Natural Cave Huangcang Cave

Natural Cave Huangcang Cave

In 205 BC, after suffering a defeat in Pengcheng (present-day Xuzhou), Liu Bang fled with just over ten surviving soldiers and officers to this area in the mountainous southwest of Xuzhou. As they faced a sheer cliff blocking their path and the pursuing forces of Xiang Yu behind them, Liu Bang looked up to the sky and lamented, "Heaven is destroying me!" Seeing no place to hide, suddenly a cave appeared in the cliff face. He quickly led the remnants of his army to climb into the cave. Liu Bang thought to himself, "If I can find this cave, surely Xiang Yu, no ordinary man, could find it as well. Wouldn't it be safer if a huge rock blocked the entrance?" Just then, a massive boulder fell from the sky and landed perfectly to seal the cave’s mouth. Soon after, numerous spiders appeared from nowhere and spun webs across the remaining opening. When Xiang Yu arrived with his troops and ordered his soldiers to search the area, they found the cave but reported back, "Your Majesty, there is a cave here, but the spider webs remain unbroken—no one has entered." Thanks to the protection of the creatures in the mountain, Liu Bang narrowly escaped disaster. He would later go on to establish the Han Dynasty.