Jinji Mountain Cliff Inscriptions

Jinji Mountain Cliff Inscriptions

The Jinji Mountain Cliff Inscriptions are a cultural relic protection unit of Wenling City.

The Jinji Mountain Cliff Inscriptions are located on the campus of Xinhe Middle School in Dongcheng Ju, Xinhe Town, Wenling City, Taizhou, Zhejiang Province. The stone carvings include the inscriptions “Stone Giant,” “Flying In,” “Cinnabar Well,” and a five-character quatrain by Zhang Mengling: “A wisp of cloud from Wu Mountain, / Came to dwell herein. / I come but will not climb again, / Lest the cloud fly away.” The total area is 1.3 square meters. According to the “Jiaying Taiping County Annals · Geography” entry on Jinji Mountain: “Located southeast of Xinhe City, it is said that a heavenly rooster once crowed atop it, hence the name. It is also said that when the immortal Ge Hong passed through here on his way to the Cinnabar Cliff, he struck the ground with his staff and created a spring, the characters ‘Cinnabar Well’ still visible in the cliff carvings to this day. At the mountain’s neck where the city wall spans, peculiar rocks rise densely, some towering three or more zhang in height. During the Yongzheng era, Yi Xunyu of the Patrol Department carved the two characters ‘Stone Giant.’ Yi Xunyu’s paintings and calligraphy were known to Prince Shen, his younger brother Yi Zu? was also skilled, and ?… Other inscriptions exist as well.” The phrases “Stone Giant,” “Flying In,” and “Cinnabar Well” are all deeply historical. The “Stone Giant” cliff inscription, in regular script and incised, features the two vertical characters arranged in a single column, each approximately 0.2 meters in diameter. The “Flying In” cliff inscription is in cursive script, incised, with the two vertical characters in a single column, each about 0.15 meters in diameter. The Zhang Mengling five-character quatrain cliff inscription has a frame 0.41 meters high and 0.31 meters wide, in semi-cursive script and incised, with the 25-character main text “A wisp of cloud from Wu Mountain, / Flew here to dwell, / I come but will not climb again, / Lest the cloud fly away” arranged in three vertical lines, each character about 0.05 meters in diameter. The signature reads “Zhang Mengling, re-engraved in the autumn moon of the Jiachou year.” The Jinji Mountain Cliff Inscriptions are numerous, densely concentrated, historically significant, rich in meaning, elegantly inscribed, and represent the finest of Wenling’s cliff carvings.