Shipenpo in Pingchang County

Shipenpo in Pingchang County

Shipenpo is located at the foot of the front ridge of Yejiagang, south of Group 9, Zhongxin Village, Pingchang County. There is a stone that stands 8 meters tall and spans 3 meters wide, shaped like an oval, larger at the top and smaller at the bottom. The stone is hard in texture and features complete facial features. Atop the stone grows a cypress tree about two Chinese inches in diameter and three Chinese feet in height (said to be the stone man’s braid), and locals call it the “Male Stone Figure.” In the mountain slope where Wangjiagang (Group 11, Zhongxin Village) meets Weijiabian (Group 2, Nongfeng Village), there is also a horizontally lying stone known as the “Female Stone Figure.” The two stone figures face each other across the valley and can be clearly seen from the surrounding area within a radius of over ten li.

Legend has it that more than a hundred years ago, the Shipenpo area was rampant with bandits, and villagers often had their clothes and belongings stolen. Later, some people heard repeated shouts at night saying, “When one commits theft, the stone figures see.” Since then, thefts gradually decreased, and even when thieves attempted to act, they were discovered. People believed that the stone figures were “manifesting their divine power.” From then on, villagers who could see the stone figures would come to burn incense in front of them, praying that their household possessions would not be stolen. The area became especially lively on the first and fifteenth days of the lunar month. (Some even entrusted their children to the care of the stone figures, hoping for protection from illness and a long life.) Even residents from places dozens of li away—such as Leishan, Lancao, Jian’an, and areas around Silian and Fuxing in Bazhong—would come here to pray and make wishes. The 1923 edition of the Bazhong Annals records: “About eighty years ago, because bandits were always spotted by people, those who committed theft believed that the stone figures were truly divine and deliberately working against them, which terrified them. As a result, they secretly used awls to poke several holes on the right lower side of the stone figure’s neck, reducing its spiritual efficacy.” Today, apart from some natural weathering on the softer stone of the neck, the rest of the stone figure remains intact.

The idea that stones possess divinity may be illusory, but it is a fact that these stones add natural beauty to the ridge. Page 502 of the Bazhong Annals states: “Four li east of Fenbichang in the eastern part of the county lies Shipenpo. The stone there is over two zhang tall, wider at the top and narrower at the bottom. From a distance, it looks just like a golden barbarian guardian, and in places where it can be seen, no thefts occur. Locals mistakenly say: ‘When one commits theft, the stone figure sees.’ If such stone figures existed everywhere, no one would need to fear the night.”