Ruins of the Yu the Great Stele (including Yu the Great Bridge)

Ruins of the Yu the Great Stele (including Yu the Great Bridge)

The ruins of the Yu the Great Stele (including Yu the Great Bridge) are a cultural relic protection unit of Hunan Province.

Traveling about 20 kilometers west from Hengshan County, you will arrive at Yunfeng Village in Futianpu Township. Yunfeng Village gets its name from being located at the foot of Yunmi Peak. Its central area is at Yunfeng Bridge. To the right of the bridge lies a narrow valley, with Yunmi Peak on the left side of the valley and Zigai Peak on the right. Following the winding path up the canyon and crossing Yu the Great Bridge, halfway up the slopes of Yunmi Peak, there is a massive natural rock. To the left of the rock is a stream known locally as Yu Stream; following the stream leads to Dayu Rock, and after another 2 kilometers or so you reach Yinzhengping, where the Yinzheng Temple once stood, but it was destroyed during the Cultural Revolution. To the right of the massive rock, there used to be another Yu Stream, which was filled in during the Great Leap Forward to create paddy fields. The area around the rock was once a pile of rubble, which was gradually cleared to make way for drying grain and building foundations. In 1997, a farmer named Wang Dacheng built his kitchen wall around the rock when constructing his house. This very rock is the long-lost Yu the Great Stele, one of China’s three great treasures that had been missing for a thousand years.

In 1984, Mr. Kuang Guanghui from the Nanyue Cultural Relics Office, based on ancient texts, searched for the Yu Stele between Yunmi Peak and Zigai Peak and discovered that the inscriptions on this massive rock were clearer than they are now. He said: Looking down from the top of the stone, you can faintly make out five lines of text, each line containing 13 characters. The upper left corner of the rock has three lines totaling 13 characters. All the characters have peculiar shapes, unrecognizable by anyone.

These inscriptions have been translated by various people throughout history. During the Ming Dynasty's Jiajing era, Yang Shen provided the following translation:

The Emperor said: "Hear my counsel, my minister. Ascend the islets and shores, the gateway of birds and beasts. Immerse yourself in the great currents. Rise early and set forth. Long travel makes one forget home; lodge at the courtyard of Mount Yuelu. Apply wisdom to shape the terrain, let no thought escape the moment. Go forth to bring peace, to Mount Hua, Mount Tai, and Mount Heng. Collect tributes, exhaust efforts, weary my spirit in ritual. Blocked and murky flows shift, the southern rivers flow abundantly. Clothes are made, food is readied, all nations find peace. Fugitives flee far away!"

In 1982, Tong Wenjie, an octogenarian scholar and member of the World Academy of Arts and Humanities who had studied the Yu Stele for over 30 years, compiled *Interpretation and Research of the Yu Stele*. In 2001, he revised it into *Modern Interpretation of the Yu Stele on Mount Yuelu in Changsha*, which was included in *Selections of Outstanding Achievements in China’s New Era Humanities*, and was honored as an international outstanding paper. His translation is as follows:

The Emperor said: "Hear my counsel, my minister. Assist and support, navigate the islets and ravines, where dragons and serpents roam. Immerse yourself in the flooding currents, rise at dawn and set forth. Long travel makes one forget home; lodge at the courtyard of Mount Yuelu. Wisdom shapes form without hindrance, chaos does not obstruct the moment. Go to bring peace, to Mount Hua, Song, Tai, and Heng. Collect tributes, clear blockages, ride the rafts to remove obstructions, blocked flows now converge, the southern rivers flow freely. Clothes are woven, food is prepared, the people find peace, birds and beasts flee forever."

This is the Yu Stele—a miraculous boulder, inscribed with mysterious text. It has shed its veil of mystery, restored history to its true form, and revealed its genuine face to the world.

Further reading:

· Ninth Batch of Cultural Relic Protection Units of Hunan Province