Lingquan Rock Cliff Inscriptions

Lingquan Rock Cliff Inscriptions

Lingquan Rock Cliff Inscriptions are a cultural relic protection unit of Shantou City.

Lingquan Rock Cliff Inscriptions are located at the foot of a mountain about one kilometer west of Pengzhou Village, Tuopu Town, Shantou City. The rock formation is covered by a massive natural boulder (commonly known as Monk’s Hat Rock), covering an area of approximately 64.4 square meters and capable of accommodating dozens of people. There are no historical records indicating when a temple was first built at Lingquan Rock. However, the “Record of Lingquan Rock,” composed and carved by Monk Zhou Hai in the ninth year of the Chenghua reign of the Ming Dynasty on the outer cliff wall, indicates that monks had already established a temple here before the Ming Dynasty. By the time of the 1984 cultural relics survey, aside from the cave itself remaining intact, the monk quarters and meditation rooms originally built between the rock crevices had completely disappeared. Fortunately, a stone stele inscribed with a regulated verse poem titled “Viewing the Sea and Dajiao Area from Lingquan Rock” by Wang Dai, the magistrate of Chenghai County, who visited Lingquan Rock in the 23rd year of the Kangxi reign (1684), remains preserved on the right wall inside the cave. The stele is 0.80 meters high and 0.46 meters wide, embedded in the wall. A statue of the Laughing Buddha in the northeast corner of the cave and some Qing Dynasty inscriptions are also well-preserved. In 1985, local villagers carried out preliminary renovations of the temple. The Lingquan Rock Cliff Inscriptions are mainly scattered around the mountain streams and cliffs near Lingquan Rock, comprising over 20 inscriptions from the Ming Dynasty to modern times, with the earliest being the “Record of Lingquan Rock” written by Zhou Hai in the ninth year of the Chenghua reign (1473).

Lingquan Rock (including Wenggong Academy and Lingquan Rock Cliff Inscriptions) was designated as a cultural relic protection unit by the Shantou Municipal People's Government in 1988.