Immortal Drying Shoes

Immortal Drying Shoes

Located near the front right side of Paiyun Pavilion, it gets its name from two rocks resembling a pair of shoes neatly placed on a small peak platform, as if being aired out.

“Immortal Drying Boots” and “Immortal Drying Shoes” share a beautiful legend: In the past, in the Xiandu Temple on the left-numbered peak of Huangshan, there lived the old Taoist Daoxuan and his disciple Taqing; on the Songlin Peak, there was the Zixia Palace where the Taoist nun Lianyu and her apprentice Miaozhen resided. The two Taoist temples were separated by a deep chasm—the West Sea Valley—and strict Taoist rules kept them from ever interacting. One winter, after a heavy snowfall, the Xiandu Temple ran out of firewood, so Daoxuan sent Taqing to borrow some fire from the Zixia Palace. When Taqing arrived at the Zixia Palace, he met Miaozhen, and the two hit it off immediately, enjoying a warm and friendly conversation. From then on, every day when they went to chop wood or carry water, they would meet and chat, gradually chopping less wood and carrying less water. Before long, their masters on both sides found out and severely scolded them. They were also given strict orders: in the future, when chopping wood or carrying water, they must stay within the gully that marked the boundary between the two peaks. Crossing the boundary would result in punishment by Taoist whips or divine staffs. After that, it became very difficult for the two to speak to each other. Once, taking advantage of both masters being away from the mountain, they secretly met and made a plan: Taqing would air out one boot at the mountain gate to signal that his master had left the mountain, and Miaozhen would then meet him; Miaozhen would air out a pair of shoes in front of the palace to indicate that her master had gone out, and Taqing would come to see her. From then on, they used airing out boots and shoes as a way to meet in secret. One day, while they were happily meeting in secret, their masters suddenly returned, the affair was exposed, and they were to be severely punished. After much deliberation, they made up their minds: “If we can’t be together in life, we’ll be together in death!” The two held hands and leapt off the cliff into the surging sea of clouds. Taqing’s boots and Miaozhen’s pair of shoes were not retrieved in time, and over time, they turned into stone boots and stone shoes—today’s “Immortal Drying Boots” and “Immortal Drying Shoes” of Huangshan.