Mingyan

Mingyan

Mingyan, located in the mountainside on the northeastern back side of "Hanyan Cave Heaven," has long been famed for its "Three Scenic Wonders": the first is the "Five Horses in Hiding," the second is the "Mantis Fishing for Toad," and the third is the "Monk Carrying a Taoist on His Back."

The entire Mingyan area, if observed closely, boasts no fewer than forty to fifty scenic spots. At the eastern mouth of the valley, to the left is "Lion Mountain," and to the right is "Elephant Mountain." Not far inside the valley entrance are Yellow Dog Coiling Ground, Bell and Drum Rocks, Eight-Inch Pass, Harmony Stone, and Three-Eye Spring (also known as Tonghai Pool). At the northern end of the Three-Eye Spring are cliff inscriptions such as "Rock Strange, Cliff Bright" and small stone beams.

On the northern cliffs of Mingyan are Early Arrival Cave, Chaoyang Cave, and Tiger Cave. Inside Early Arrival Cave, the eyebrow-like cliff features a natural rock formation depicting a fox fighting a rooster, and inside the cave is the "Shadow of Patriarch Bodhidharma Coming from the West," which was the former site of the poetry society of the Qing Dynasty local scholar Qi Zhaonan Baolun. Chaoyang Cave has now been expanded into Chaoyang Nunnery, which is very serene and lofty.

In the middle section of Mingyan, at the mountaintop is "Golden Orange Cave," and below the peak is a large rock formation depicting "A White Horse Heading West to the Heavens." At the mountain base is a modern-era cave shrine dedicated to Hanshan.

Near the southern mountains in the middle section, aside from the "Five Horses Shadow," there is also the sight of "Blue Sky Pouring White Rain." At the mountaintop is a waterfall called "Mingyan Waterfall," which can only be seen during the spring rain or thunderstorm seasons. The western section is the deepest and most secluded cave heaven of Mingyan. It contains many scenic spots such as "Stone Hall Lane," "Praying Hands Rock," "One-Panel Sky," "Carp Swimming Up the Mountain," and "Crucian Carp Swimming Up the Mountain."

[Five Horses in Hiding]

On the rock wall south of the "Memorial Pagoda of the Two Great Masters Han and Shi" in Mingyan. This rock wall is about 8 meters high and 5 meters wide, flat as if cut, and the marks of the five horses on it, each in different poses, are formed by rock veins, water marks, and moss—but people prefer to believe that they are the traces left by Taizhou Prefect Lü Qiu Yin and his five swift horsemen as they chased after Hanshan.

[Mantis Fishing for Toad]

Next to the "Five Horses Shadow" is a huge peak, rising abruptly from the ground like a cylinder, over 40 meters tall and more than 20 meters in circumference, standing suspended on all sides. The top of the peak is covered with old flowers and bushes, with no path to climb. From a distance, it looks like an upright mantis with its claws curled up. Previously, there was an ancient vine hanging straight from the old tree at the top of the peak to the ground, connected to a large rock at the foot of the columnar peak shaped like a three-legged toad (anciently called a toad), hence the name "Mantis Fishing for Toad." Unfortunately, this ancient vine was cut down forty or fifty years ago.