The Moon over Mount Emei

The Moon over Mount Emei

The Moon over Mount Emei has been celebrated since ancient times. The best spots to view the moon are at Baoguo Temple, Luofeng Summit, Wannian Temple, Xianfeng Temple, and Xixiangchi Pool, while autumn is the ideal season for moon appreciation. Throughout history, many literati have composed poems about the moon of Mount Emei, such as:

“Reluctant to part from me, who could compare to Mount Emei’s half-moon?” (Lu You); “Amid sorrow, dusk clouds gather over Wu Gorge, while in the distance Mount Emei’s autumn moon slants” (Wang Shizhen); “A piece of moon drifts down, I roll up the curtain to remember” (Zhu Yizun); “Buddhist lamps cast a cold, silent glow; emerald clouds surround the mountains as the moon emerges” (Liu Yubo). Among these, “Xixiangchi Night Scene” is the most emotionally evocative of the Ten Scenes of Mount Emei.

According to Huang Dashou’s 1947 book Mount Emei Scenery, published by China Cultural Service Society, “The best place to view the moon on Mount Emei is Xixiangchi Pool. Above it are more mountains, and behind it are also mountains, leaving only the front open, with plenty of trees nearby. Although the Golden Summit is high, it lacks surroundings—you’re just looking at the moon against the sky. Below Xixiangchi, the peaks are layered and densely forested, making the scenery less perfect than at Xixiangchi for moon viewing. That’s why ‘Xixiangchi Night Moon’ became one of the Ten Scenes of Mount Emei, somewhat comparable to West Lake’s

‘Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake’!”

On moonlit nights, when clouds disperse and mists clear, the distant sky turns azure, the mountains fall silent, and the autumn breeze brings cool relief. A bright mirror of a moon is nestled in the cloudless blue sky, while only the stately fir forests rustle softly, whispering low. Moonlight filters through the dense, dark green foliage, casting the Great Buddha’s Hall, the Half-Moon Terrace, Xixiangchi Pool, the First Joy Pavilion, and the Moon-Chanting Tower in a hazy glow—solemn and tranquil. In the moonlight, the ancient temple resembles the head of a reclining elephant, its silhouette sharp against the blue sky: the main hall as the forehead, the side halls as the ears, and the stone steps of the Drill-the-Sky Slope beneath the Half-Moon Terrace as the elongated trunk. Coincidence, or the ingenious design of the temple architects?

With the bright moon hanging high and its radiance flooding the sky, the moonlight over a thousand peaks is soft as water, making visitors feel as if they’ve wandered into the celestial Palace of the Moon. The moon over Mount Emei—worth traveling a thousand miles to see. … Still the same Mount Emei, its bright moon shining clear. The Ming Dynasty literary figure Cao Xuequan adored the moon of Mount Emei. Gu Yanwu, a great thinker of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, was also moved by the moon of Mount Emei, leaving behind this poetic couplet: “At midnight by Xixiangchi Pool, the autumn night lingers, the bright moon forever illuminating the cold woods.”

Where has the moon-riding immortal gone?

Only Xixiangchi Pool remains of the famed site.

One moon reflects in the pool, the pool holds the moon,

The bright moon and still pool cradle quiet thoughts.

—(Qing Dynasty’s Tan Zhongyue, “Xixiangchi Night Moon”)

As the moon moves across the sky, in the small hexagonal pool, a clear spring mirrors the moon perfectly—two moons facing each other, blending heaven and earth as one. Legend says the poetic immortal Li Bai died “trying to scoop the moon from the water,” though that’s just a tale. But his deep love for the moon, especially the moon of Mount Emei, which stayed with him lifelong, is very real. When the poet left Shu and set off on his travels, he wrote on the Pingqiang River: “Mount Emei’s half-moon in autumn, its reflection flows in the Pingqiang River” (“Song of Mount Emei’s Moon”). Even in his later years, after returning from exile, he recited abroad:

When I was at Badong among the Three Gorges,

Gazing west at the moon, I thought of Mount Emei.

The moon rises over Mount Emei, shining on the sea,

Accompanying people for thousands of miles.

And he sang loudly: “Once fame soars through the capital, I’ll return to play with Mount Emei’s moon” (“Song of Mount Emei’s Moon, Sending Off Monk Yan of Shu to the Central Capital”)

Mount Emei

Fuhu Temple on Mount Emei

Bailong Cave on Mount Emei

Wannian Temple

Xixin Studio

Xixiangchi Pool

Baoguo Temple

Natural Ecological Monkey Area

Yingbin Beach