Big Belly Rock

Big Belly Rock

Big Belly Rock

To the northeast of Big Belly Rock is a drum-shaped huge cliff, with a flat stone covering its top. Viewed from across the stream at the foot of Haoshan Mountain, it resembles a human belly, hence the name Big Belly Rock. Based on this, ancient people told a story: in the past, the Yellow Emperor toured the east and feasted the hundred deities on Mount Jinyun. The gluttonous deity Big Belly ate too much of the “rice mother” from the Rice Steamer Rock, making his belly grow bigger and bigger. Barely managing to cross the Hao Stream and emerge from the dense woods, his belly had swollen so large that it covered his eyes, mouth, and nose, leaving him unable to move any further. The Yellow Emperor, both annoyed and amused, had no choice but to order him to guard the South Heavenly Gate together with the Dragon King of the South Sea.

Big Belly Rock has traces of rainwater flowing down its upper part over millions of years, presenting a brown-black color, resembling the lower hem of a straw raincoat worn by farmers in the Jiangnan region when it rains, hence it is also called Rain Cape Rock. (The Records of Xianju also states: “Big Group Rock, to its east rises another rock, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, called Rain Cape Rock.”) The Qing Dynasty poet Wang Gao wrote: “The angling immortal delights in spring harmony, with spring waters full of cormorants and many immortal rafts. Loving to go down to the ocean for old wine, he often ascends the spirit rocks to sing aloud. His thirty-thousand-zhang-long hair is beginning to turn white, fifty-nine rapids swiftly pass by. He fishes out all the bad fish yet the stream remains good, till today the rock traces hide beneath the misty straw cape.”