Fox Gorge and Yu's Axe

Fox Gorge and Yu's Axe

Fox Gorge and Yu's Axe

Fox Gorge and Yu's Axe. Jishi Gorge, also known as Mengda Gorge, is the place where Yu the Great split the rocks of Jishi to divert the Yellow River. The Yellow River enters from Mapo in Qingshui Township, flowing from west to east, winding through 20 kilometers before exiting at Guanmen Gorge. The canyon is flanked by steep cliffs on both sides, creating a precipitous landscape where the two banks seem just inches apart. The Yellow River runs through it, with a narrow channel and hidden reefs, roaring and surging. At its narrowest point, even a wild fox can leap across, hence it is also called “Wild Fox Gorge.” Legend has it that during Yu the Great’s efforts to control the floods, the tightly locked Jishi Gorge caused vast areas of Xunhua to be submerged under water. Yu the Great split open the gorge, allowing the surging Yellow River to flow thousands of miles away, revealing a fertile plain — today’s Xunhua. Thousands of years have passed, yet the axe marks of the ancient excavators can still faintly be seen. A poem reads: “Yu split the Jishi rocks, a boon for a thousand autumns; he carved open the golden lock, letting dragons run free; he widened the fertile plains, connecting all lands — only the axe marks remain through ancient and modern times.” On the south bank of the upper Yellow River at Suotongpo, there is a huge rock called “Yu the Great’s Rock,” named after the legend that Yu rested upon it while diverting the river. Later generations built the Temple of Yu the Great in Dahejia, Jishishan County, in memory of his flood-control achievements. It was burned down during local warfare in the 21st year of the Guangxu reign (1895), but its ruins still remain.