Ci'en Rock

Ci'en Rock

Ci'en Rock is located within the "Enchanting Peaks and Drunken Moon" scenic area of Qingyuan Mountain. The Song Dynasty white-robed Guanyin stone sculpture inside Ci'en Temple was carved from natural rock during the Yuanyou era of the Song Dynasty. The statue is solemn and exquisitely crafted. In June 2001, it was designated as a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Historical records state that Ci'en Rock was a fief granted by an emperor of the Tang Dynasty to Magistrate Xu Ji. Born into an official family, Xu Ji’s grandfather, Fuqian, once served as Prefect of Quanzhou, and his father, Maowen, passed the imperial examination in the second year of the Qianyuan era (759 AD) and served as Prefect of Xi’an. In his youth, Xu Ji studied diligently. After passing the imperial examination, he held a key central government position and accompanied the emperor on a western tour, making great contributions to border pacification. For this, he was rewarded by the emperor, leading to the mountain being named Ci'en (Bestowed Grace) Mountain, and the temple built there called Ci'en Temple. To the right of the temple stands the Ancestral Hall of the Xu Clan of Fujian. A couplet in the temple, written by the late Ming Dynasty’s eminent progressive thinker, writer, and historian Li Zhi (1527–1602), reads: “One need not write grand essays to be a bodhisattva; even without bells and drums, one can still be Guanyin.” In front of the temple grows a thousand-year-old camphor tree, its lush canopy vibrant with life.

Ci'en Mountain features vast expanses of massive rocks stacked upon one another, forming numerous natural caves and chambers. Among them is a cave inscribed with the four characters “Gazing Up at Lofty Peaks,” which was the childhood study spot of Ouyang Zhan, a top scholar in Fujian during the Tang Dynasty—known as “Ouyang Cave.” In his youth, Ouyang Zhan possessed great ambition and extraordinary determination. He devoted himself to diligent study in the cave and eventually succeeded in the fifth imperial examination held by the Ministry of Rites in 792 AD, achieving excellent results and passing the examination alongside the renowned young scholar Han Yu. That year’s list of successful candidates was known as the “Dragon and Tiger Roll.” From then on, Fujian experienced a flourishing literary culture and produced many talented individuals. Later generations called him the “Ancestor of Fujian Literature” and the “Master of Fujian Learning.” To this day, visitors to the site invariably pause to admire this historic place.

Surrounding the cave are historical relics such as the Playful Heart Pavilion, Moon-Inviting Terrace, and the Kuixing (Literary Star) Tower; there are also 83 cliff inscriptions from various dynasties, distributed across the uneven rock faces; as well as poetic inscriptions left by literati over the ages, including “Kites Soar and Fish Leap,” “A Marvelous Meeting of Mountain and Sea,” and “Crane Path and Zither Terrace.”

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