Tortoise Peak Cliff Carvings

Tortoise Peak Cliff Carvings

The Tortoise Peak Cliff Carvings are a cultural tourism attraction.

There are over 200 cliff carvings at Tortoise Peak, which have been designated as a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit by the Jiangxi Provincial People's Government. The character "佛" (Buddha) on the cliff face of Zhanqi Peak is simple, rustic, and bold, reflecting powerful brushwork—it is the handwriting of Li Yi, a successful candidate in the imperial examination of the fourth year of the Dali era during the Tang Dynasty and an official who served as Minister of Rites. He also composed a poem inscribed to the left of the “佛” character: “The name of Tortoise Mountain rivals that of Vulture Peak, twice visited, my thoughts remain untangled. The true visage of thirty-two peaks, ancient monasteries through countless ages. The waterfall before the cliff rivals that of Mount Lu, the forest and long bridge like Tiger Creek. Ashamed I came late to inquire of Jingjie, wandering here I’ve only earned this one inscription.” In the winter of 1956, Shao Shiping, then Governor of Jiangxi Province, visited Yiyang’s Tortoise Peak and spontaneously composed the poem “The earth’s literature gathers at Guifeng,” which was carved into the stone cliff upon his request, in a running script style, vigorous and forceful. Around the turn of the century, the Yiyang County Government strengthened the cultural development of Tortoise Peak, carving poems about Tortoise Peak from various dynasties onto the cliffs. “Oriental Tortoise Paradise” is the work of the renowned Chinese calligrapher

Mr. Wang Xiangzhi,

and this cliff carving stretches a total of 68 meters, among which the single character “龟” (Tortoise) is the largest of its kind, measuring 18 meters by 13 meters.