Luofu Mountain's Immortals' Meeting Bridge

Luofu Mountain's Immortals' Meeting Bridge

The Immortals' Meeting Bridge is a single-arch stone bridge, 2.9 meters wide and 3 meters high, with a surface made of blue hemp stone slabs and column capitals carved with floral patterns supporting square pillars.

Legend has it that in the first year of the Shaosheng era, Su Dongpo visited Luofu Mountain. After drinking, he happened to meet a village girl. Inspired to write poetry, he recited: “Seeking the secluded and exploring the scenic, I enter Luofu; drunk, I lean on my cane to find my way home. After the rain, the mountain flowers smell even sweeter, and the village girl’s glance back outshines a fairy maiden.” The village girl, seeing his boldness, retorted: “Dongpo tours and then goes to West Lake, raises his cup to invite the moon like a crazy fool. Right and wrong come only from speaking too much — remember how the court banished you?” Su Dongpo was suddenly startled, realizing he had met a celestial maiden. When he turned back to look for her, a sudden downpour occurred, the stream swelled, and the wooden bridge leading back was washed away. Just then, Iron-Crutch Li passed by and transformed his iron crutch into a bridge so that Su Dongpo could cross the stream. Later generations built this bridge in memory of the encounter between Su Dongpo, Immortal He (He Xiangu), and Iron-Crutch Li.

The center of the bridge plank is inscribed with the three characters “会仙桥” (Immortals' Meeting Bridge), written by the renowned Taiwanese patriotic poet Qiu Fengjia in the third year of the Xuantong reign of the Qing Dynasty.

Qiu Fengjia (1864–1912), also known as Xiangen or Zhong’e, and also called Canghai, was born in Miaoli County, Taiwan, and later moved to Changhua County. His ancestors were part of the Hakka clan that migrated south from the Central Plains. In the mid-Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, his great-grandfather, Qiu Shijun, relocated from Wending Village, Wenfu, Zhenping (now Jiaoling County) in Guangdong to Taiwan, where he engaged in land reclamation in Taichung’s Dongshi area. Qiu Fengjia was exceptionally intelligent, passing the imperial examination to become a scholar at age 14, a presented scholar (Juren) at 25, and a palace graduate (Jinshi) at 26. He was appointed as an official in the Ministry of Works but resigned from office because he did not wish to pursue a bureaucratic career, returning to Taiwan to begin a teaching career.

In 1895, after the Qing government was defeated in the First Sino-Japanese War… More details about Qiu Fengjia ++

Su Shi (1037–1101), courtesy name Zizhan, art name Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan, Meizhou (now part of Sichuan). His family had a strong literary tradition — his grandfather Su Xu loved reading and was good at writing poetry. His father, Su Xun, was a master of classical prose and provided careful guidance to both Su Shi and his younger brother Su Zhe. Their mother, Lady Cheng, was knowledgeable and principled, and once told the young Su Shi the story of Fan Pang from the Book of the Later Han • Biography of Fan Pang, using the deeds of ancient virtuous individuals to encourage her son to uphold his integrity. By the time Su Shi was 21 and left Sichuan for the capital, his knowledge and cultivation were already quite mature.

Su Shi was erudite and broad-minded in thought… More details about Su Shi ++