The legend of the "fairy cave" of Wolf Mountain
Sentence | Mid-summer
Panorama of Wolf Mountain, taken in Banxia
Speaking of the Great Sage Sangha, since the design of a robe drove away the white wolf spirit, in the Wolf Mountain all over the Ganlin, spread compassion, relief and distress, the people of Tongzhou and the surrounding state capitals are grateful for the grace, and the Wolf Mountain is enshrined as the dojo of the Great Sage Bodhisattva. People rushed to the Great Temple on the top of Wolf Mountain to offer incense. Since then, the Wolf Mountain has spread to the north and south, and has become a Buddhist resort on the north bank of the Yangtze River.
Harmony with the two immortals and the fairy cave
Nantong Langshan Mountain
Fushan in the south of the Yangtze River is inhabited by two smiling and unkempt monks, one holds a lotus leaf lotus, the homonym is "and", and the other holds a treasure box, the homonym is "he", they are called "two immortals of harmony", and they are the happy gods in charge of human marriage. Hearing the melodious bells and drums on the other side of the river and witnessing the flourishing incense of Wolf Mountain, they were very hot and itchy, so they quietly crossed the river and came to Wolf Mountain. The two immortals of harmony come, in front of the mountain and behind the mountain, lotus flowers bloom everywhere, as if entering the fairyland. The petals are as white as snow, the stamens are brilliant, and the lotus flowers are swaying, like a pair of handsome men and beautiful women dancing, exuding a faint fragrance. The good men and women were intoxicated, stopped, and were dazzled, and for a while, they all forgot about the upcoming Dharma event held by the Wolf Mountain Great Temple. The Great Sage Bodhisattva knew that this was a deliberate attempt by the two immortals of Hehe to make trouble, so he held a Zen staff in his hand, walked out of the Great Temple, and walked to the gate of the big mountain in the Zhiyun Pagoda Courtyard. Seeing the Great Sage Bodhisattva come out, the two immortals of Hehe knew that they were at a loss, so they turned around and fled. The two of them panicked, and actually ran in the wrong direction and got under the cliff at the northern foot of Wolf Mountain. Seeing that there was nowhere to hide, the two immortals had to open a mountain and split a hole on the spot, fled from the bottom of the river, and quietly returned to Fushan in the south of the Yangtze River.
Zhiyun Pagoda Courtyard Grand View Terrace Banxia photograph
The two immortals of Hehe escaped and returned, and under the partridge rock at the northern foot of the wolf mountain, the famous "fairy cave" was drilled. Since then, the Wolf Mountain Xianren Cave has become a "tunnel" at the bottom of the river that communicates the north of the river and the south of the Yangtze River, and it is also very convenient for people on both sides of the strait to travel from south to north. How many years have passed, but unexpectedly, some bad people have bad intentions and occupy the immortal cave to seek wealth and robbery, and the Great Sage Bodhisattva was furious and blocked the cave, leaving only the entrance of the cave that is narrow on the outside and deep on the inside.
Wolf Mountain Immortal Cave Banxia photograph
The story of the Wolf Mountain Immortal Cave has been circulated among the people of Nantong since ancient times. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, the Nantong people who loved to travel to the Wolf Mountain engraved the three words "fairy cave" at the entrance of the cave, engraved the magical legend into the long river of time, and left an ancient cultural memory for us today. However, the Wolf Mountain Immortal Cave is not only a legend, but also an important geological relic, which, like many caves in the Wolf Five Mountains, has witnessed the vicissitudes of the Yangtze River estuary for hundreds of millions of years.
Geographical origin of sea caves
Nantong Langshan Mountain
We might as well look back at the long history of the Wolf Five Mountains, 200 million years ago, in a geological activity called the Indochinese Movement, the primitive Wolf Five Mountains emerged, 100 million years ago in the Yanshan Movement, the Wolf Five Mountains broke off into the current Banping Mountain, 25 million years ago in the Himalayan Movement, the Wolf Five Mountains gradually sank to the current height. The Wolf Five Mountains have endured hundreds of millions of years of cold and warm cycles of the Earth's climate, and for most of the time, they are five islands hanging alone over the waves of the East China Sea. From 7,500 to 6,000 years ago, with the formation of the Yangtze River Delta, they were gradually embraced by the Yangtze River, and it was not until the Northern Song Dynasty Tiansheng more than 1,000 years ago that they began to land one after another and gradually walked onto the Jianghai Plain. The ruthless flow of time, and the magic of nature, have left a deep mark of vicissitudes on the rock cliffs of Wolf Five Mountain. The raging waves wash over the mountain, tiring and protracted, endlessly, creating many sea caves of different depths and shapes. Sea caves are caves on cliffs near the sea that have been eroded by seawater, and they are completely different from the caves formed by chemical dissolution in inland areas. The dissolution of seawater and the erosion of the waves accumulate over the years, causing the cracks in the rocks to change from small to large, and gradually break down, some dig out narrow and deep "sea caves", and some form wide and shallow "sea erosion niches" that are recessed like niches.
Wolf Mountain Sunset Cave Banxia photograph
Other caves in the Wolf Five Mountains
Nantong Langshan Mountain
The fairy cave at the northern foot of Wolf Mountain, the entrance of the cave is narrow outside and deep inside, which is a typical sea cave. Under the Partridge Rock, there is a sunset hole in the northeast of the fairy cave, whenever the sun sets, the afterglow of the sunset is sprinkled all over the inside and outside. The entrance to this cave is narrow, but the inside is very large and spacious, and the ancients even called it the "Thousand People Cave", which is also a typical sea cave. Behind the sunset cave, there is a wide and shallow Chaoyang cave facing east, which is a typical sea erosion niche, and its stone wall is engraved with the word "lion's den", because there is a huge stone in front of it, like a lion squatting with its head high.
There is also a sea erosion niche at the northern foot of Junshan, although it is shallow, it is wide and high, like a gate into the mountain, so it is called "the gate of the big mountain". There is also a "Yanzhen Cave" at the southeast foot of the military mountain, this hole is slightly shallow and wide, can accommodate dozens of people to stand, it is said that there is a Taoist priest Yan Fan in the Song Dynasty who lives in seclusion and practices here, the earlier Taoist relics in this Wushan area are also a sea erosion niche.
Junshan Dashan Gate is taken in the middle of summer
Junshan Yanzhen Cave Banxia photograph
Many of the caves at the southeast foot of Jianshan Mountain are named after the scenery of the sea, recording their smoky past during the island period. There is a swallow hole under the double peak, and there are many petrels nesting here in those years. To the south of the swallow cave, there is a deep and unfathomable sea cave, before the Jianshan surrounding became a land, the entrance of the cave was once a check-in place for the ancestors of Nantong to enjoy the sea view. Whenever the sun rises, the golden light flickers on the waves, and the ancients linger here, leaving many psalms of praise. There is also the Bodhi Cave at the southeast foot of Jianshan Mountain, it is said that there was an old monk who pinched the Bodhi Zi in his hand to participate in Zen in this day and night, and here became the relics of Buddhism in the early days of the Five Mountains. There is an otter cave at the bottom left of the Bodhi Cave, and the entrance of the cave must be turned sideways to enter, and the deeper the hole becomes. In the past, the waves crashed against the cliff wall, and the sea water poured into the hole, and otters often sneaked in with the tide, hence the name. Otters are amphibious and prefer to live in secluded cave shoals and feed on small fish. In the Ming Dynasty, the Japanese invaders on the sea landed on the shore to burn and kill and loot, and the common people in the vicinity often went into the cave to hide, so the otter cave was also commonly known as the "Japanese cave".
Jianshan Bodhi Cave Banxia photograph
Ma'anshan Zhuxian Cave Banxia photograph
There is Zhuxian Cave in the most secluded place at the northern foot of Ma'anshan, according to legend, in the Song Dynasty, it was the resting place of the dignitaries of Tongzhou and Taishou who traveled to the five mountains of the wolf. There is also Taoyuan Cave next to Zhuxian Cave, during the Ming and Qing Dynasties, people planted peach trees in front of the cave, as if they were in Wuling Peach Blossom Spring. Nowadays, every peach blossom season, the petals at the northern foot of Ma'anshan are like rain, visitors stroll in the peach forest, indulge in the mountains and rivers, and seem to have entered the paradise on earth, the dream world.
Each sea cave in the Wolf Five Mountains is not only a mark of history, but also a cultural accumulation, all of which embody rich historical heritage and profound cultural connotation. Nowadays, these sea caves have become the most unique natural landscape of Wolf Mountain, leading countless tourists to travel through time and space, explore the long past hidden between mountains and rivers, feel the magical charm of nature, and appreciate the timeless charm of harmonious coexistence between man and nature in Nantong Wolf Mountain National Forest Park.
END
Source: Nantong Cultural Innovation and Research Center