Cliff inscriptions and steles

Cliff Inscriptions and Steles

Cliff inscriptions and steles are a cultural tourism attraction.

Cliff Inscriptions

Cliff inscriptions and steles are among the more prevalent historical and cultural phenomena on Zhongshan. The most distinctive and significant ones include several notable examples: the Song Dynasty recarved Hezhangshi Cliff Inscription, which depicts the story of the Jiang family during the Northern and Southern Dynasties who, in the interest of national peace and unity and to spare the people from the suffering of war, persuaded their son to surrender to the Sui Dynasty; the 11 cliff inscriptions (poetic inscriptions) from the Song to the Republican era at Biyunyan Cliff Inscriptions; the "Bai Man Zun Dao" Cliff Inscription reflecting the Ming Dynasty’s implementation of the “using barbarians to control barbarians” Tusi system, the opening of land and water routes, and the coercion of local Yao, Zhuang, and Miao peoples into submission; the "Ping Man Feng Di Bei" (The Pacification of Barbarians and Land Grant Stele), which records the historical events of the uprising led by Ou Kui, Qin Lu, and Kui Yale of the Huashan Cave in Zhongshan by the Miao, Yao, and Zhuang peoples, the dispatch of Zhong Yi to suppress the rebellion over three years, his subsequent enfeoffment as the Extra Warden of Fuchuan County, and the hereditary grant of farmland and mountain lands within the Huashan Yao, Zhuang, and Miao territories to his descendants and soldiers for cultivation; the "Da Yu Zong Ci Ji Shi Bei" (The Da Yu Ancestral Hall Chronicle Stele), which documents the events of the Taiping Rebellion general Chen Jingang’s forces entering Zhongshan and laying siege to Dayu Village; the "Xiao Zhongshan Mo’an Cliff Inscriptions", which include Song Dynasty accounts such as “Marshal Nong pacifying the Yao and restoring the county seat”, the Ming Dynasty Fuyang magistrate’s inscription “Zhuangyuan Peak”, the Republican-era “Zhong Lou Ji” written by Lu Shibiao and calligraphed by Zhang Tingfu, as well as anti-Japanese war poetry from the wartime period; the "Shi’er Che Qiao Mo’an Cliff Inscription" (Twelve Cart Bridge Cliff Inscription) from the Qing Dynasty, reflecting bridge and road construction; the Qing Dynasty "Yong Jin Da You, Long Gu Deng Shan Bei" (Eternal Prohibition of Hunting on Da You, Longgu, and Other Mountains Stele) concerning forest conservation; and the Qing Dynasty "Kuai Le Shuo Bei" (The Happiness Discourse Stele) promoting harmony between Han and ethnic minorities and encouraging virtue.