The Three Wonders Stele (Stone Carving of Qin Guan’s "Treading on the Grassland")

The Three Wonders Stele (Stone Carving of Qin Guan’s "Treading on the Grassland")

The Three Wonders Stele (Stone Carving of Qin Guan’s "Treading on the Grassland") is a cultural relic protected at the provincial level in Hunan Province.

The Three Wonders Stele dates back to the Northern Song Dynasty. It is located on the stone wall of Bailudong Cave at the foot of Suxian Ridge in Chenzhou City, Hunan Province. The cliff inscription of Qin Guan’s "Treading on the Grassland · Inn in Chenzhou" has long been honored as the "Three Wonders Stele."

The carving is 50 cm wide and 30 cm high. The poem was written by Qin Guan, calligraphed by Mi Fu, featuring 11 lines of 8 characters each in running script. The lower part includes an inscription from the second year of the Xianchun era (1266) by Zou Gong, the prefect of Chenzhou, consisting of 13 lines of 10 characters each in regular script, explaining the background of the carving. A stele protection pavilion has now been built, and the inscriptions remain clearly visible.

An excerpt from Zou Gong’s inscription reads: “Mist veils towers, moon confuses ferry crossings, peach blossoms sought afar—where can they be? How can one endure a lonely inn shut in spring chill, with cuckoos crying under sunset trees? I send plum blossoms by post, fish deliver letters, but all pile up into endless sorrow. The Chen River naturally encircles Chen Mountain—yet for whom does it flow down to the Xiao and Xiang?” “Qin Shaoyou’s lyrics were beloved by Master Su, who said: ‘Shaoyou is gone—what ransom could buy back even ten thousand lives?’ Mi Fu wrote them. Huaishan’s lyrics, Su’s words, Yuanzhang’s calligraphy—long known as the Three Wonders Stele. Poets and lyricists treasure it dearly. When I came to govern this region, I first sought out the ancient carving, admiring it endlessly, and then built a small pavilion around it, planting peach trees all around. Reflecting on the line from the Tang poet Sun Quan, ‘How unlike the land of Wuling,’ and deeply moved by Shaoyou’s verse, ‘Peach blossoms sought afar—where can they be?’, I ordered workers to carve it into the stone wall, hoping this scene would be passed down immortal. In the spring of Xinyou year, the cyclical month of Yimao, in the cyclical year of Bingyin, 1266, Zou Gong of Shaowu inscribed this.”

Qin Guan (1049–1100), courtesy name Shaoyou, was a renowned lyric poet of the Northern Song Dynasty from Gaoyou, Yangzhou. He became a jinshi (advanced scholar) in the Yuanyou era and once served as a Doctor of the Imperial College. Later, due to political persecution, he was dismissed and exiled to Chenzhou, then released and died on his way home. His lyrics are considered the orthodox representation of the delicate and restrained ci poetry style, and along with Huang Tingjian, he was one of the “Four Scholars of the Su School.”

Su Dongpo (1036–1101), also known as Su Shi, was a literary figure, calligrapher, and painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, a jinshi of the Yuanyou era, who once served as Minister of Rites. In his later years, he was demoted to places such as Huizhou and died in Changzhou. His poetry and prose are fresh and bold, making him one of the “Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song,” and along with Huang Tingjian, he is known as one of the “Four Masters of the Song.”

Mi Fu (1051–1102), also called Mi Fu, courtesy name Yuanzhang, was from Wu (Suzhou, Jiangsu), a famous calligrapher and painter of the Northern Song Dynasty, who once served as Vice Minister of Rites. He was one of the “Four Great Calligraphers” of the Song Dynasty.

On July 24, 1956, the People’s Government of Hunan Province designated it as a provincial-level cultural relic protection unit, with the serial number 53.

Source: Overview of Cultural Relics in Hunan