Merit Record

Merit Record

The "Merit Record" is situated on a secondary terrace approximately 130 meters long and around 30 meters wide. The stone cliff housing the inscription is about fifteen to sixteen meters in height, with the summit above it. The terrace’s edge is fortified by a roughly 100-meter-long parapet constructed from rough stone blocks. Cracks among the rocks are thick with weeds and moss. To the front left of the carvings, there's an open area about six meters wide, where part of the foundational stone is exposed—jagged and badly eroded. These features alone are insufficient to confirm this as the site where the Shen family once lived. As for the place called "Puchi Yutan," there’s no trace of it whatsoever. However, traveling up the river, the real scene of “crossing on horseback over land and boating along the water” has remained vivid before people’s eyes for over a thousand years. On clear, crisp autumn days when wild geese are flying south, ascending Huilong Mountain offers sweeping views: to the west, Langzhong’s White Pagoda can be seen; to the northeast, Yujishan Mountain—home to the Great Buddha of Beiyuan—and the Dadong Mountain in Yilong, where the Red Army once fought, come into view. The scenic spots of Longlin Mountain in Panlong Town, recorded in the Local Chronicles, stand in strategic formation opposite Huilong Mountain from afar. The Jialing River flows gently like a soft white silk ribbon, drifting leisurely eastward. In spring, the medicinal herb plantation on the mountain bursts into color and fragrance, with gardenias, honeysuckles, peonies, hibiscus, and various wildflowers vying in beauty, filling the hills with the freshness of spring. Come autumn, red leaves and yellow flowers, accompanied by the rustling sounds of insects, evoke a sense of nostalgia and wistfulness in visitors. Looking up at the sky and down at the great river, Huilong Mountain resembles a fairy draped in gauze, hovering above the clouds, leaving behind elusive legends that are both vague and mysterious. In the early 1930s, a large number of bamboo slips were unearthed here but were burned as firewood by ignorant locals. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, ancient coins and a bronze Buddha statue in the style of the Northern Wei Dynasty were excavated at the southern foot of the Shen Family Stockade, but they were sold off as scrap metal to recycling stations. One can only imagine how Shen Tao would have lamented such losses. Fortunately, in recent years, thanks to attention from local government and especially the development of cultural tourism, the appearance of Huilong Mountain has improved somewhat. A marble cultural relics protection sign has been erected beside the mountain-foot road, and a newly built small road now leads directly up the mountain. Visitor numbers have also gradually increased during holidays and vacation periods.

Protected Area: Eastward, 50 meters beyond the eastern edge of the niche; westward, 50 meters beyond the western edge of the niche. South to the rock face; north, 10 meters beyond the niche edge to the mountain cliff.