, Yuquan Temple, and Baiyue Altar.
Photo| Xiyue Temple · Figureworm Creative ©
The respect of the emperor also led to the flow of people in the Huashan area. Along the many yu roads at the foot of Mount Hua, the literati of the old days, such as Yang Zhen and Gao Hui of the Han Dynasty; Kou Qianzhi and Wang Meng of the Wei and Jin Dynasties; and even Wang Hongzhuo and Gu Yanwu of the Ming and Qing Dynasties, all liked to visit the mountains and rivers here, and built houses and gardens, and wrote poems.
Under the interaction of emperors and celebrities, the Taoist belief in Xiyue Huashan was formed. Classic myths such as the ancient Chinese "Agarwood Saving Mother" are also created against the backdrop of Mount Hua. Among the thirty-six caves in the Taoist world, Mount Hua ranked fourth, with seventy-two and a half caves and more than twenty palace views, becoming a famous Taoist immortal mountain.
Photo| Yuquan Temple · Figureworm Creative ©
According to the immortal environment envisioned by the ancients, the first group of Daoist monks to enter the cultivation of Mount Hua began to build and construct like craftsmen. On the hard stones, the Taoist monks relied on the simple tools in their hands to carve out a dangerous path of about 12 kilometers long on the cliff cliff with a slope of nearly 90 degrees, known as "a road from Guhua Mountain".
The ancients thought that the gate of the Celestial Realm was the South Heavenly Gate. Therefore, on this road to the "wonderland", the people who came here to open the mountain also transplanted the mythical signs such as the South Heavenly Gate, the Zongtianyi Gate, and the Tianjie To Huashan Perfectly, becoming the landmark buildings on the hiking trail.
Photo| Huashan South Tianmen · Photogram Network ©
After the painstaking excavation of the Huashan Daoists, the literati and inkers of the past generations no longer need to look at the mountains and sigh. Following in the footsteps of the Taoist monks, they can also climb this steep "ancient version of Mount Everest" as they please.
When Taoism ushered in the peak of development in the Tang and Song dynasties, Li Bai, Du Fu, Han Yu, Jia Dao, Su Shi and other poets climbed Mount Hua and left ink treasures.
Photo| Huashan Stone Carvings · Figureworm Creative ©
But it's not easy to climb the stairs along this trail. Here, the great scholar Han Yue of the Tang Dynasty was frightened to the point that his legs were weak, and he threw a letter at Canglongling, where the hiking trail must pass, waiting for rescue, leaving a anecdote about Han Retiring's surrender.
Compared with Han Yu's timidity, another famous poet from the Tang Dynasty, Li Bai, seemed to be a little idle when he climbed Mount Hua.
It is said that after Li Bai, who was not valued politically, left Chang'an and went straight to Mount Hua. After coming to Mount Hua, he sometimes visited the miracles of the Immortal Cave, sometimes talked with the mountain dwellers, maintained the posture of sightseeing in the mountains, and climbed the west peak of Huashan Mountain, leaving a poem to show his extraordinary and free life: "The immortal of jade truth, when he goes to Taihua Peak." In the morning, the sky drum is sounded, and the double dragon soars. Don't quit the electricity, the cloud is gone. When to enter the chamber, the Queen Mother should meet. ”
Photo | Huashan Porter · Figureworm Creative ©
In order to follow the highest realm of the "Tao", the Daoist monks who climbed the rock chose the most bitter belief in Taoism and became a true Taoist monk, under the leadership of the founder Wang Chongyang Daochang, they advocated a cultivation career of equal emphasis on merit and deeds, purity and tranquility, selflessness and widowhood, paying attention to self-interest, leaving nothing but hair.
Hao Datong, who inherited Wang Chongyang's mantle, dug a hole in the Huashan Mountains to redefine the spiritual life of the self-interested. In addition to living in people, you can also properly hide the Taoist classics in them to avoid sun and rain.
Under his leadership, the Quanzhen Sect developed the Huashan Sect. Different from Jin Yong's martial arts novels, the Quanzhen Sect of Huashan is guided by the I Ching, and there are relatively few sword martial arts, most of which are the cultivation of internal martial arts, supplemented by the essence of Daofa and the combination of yin and yang.
Picture | Taoist · Figureworm Creative ©
Therefore, the Daoist monk of Mount Hua, who has no worries, walks lightly between the peaks, and can pass through the Ten Thousand Heavy Mountains in an instant. With the continuous arrival of literati and scholars, the originally quiet and indifferent cultivation life has become a little noisy. Under the influence of The Taoists' inaction, the Taoists believed that they had come out again.
It took 40 years for the Yuan Dynasty to hang on the mountainside on the east side of today's South Peak of Mount Hua, a long sky boardwalk hanging on the cliff of Wanling and made of stone nails and wooden shafts came out of nowhere. The entire boardwalk is divided into three sections, and as soon as you step on it, you face the cliff. When He Zhizhen built the boardwalk, he first dug a hole, the hole was divided into two layers, after the hole above was chiseled, wedgeed into a stone pile, tied to a rope, which could be grasped by hand; after the hole below was chiseled, it was also drilled into a stone pile, and a wooden rafter was placed between the two stone piles, which was fixed and could be stepped on. Through this place, Taoist monks can go to more tranquil places of practice.
The danger of the long sky boardwalk has deterred countless literati and scholars. The space deliberately vacated by the Taoists of Huashan allows more poets, painters, travelers, etc. to enjoy the scenery of Huashan Mountain.
In 1383, the 52-year-old Wang Lu dragged his sick and weak body, carried a picture clip, rode a donkey from his Xi'an apartment, and braved the sweltering heat to rush to Mount Hua day and night. Although he had copied the paintings of four or five famous artists before, he lacked his own unique style, and his works in his life were unremarkable.
Photo | Huashan Dawn, Fenwei Plain, Yellow River, Weihe River in full view · Figureworm Creative ©
He believes that artistic feelings originate from the objective world, that is, "my teacher's heart, my heart's teacher's eye, and my teacher's huashan". Relying on his memory, Wang Lu re-depicted the majesty of the scenery of Mount Hua with a rough and majestic brush, and achieved the "Album Collection of Huashan Atlas" with a high level of painting style and art.
It is precisely because of the understanding of Wang Lu's feelings for Huashan that The late Ming Dynasty traveler Xu Xiake visualized this shape when he ascended Mount Hua, leaving a "Diary of Touring Taihua Mountain" for posterity, leaving the world with a guide to huashan.
Picture | Huashan Night · Figureworm Creative ©
Due to the steepness of Mount Hua, ancient emperors and celebrities always encountered various difficulties in order to see its true face. In modern times, the "natural danger" of Mount Hua has also been revealed in the war.
At that time, on the eve of liberation, the remnants of the Kuomintang army that had been severely damaged by our army in the "Battle of Shaanxi Central" fled to Mount Hua, guarded the hiking trail of Mount Hua, and stubbornly resisted.
Image| Statue of the Eight Warriors of Mount Hua · Photogram Network ©
Fortunately, the reconnaissance detachment of a certain regiment of the People's Liberation Army bypassed the front of Mount Hua, climbed the mountain from the back mountain, climbed cliffs and cliffs along the way, flew across the dangerous situation of the overpass, took advantage of the night to touch the north peak, raided the defending enemy, and then controlled the passage between the north peak and the west peak, Canglong Ridge, and met with the large troops who heard the news and rushed here to attack the west peak of Huashan, so that they could completely annihilate the enemy who was defending the mountain.
In view of this, in the 1980s, the state selected the right distance from the original MOUNTAINE mountaineering route of the People's Liberation Army, dug steps, and strengthened iron chains, forming the second road to the north peak of Mount Hua today, Zhizhi Huashan Road, for tourists to experience the dangers of Mount Hua. Since then, Huashan has been more than one road since ancient times.
Photo| Huashan and the Cable Car · Figureworm Creative ©
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When people mention Huashan, they lament the height, danger, and absoluteness of its mountain, and there is also a word that appears more frequently - "Huashan on the Sword". In martial arts novels, the hero dances the gun and uses Huashan as a ring, and in real life, Huashan's sword can also be derived to the highest realm of communication.
In fact, Mr. Jin Yong, who coined the term, did not go to Mount Hua in his early years, and his creation was inspired by the culture of western China that he was familiar with. The legend of western China and the personality charm of the residents of the western region have endowed the sword of Huashan with Guo Jing's heroic spirit and great righteousness.
Picture| Huashan on the Sword · Figureworm Creative ©
In Jin Yong's pen, the three times the Huashan Sword Theory occurred in the Southern Song Dynasty, and it was not until 2003, eight hundred years after the background of the story in the book, that he really climbed the north peak of Mount Hua in reality and achieved the fourth "Huashan Sword".
Flying from Hong Kong to Shaanxi and ascending Mount Hua, Jin Yong, who was already eighty years old at the time, staggered, but his spirit was strong. The local television station invited Yan Jiayan, a professor at Peking University, Jia Pingwa, a writer, and Zhang Ji, a director, to meet with Jin Yong in a book, talk about heroes and discuss swords, and also set three difficulties for Mr. Jin Yong - beauty pass, wine pass, and odd game pass.
The last level is set up by the Go master Nie Weiping for the chess friend Jin Yong personally set up a strange game, only one step of chess can pass, quite a bit of "Zhenlong chess game" fun. Jin Yong saw his Go teacher Nie Weiping and smiled and said, "The subordinates are merciful." After that, Jin Yong easily passed the pass, but Nie Weiping was embarrassed by Mount Hua, and due to physical discomfort during the climbing process, he had to go down the mountain first. In this discussion of the sword, Jin Yong was not only elected as the "Lord of the Wulin Alliance", but also left his handprint on the cliff of the North Peak of Mount Hua forever.
Wang Luxiang, a scholar who presided over the Huashan discourse on the sword, commented that Jin Yong's depiction of the Huashan discourse on the sword three times is a deep progression of his understanding of the martial arts realm. Initially, the five masters went to the top of Mount Hua to compete, only to divide the highs and lows, but later, huashan on the sword was no longer obsessed with who was the first in the world. The old naughty boy Zhou Botong tried every means to forget his martial arts, but he could not ask for it, the great hero Guo Jing served the country for the people, stubbornly defended Xiangyang, and after the city was destroyed, he was martyred, and Yang Guo and Xiaolongnü became gods and heroines, and disappeared from the rivers and lakes.
Photo| Huashan Star Orbit · Figureworm Creative ©
Some people come to Huashan to explore, taking in the scenery of "only the sky is on the top, and there is no mountain and Qi", and some people come to visit, but they climb to a dangerous place and return halfway. The majesty and danger of Mount Hua, like a spiritual belief, climbing Mount Hua is like a "sword on Mount Hua" that talks with oneself, not for winning or losing, but for the detachment of the self.
On the first day of hiking, the dangerous long sky boardwalk, holding your breath, in pursuit of the figure of the retreat. Climb to the North Peak, enlighten the spiritual realm of the Sword of Mount Hua, and recall the legend of the strange soldier leaping over the heavens and outsmarting Mount Hua.
Photo | Huashan Cable Car · Figureworm Creative ©
In recent years, the newly built Taihua Ropeway, which runs through the cliffs of Mount Hua, is another magnificent perspective to see the majesty of Mount Hua. The more dangerous the situation, the more people are at risk. The five peaks are towering, allowing the world to find the courage of self, which may be the meaning of Mount Hua's majesty here.
Follow the mountain path walked by emperors, literati and Taoists, climb the dangerous world of Mount Hua, get drunk, and dream of heroes and heroes throughout the ages.
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Resources
Xiao Dongfa: The Cultural Legend of China's Five Mountains, Modern Publishing House, 2015
Li Pan and Guohua: Geography of Jin Yongjiang lake, New World Press, 2009
Sun Yifan: Visiting Ancient Mountains, Research Press, 2013
Wen Kunning, "Research on the Daily Life History of Taoists in Huashan Mountain, Xiyue", Master's Thesis of Shaanxi Normal University, May 2015
Nan Zhifang: "Research on the Tourism History of Huashan Mountain in Xiyue", Master's Thesis of Shaanxi Normal University, May 2017
Tao Lan, "Four Themes of Dialogue over Three DifficultIes, Jin Yonghuashan on The Sword shed tears for love", Beijing Youth Daily, October 9, 2003