Legend of Qingliang Mountain

Shanxi
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According to legend, the third daughter of Emperor Yang of Sui, Princess Nanyang (commonly known as the Third Princess), was dissatisfied with her father's debauchery and immorality, so she wanted to become a nun and ended up in Baicao Temple. When Emperor Yang of Sui heard about it, he was furious and scolded Princess for insulting the family tradition, and sent troops to burn down Baicao Temple. When the Jade Emperor heard about it, he sent Erlang Shen to rescue her and asked Princess to escape from the sea of fire to the foot of Qingliang Mountain. Erlang Shen's footprints are still left in Qingliang Mountain. Princess woke up from a dream and saw herself lying in the flowers and grass on the hillside. Thinking back to the Baicao Temple with flames rising to the sky, she realized that the gods had saved her, and she hurriedly bowed to the southwest. After bowing, she stood up and saw a small stream flowing in the ravine. Going up the stream and turning around two hills, she saw a pool of clear water at the foot of the mountain with waves. Looking closely, there was a spring in the water that was round and shiny, just like a longan. This was the Qinglong Spring in Qingliang Mountain. Princess held the clear spring in both hands and put it into her mouth, and she felt cool all over. As soon as the princess looked up, she saw a green mountain in her sight. The cliffs and steep walls were covered with pines and cypresses, verdant and green, and the mountains were dotted with flowers and grass, like a green landscape painting. The pines and cypresses had different expressions, standing majestically in the cracks of the cliffs, and they were full of vicissitudes of life. Some were like green dragons exploring the sea, some were like colorful phoenixes flying, some were like clouds and mountains, and some were like waterfalls. On the mountainside, clear springs reflected the blue sky, shallow and lovely. Suddenly, a gust of fairy wind blew, refreshing and pleasant. I saw four dark green characters "Qingliang Shengjing" engraved on the cliff. The princess sighed: What a cool mountain. Going further, there was a theater building built on a high platform, which was about five feet high, two feet wide and more than three feet long. The west building on the platform had carved beams and painted buildings, blue bricks and gray walls, and it was very spectacular facing east and west. After passing the west building and walking a hundred steps west, there is a mountain gate. On the left and right of the gate are two generals, Heng and Ha, who are carved vividly. Through the mountain gate is a small courtyard with towering ancient trees and stone tablets. The courtyard faces a cliff to the north and a cypress to the south. Sitting west and facing east is a beamless hall with a bluestone structure and green tiles and bluestone, which is particularly solemn. The three characters "Gongde Hall" are engraved on the lintel of the door. The statue in the hall is the one-armed and one-legged Qingshan Ye. After the princess bowed, she left the hall and climbed up the steps along the zigzag mountain road. The mountain is divided into three steps. The first step faces west and east and has three caves. Two of them are connected. Above the cave entrance is engraved "Lingyang Shuangyang Cave", and the handwriting is vaguely discernible. The northernmost cave is engraved with "Huanglong Kan". The three caves are about ten feet high, and the stalactites on the four walls have different expressions and are interesting, just like a huge gallery composed of people, mountains, rivers, birds and animals. The Guanyin Bodhisattva who sends children is enshrined in the cave. The first thing that comes into view when you climb the second step is the thousand-year-old lava mural, which is about several feet high and several dozen feet long. Among them, there is a stalactite that looks like a stone cow hanging upside down, and some look like cranes spreading their wings, some look like fish swimming in the water, and some look like silver snakes coming out of the cave. It is really spectacular and ingenious. The Queen admired it and couldn't help but admire it. Going north along the mountain road, you can see a Taoist temple standing in front of you. There is a pavilion built on a stone cave made of bluestone. There are 18 stone steps on the left side of the door. Climbing up the steps, you can see the three words "Baiyun Temple" engraved on the pavilion. When you enter the pavilion, there is a Taoist standing beside it with his eyes closed. The Queen didn't dare to disturb it. She only saw a statue of the Thousand-Handed and Thousand-Eyed Guanyin Bodhisattva in the middle, surrounded by the sixty star gods believed in by Taoism, which correspond to the birth year of each person in the mortal world, that is, the natal star. Visitors must visit the temple to worship the star gods of their natal star on their birthdays, praying for good luck and good fortune, which is called Shunxing. Seeing the colorful offerings on the incense table and the continuous burning of incense, the imperial aunt hurriedly found her own natal star god and burned incense and kowtowed. After going down the pavilion and passing through the cave, she continued to go north. There was a huge mountain ridge, which was several feet high and had a huge rock protruding more than three feet. The ridge could accommodate two or three hundred people. Inside the ridge, facing west and east, there was a treasure hall with flying eaves, brackets, carved beams and painted buildings, which was magnificent. The golden glazed tiles were very spectacular. The huge plaque on the door read "Haotian Treasure Hall". The imperial aunt then realized that this was where the Jade Emperor was. She entered the hall and burned incense and kowtowed. She saw the Jade Emperor sitting in the middle with a solemn and majestic look, with clouds and dragons flying above his head. There were all kinds of offerings on the incense table, and there were eternal lamps on both sides. The incense in the furnace was overflowing, and the strokes on the wall were vaguely discernible, like a picture of the gods in the sky. After walking north for more than a hundred steps from the temple, there is a one- or two-story pavilion, built on a cliff, extremely steep, and as if it is about to fly into the air. Going into the building, you can see a bronze bell and a golden drum hanging above, knowing that it is the bell and drum tower. Going through the cave and heading north, you can see a ladder hanging on the northern cliff, surrounded by clouds and mist, like climbing to the sky. There are iron railings on the outside of the cliff to block it. Below is a cliff of ten thousand feet. The princess climbed up the ladder and felt dizzy and broke out in a cold sweat. It was not easy to turn to the Jade Emperor Peak, which is the third step of Qingliang Mountain. But you can see that the Jade Emperor Peak is flat, with a hundred acres of wide land and flowers and plants everywhere. The princess was amazed. Standing on the top of the mountain and looking into the distance at the west, the outline of the entire West Mountain in the hazy mountains is like a goddess lying on her back in the sky. The princess thought to herself that this is God's help for me. As a daughter, this mountain is not the same as the goddess standing still. Could it be that the Jade Emperor secretly helped me, and my fate is set!

Intangible culture related to the heritage

China tourist attractions related to the heritage