Fishing for the Giant Turtle Platform

Fishing for the Giant Turtle Platform

In the Dongshan Wind-Rocking Stone Scenic Area, amidst lush greenery stands a massive stone platform — the "Fishing for the Giant Turtle Platform." It attracts visitors from home and abroad, who climb up to gaze into the distance and express their feelings. At the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, Ma Zhaolin, a renowned local calligrapher and painter in Dongshan, composed a piece in his work "Eighteen Scenic Spots of Dongshan" that sings the praises of the "Fishing for the Giant Turtle Stone": "The immortal’s foot strides alone through the clouds..."

Climbing up to the "Fishing for the Giant Turtle Platform" via a spiral staircase, you’ll notice the stone surface tilts slightly toward the southwest, giving a sensation of almost slipping or toppling, as if the rock is a ship leaning over ocean waves. On the front face of the stone is an imprint resembling a human footprint, known as the "Immortal’s Footprint." It measures approximately 0.30 meters in length, about 0.15 meters wide at the front, and around 0.08 meters at the heel. Interestingly, the footprint fits the feet of visitors of all ages and genders. The outer circle of the footprint is roughly circular, with a diameter of 0.90 meters and a depth of less than 0.30 meters — this is the "Immortal’s Foot Tub." Legend has it that during the late Southern Song Dynasty, when the capital sank and the South Australian region rose, an immortal surnamed Sun, witnessing the earth cracking and mountains collapsing, bathed and fasted in the "Immortal’s Tub," then ascended to heaven with a young boy, leaving behind this "Immortal’s Footprint." From atop the Fishing for the Giant Turtle Stone, one can gaze in all directions: to the east lies a vast expanse of misty waters; to the south, the graceful peaks of Su; to the north, the emerald embrace of Mount Liang; and to the west, the renewed face of the ancient town. On the left side wall of the massive Fishing for the Giant Turtle Rock, there are cliff inscriptions in semi-cursive script that read “Fishing for the Giant Turtle Platform,” carved by a predecessor named Sun Yaotian. The phrase “Fishing for the Giant Turtle” embodies the lofty aspirations and scholarly ambitions of literati in ancient times. During the Ming Dynasty, three academies — "Chongwen," "Nanming," and "Dongbi" — once stood proudly in the vicinity of the Fishing for the Giant Turtle Platform. Scholars would ascend here, toast to the moon, sing to the rocks, and dream of one day topping the imperial examinations and claiming the top honor. As a result, from this rugged island home to fishing families emerged several notable officials, giving rise to sayings like "one rock, three loyal ministers" and "seven li, three military gatekeepers." On the eastern stone wall, nestled among verdant pines and cypresses, are four bold regular-script characters carved into the rock: "Sea Calm, River Clear" (海晏河清), each character about two meters tall, inscribed by Zhu Xi from Hanshou County, Hunan. These characters vividly depict the boundless, mirror-like calmness of the sea visible from the platform, while also conveying a beautiful wish for national stability and peace under heaven. Below these large characters is a shallow rock well inscribed with the two characters “Dragon Spring” (龙泉), which was once a natural spring but has since dried up. Nearby, there are two ancient sun petroglyphs shaped like the sun, symbolizing ancient people’s longing for light and their hopes for the continuation of life.

For millions of years, the Fishing for the Giant Turtle Stone lay quietly.

Interestingly, on May 19, 1992, under a clear blue sky and without any external force, a deep, dull boom suddenly shook the earth and mountains as if depicting the legend of the Monkey King splitting a mountain to save his mother. The massive Fishing for the Giant Turtle Platform rock spontaneously split in two, forming the spectacular sight of a “slit in the sky” (一线天). To this day, why the rock cracked on its own remains a mystery, drawing numerous experts, tourists, and literati from both China and abroad to visit this wonderland in search of answers, sights, and curiosities.

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