Cuoshi Mountain Park

Cuoshi Mountain Park

When you come to Haicheng and wish to take in the city’s natural beauty, there are actually many such places, and Cuoshi Mountain Park is one of them. Visiting Cuoshi Mountain Park not only allows you to enjoy the tranquility of green pines and cypresses amid the bustling urban life, but also lets you feel the classical charm and poetic elegance that permeate the park.

Cuoshi Mountain Park has a history of nearly a hundred years, dating back to the 32nd year of the Qing Dynasty. At that time, Guan Fenghe, the county magistrate of Haicheng, raised 6,000 taels of silver to build the park in order to enrich the cultural life of the local people. Although the park covers an area of nearly 30,000 square meters, which may seem small, “a mountain need not be high to be famous if there is a deity on it, nor does a water body need to be deep to be spiritual if there is a dragon in it.” At an elevation of just 49.9 meters, Cuoshi Mountain is indeed home to deities and dragons, brimming with spiritual energy. As early as 1964, Mr. Li Chenglan, then deputy head of the Haicheng County government, borrowed a line from the famous ancient scholar Fan Zhongyan to write the inscription “Be the first to worry about the world’s troubles and the last to enjoy its pleasures” above the park’s entrance as a moral reminder to the locals. Today, however, the ink has faded with no trace remaining.

Upon entering the park gate, the first thing that greets visitors is the “Glazed Screen Wall.” In the sunlight, it displays its former glory with an imposing imperial flair. This glazed screen wall stands 4.39 meters tall, 6 meters wide, and 0.8 meters thick. Its roof features a double-slope design with ridges adorned with green-glazed brick curls shaped like clouds, and beneath the ridges are rows of green-glazed tiles. The eaves are decorated with round tile pillars and drip tiles, and at each end of the ridge sits a green-glazed mythical beast. The body of the wall has four lotus-shaped pendant column heads, each topped with a square plaque arranged in a 5-3-1 pattern, with green-glazed brackets adding accents. On the northern and southern sides of the wall are panels composed of auspicious motifs, with curling grass and fish patterns in the corners. The panels depict various plants and animals such as pine trees, bamboo, lingzhi mushrooms, and deer. The southern panel features designs titled “Crane and Deer in Spring,” “Firm Bamboo in Cold Wind,” and “Peaceful Bamboo”; the northern side includes “Qilin Gazing at the Sun,” “Officials Receiving Seals,” and “Promotion by Three Ranks,” all conveying beautiful symbolism. Each design is brightly colored and lifelike. On the upper left of the northern panel is carved the inscription: “Constructed and repaired on the day of the valley in the second month of the year Xinchou, the 21st year of the Daoguang reign (1841).” Whether in terms of architectural style or the decorative use of glaze, this screen wall is truly a treasured piece of folk-glazed architecture.

The Complete Chronicles of Liaoyang, a book compiled during the Ming Dynasty, records: “Haizhou Guard City, encircled by a wall 6 li and 53 odd steps in circumference, 3 zhang and 2 chi in height, with East Mountain located within the city.” A mountain within a city is quite a spectacle. Though small, the mountain is lush with trees and features exposed bedrock, naturally forming a serene garden landscape amidst the urban bustle. At the mountaintop stands the Wenchang Pavilion, though its origins remain unknown as to which dynasty it dates back to. After the Xinhai Revolution, as social customs became more open, efforts were made to provide residents with a leisure and sightseeing space. Thus, the area from the southwest of the Wenchang Pavilion down to the mountain foot was turned into a park. Entering through the gate and ascending northward to the mountaintop, the Wenchang Pavilion comes into view. It is a brick-and-timber structure, a two-story building with a traditional hip-and-gable roof, giving it the appearance of a temple. In front of the lofty pavilion are flower stands, pavilions, and ponds, all part of the delicately designed gardens that offer visitors immense enjoyment. Though the park is not spacious, it has all the essential pavilions, towers, and richly varied plants and strange rocks, making it a true scenic gem. Along the mountain path hangs a wooden frame with an iron cloud plate resembling an anchor. It bears the inscription: “Tianming Tenth Year of the Great Jin, Year of Yichou (1625), Niuzhuang.” Other relics from the early Qing Dynasty and the era of Nurhaci are now housed in the Shenyang Imperial Palace. Though the county may be small, literary scholars once gathered at the Wenchang Pavilion to form poetry clubs and fill the pavilion walls with layers of their verses.

Next to the Wenchang Pavilion stands a building resembling an incense burner, known as the “Unexpected Joy Pagoda,” also called the “Paper Burner.” Legend has it that it was built by several monks. The burner is divided into upper and lower levels: the upper level houses a jade Buddha, while the lower level was used to burn official documents and archives—functionally similar to today’s paper shredders. This shows that Cuoshi Mountain was once a place where Confucianism and respect for scholars were upheld, frequented by literati. Since the park’s establishment in 1906, the majestic Wenchang Pavilion was constructed, and later the Confucian Temple from the southeastern part of the city was moved onto the mountain. Large-scale ceremonies to worship Confucius were held annually, and the nearby Tashan Academy served as the highest institution of learning in Haicheng at the time. Although the buildings were later destroyed by natural disasters, only remnants of the Confucian Temple’s rear hall remain. Nonetheless, Haicheng’s long-standing tradition of valuing culture and respecting written words runs deep.

Those familiar with Cuoshi Mountain Park know of the “Wan Character Society,” located where the white horse looks up—the site of the over 400-year-old ancient Bao’an Temple. In front of the meditation hall in the temple’s backyard stands a stone tablet inscribed with: “The Buddha Hall has three bays in the center, flanked by two meditation halls; to the east of the Sangharama Hall is the left auxiliary, and to the west of the Patriarch Hall is the right auxiliary.” This describes the grandeur of Bao’an Temple’s renovation during the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty. Like many ancient temples, Bao’an Temple also endured several wars. Although it was renovated again in the 23rd year of Qianlong’s reign, it was later severely damaged and was listed as a Haicheng Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit in 1983. The past chants of monks and tolling of temple bells have all faded with the passage of time. Now, the seven rooms of the temple’s entrance have been repurposed as offices for park management staff. In truth, Haicheng’s civilization has always been created by its own people—this was true in the past, is true now, and will remain true in the future.