Erya Terrace

Erya Terrace

Erya Terrace is located on the sheer cliffs on the western side of Mount Wuyou. It was where Guo Sheren, a literary figure of the Han Dynasty, annotated the *Erya*, the earliest Chinese dictionary that explains the meanings of words. The Song Dynasty writer Su Zhe wrote in his poem *Departing from Jiazhou*: “They say there lived an ancient Guo, who toiled here annotating. Meticulously distinguishing fish and insects, he parsed the *Erya* strand by strand. Washing his inkstone to remove leftover ink, he stained the waters black as fog. To this day the river fish remain dark, their heads marked where ink once stained.” This legend speaks of how Guo Sheren’s years of diligent writing turned the river black with residual ink, even darkening the fish’s heads. Such a tale reflects the deep reverence people held for him.

Originally built as a three-tiered structure, all interconnected with winding charm, the second level was removed during post-liberation renovations, leaving only the top and bottom tiers. The top tier was later renamed Tingtao Pavilion (Pavilion for Listening to the Waves), and eventually only the ground level of Erya Terrace remained. Perched on the edge of the cliff, the terrace offers expansive views — to the west lie the Mount Emei peaks, and below, the convergence of three rivers spreads out in splendid splendor.