Moon Rock Carvings

Moon Rock Carvings

The Moon Rock Carvings are a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

Moon Rock Carvings

Dating from the Ming to Qing dynasties. Located in Yuanyan Village, Dao County, Hunan Province, this site is one of the stone carving clusters in southern Hunan.

In ancient times, the Yuanyan rock formation was shaped by river erosion, forming a karst cave that cut through the mountain. Later, the cave's ceiling collapsed, blocking the river passage, which then became an underground stream flowing out from nearby caves, turning the area into a natural rock chamber. The collapsed section of the cave ceiling formed a large circular skylight. The eastern and western entrances of the cave are as tall as city gates. When visitors enter the cave and look up, the sky initially resembles the first quarter moon; as they move further inside to the center, the sky appears full like a full moon; and upon nearing the exit, it looks like the last quarter moon—hence the name “Moon Rock.” The Ming dynasty geographer Xu Xiake visited this site and remarked, “Of the three great caves in southern Yong [prefecture], Yuanyan is the finest.” The inner walls of the cave feature numerous inscriptions, including 54 stone carvings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, such as “Moon Rock,” “Cold Rock,” “Gateway of the Swan,” “Cradle of Neo-Confucianism,” as well as poems and travel notes. Local residents say that in the first year of the Xianfeng era of the Qing dynasty (1851), when Hong Xiuquan led the Taiping Army into Daozhou, he visited this site and inscribed words on the cave wall, though these no longer exist. On the rock above is a spot, believed to be where the Northern Song dynasty neo-Confucian scholar Zhou Dunyi (also known as Lianxi) lectured. It is called the Lianxi Study Room. The stone niche and stone bed are still preserved.

On October 10, 1983, the People's Government of Hunan Province designated it as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit, with the serial number 121-13.