Gucheng Shilongdong

Gucheng Shilongdong

Shilongdong is located northwest of Huashan Mountain in Gucheng Town, on the southeastern shore of Gucheng Lake, and at the foot of Lion Mountain. Legend has it that during the early Ming Dynasty, when stones were quarried to build the Nanjing City Wall, a group of stonemasons from north of the Yangtze River were chosen to work here, carving out this stone quarry. The quarry faces the lake, with an entrance shaped like an inverted “concave” character. Its top is made up of flat slabs, while the bottom slopes downward gradually. From the mountaintop to the cave floor, it is over 20 meters high and more than 40 meters wide, with stone walls on both sides angling at 45 degrees—straight and neat, covered with chisel marks from the quarrying process. The bottom accumulates

water that remains clear year-round and maintains a constant temperature without ever drying up. Viewed as a whole, Shilongdong resembles a giant dragon with its head raised and mouth open, while the continuous mountain ridges evoke the undulating body of a dragon riding the clouds, giving it a rather majestic presence.

There is a poignant local legend about Gucheng Shilongdong. It is said that in ancient times, a woman surnamed Tian from the southern shore of Gucheng Lake gave birth to a little dragon. She raised the dragon as her own child, but the dragon became so attached to nursing that it constantly nestled in its mother’s arms, sucking her dry and leaving her pale and emaciated, eventually causing her to grow tired of the dragon. The dragon mother planned to kill the dragon when the time was right. When the dragon turned three and still refused to let go of her breast, the mother took it to the lakeside to wash vegetables. As she prepared to strike with a kitchen knife she had hidden in her basket, the dragon sensed her intent, suddenly pulled away, and fled. In the struggle, its tail was cut off, causing the dragon great pain. It fled to the foot of a rocky mountain (now Shilongdong), rolling around and carving out the stone quarry. Then it crossed the lake and headed north toward Jishan Mountain. Upon reaching the northern shore (now within the territory of Qiqiao Town), the dragon looked back at its mother. Each time it turned to look, a bay or inlet formed on the ground. After turning back twenty-four times, it created twenty-four “Mother-Looking Bays.” Later, when the dragon mother grew old and passed away, the tailless dragon returned every year before the Qingming Festival to pay respects at her grave. Each visit brought fierce winds and rain, along with erratic temperatures. The story of Shilongdong and the tailless dragon has become widely known. Every year before the lively Lantern Festival, the villagers of Shishan Village at the foot of Shilongdong Mountain perform dragon dances in commemoration of the tailless dragon, praying for favorable weather and peace under heaven.

Today, standing atop the mountain and looking out, one can see the verdant mountains by the lake, the shimmering blue waters, and the endless fields and farmsteads below the mountain — offering a uniquely charming view.