Red Cliff Heavenly Scriptures

Red Cliff Heavenly Scriptures

The “Red Cliff Heavenly Scriptures” are located on Shaijia Mountain in Guanling Buyi and Miao Autonomous County, Guizhou Province, approximately 7 kilometers from the Huangguoshu Waterfall. Since their discovery, they have been referred to by various names such as the “Red Cliff Stele” and the “Zhuge Gong Stele,” but their official name is the “Red Cliff Ancient Relics.” These mysterious symbols “written” on the cliff face vary in size, arranged irregularly, resembling seal script yet not quite, nor like oracle bone script. They are both mysterious and graceful, and despite enduring centuries of wind and rain erosion, they remain largely unchanged, with colors still appearing fresh. Due to their undecipherable nature, these symbols have been passed down through generations by locals as the “Heavenly Scriptures.”

For a long time, experts and scholars have flocked here in attempts to decipher the “Heavenly Scriptures,” and interpretations of them have abounded.

Some experts believe that the content of the “Heavenly Scriptures” is an imperial “decree of punitive expedition”; others suggest that the inscriptions depict legends and relics related to Zhuge Liang’s southern campaign; there are also legends claiming that the scriptures are stone carvings commemorating Yu the Great’s success in flood control; and some think they represent the ancient scripts of ethnic groups such as the Miao and Yi.

It is understood that renowned scholars such as Guo Moruo, Ding Wenjiang, and Xu Zhongshu have all attempted to decipher the scriptures, but to this day, no interpretation has emerged that is truly convincing and widely accepted by the majority of experts and scholars.

For hundreds of years, the Red Cliff Heavenly Scriptures have traversed the tunnel of time and space with their magnificent, mysterious presence, always waiting for people to explore and unravel this enigma...