Banshi Pool Stone Carvings

Banshi Pool Stone Carvings

The Banshi Pool Stone Carvings are a cultural relic protection unit of Huangshan City.

The Banshi Pool Stone Carvings are located in Xianyuan Town, Huangshan District, dating back to the Song Dynasty.

The Banshi Pool Cliff Inscriptions are located within the territory of Huangshan City, Anhui Province. Situated alongside the Machuan River in Xianyuan, they feature a 200-square-meter flat granite rock by the riverbank. Next to the rock is a deep pool used for fishing. In the past, scholars who visited the area composed poems and carved their writings onto the stone slab, which is how it came to be called the Banshi Cliff Carvings.

Today, five poems with clear inscriptions remain, such as one by Liu Yuankai (also known as Liu Yunpeng), the magistrate of Taiping in the Ming Dynasty, which reads: “Turning my thoughts toward stream and mountain, fish and birds vie in song; calling my boy to share my gourd, it turns to a dipper in the sky.” This carving is now a key cultural relic protection unit of Huangshan District. “Hui’an’s Handwriting” is located on Lion Mountain in Xiangfu Village, Yongfeng Township. The mountain features a flat stone platform over ten feet wide. When Zhu Wenjun (aka Zhu Xi, also known as Hui’an) visited scholar Sun Di, the two toured Lion Mountain together and inscribed the two characters “Xiuyin” (meaning “Beautiful Shade”) onto the flat rock. Historical records say: “The two characters ‘Xiuyin’ were engraved here to signify the beauty of luxuriant foliage providing ample shade.” The “Qingluan Peak Cliff Carvings” are located on Qingluan Peak in the Huangshan Scenic Area. On the cliff face are ten bold and striking large characters—“Lima Kong Donghai, Denggao Wang Taiping” (meaning “Ride at once to the East Sea’s void, Ascend high to gaze on peaceful Tai”)—signed by Tang Shizun, commander of the Nationalist 23rd Army Group. The powerful calligraphy, with characters six meters in size, was carved by stonemasons from Qianshan, Anhui.

The Banshi Pool Stone Carvings have been designated as a cultural relic protection unit of Huangshan City.