Yangxin Wangfu Rock

Yangxin Wangfu Rock

Wangfu Rock stands on Wangfu Mountain in Daqiao Village, about 6 kilometers from Fushui Reservoir. It is approximately 10 meters tall and covers an area of around 15 square meters. Covered in lush moss, the rock is full of vitality. Facing the surging waters of the Fushui River, it strikingly resembles a woman holding a child, gazing eastward. Emperor Wen of Wei, Cao Pi, recorded in his literary work "Wangfu Rock": “On the northern mountain of Yangxin County, Wuchang, there is a Wangfu Rock that looks like a standing figure. Legend has it that in ancient times, there was a devoted wife whose husband was conscripted and sent far away to serve in battle. She brought her young son to this mountain to bid him farewell, stood watching, and eventually turned into stone.”

Many poets of the Tang Dynasty composed poems about Wangfu Rock, such as Li Bai’s "Wangfu Rock":

Its ancient visage seems to linger near, With sorrow tinged by morning’s light so clear.

The dewdrops now are like her tears today, The moss resembles clothes she wore back then.

Her grief is shared with maidens of the Xiang, Her silence echoes that of Chu’s fair queen.

In silent bloom within the hazy air, She still appears as if awaiting him there.

And also Wang Jian’s "Wangfu Rock":

Where she awaited him, the river flows, She turned to stone, and never turned her head.

Day after day, wind and rain above, When travelers come back, the stone will speak.

And Liu Yuxi’s "Wangfu Rock":

All day she watched, yet he came not back, Turned to lone stone, in longing she did lack.

For thousands of years she’s gazed the same, As on that first day, with unchanged flame.

To this day, many visitors still come to see Wangfu Rock. In May 1988, a Japanese man who had been stationed here during the Japanese invasion of China made a long journey across the ocean to Wangfu Mountain to pay homage to the rock and took several photos, which he brought back to Japan.