Songcun An

Songcun An

Songcun An is located at the foot of Nanshan Ridge, one kilometer north of Houmen Town, Haifeng County. It is a dilapidated two-courtyard, three-room temple nestled in the shade of greenery. The horizontal plaque above the entrance bears the two large characters "Song Cun" (宋存), which is also the origin of the temple’s name. These two characters signify “the land endures forever, and the Song dynasty lives on.” The damaged walls also preserve two couplets: one reads, “Storms cannot erase the words of the king; the sovereign and his ministers still enjoy the mountains of the Song era.” The other reads, “One night left the sacred trace; three characters console the traveler.”

Legend has it that during the late Song dynasty, Emperor Duanzong of Song and his brother fled south after a defeat and took temporary shelter here under the rocks for one night. That night, an earthquake shook the earth, and the minister Lu Xiufu suggested to the emperor that he inscribe the three characters “Zhuang Di Ju” (壮帝居, “The Residence of the Majestic Emperor”) on the rock face to calm his nerves. During the Ming dynasty, Pu Jianchuan Yonglan visited this site to pay homage to the ancient relic. Upon learning the story, he inscribed the three characters “Zhuang Di Ju” on the rock wall, along with his signature. In the 27th year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing dynasty (1762), local residents of Houmen Town pooled funds to build this temple around the stone inscription. Today, the inscription can be found on the slanted rock wall in the central rear hall of Songcun An.

Address: Shanwei City, Guangdong Province

Type: Historical Site

Recommended Visiting Time: About 1 hour