Guilin Stone

Guilin Stone

By Jieshi Bay, there is a village named Xilan that faces Xuanwu Mountain and backs onto the sea. It is said that along its coastline lie two treasures: the Golden Rooster on the left and the Stone Drum on the right. When the Golden Rooster crows, the villagers rise to work in the fields; when a tsunami strikes, the Stone Drum thunders, and the villagers prepare to fight floods and disasters. This Stone Drum is the “Guilin Stone.” Legend has it that before the Eight Immortals crossed the sea, they once rested here. Iron-Crutch Li leaped onto the Stone Drum, planted his staff in a crevice, and gazed out at the sea. Unexpectedly, the Golden Rooster was startled and crowed loudly toward the sky. Fearing that the villagers would find out, the immortals hurriedly set off across the sea. In their haste, Iron-Crutch Li couldn’t pull his staff out no matter how hard he tried, so he gave it a strong kick with his foot and left it behind. Thus, a large footprint was left on the Stone Drum, which never thundered again. The staff, however, took root and sprouted leaves, eventually growing into a banyan tree. The Golden Rooster nearly revealed the secret of heaven, so Immortal He waved her colorful scarf, causing the rooster to shed all its feathers and turn into stone.

During the Xiangfu era of the Song Dynasty, Chen Dang, an imperial official of the Central Rank, visited Jieshi and ascended the Fuxing Tower on Xuanwu Mountain to take in the view of “Jieshi Overlooking the Sea.” While marveling at the scenery, he noticed a large bright spot beneath the dense shade along the coastline. The abbot of Yuan Mountain Temple explained to him that this light was a reflection from the Stone Drum. Bathed in the clear moonlight, the official left the tower and traveled more than two li to the northwest to Xilan Village. There, facing this massive rock, which abruptly juts out from the shore, stands 25 feet tall and is rugged yet elegant, he was reminded of the Solitary Beauty Peak in Guilin, Guangxi. Inspired by the moment, he inscribed the two characters “Guilin” on a small rock about twenty steps away from the giant stone. Ever since, people have referred to the Stone Drum as the “Guilin Stone.”

In the Qing Dynasty, during the Guangxu reign, Deng Wanlin, the commander of the Jiewei military garrison, climbed the Guilin Stone on a night when the moon was high and the autumn air was crisp. He saw ancient banyan trees shading the stone like an umbrella, and the stone’s surface smooth as a huge mirror, slightly tilted toward the northwest. Looking east toward Jieshi Guard City, he could see the北斗池 (Big Dipper Pool) shimmering with silver light, vaguely resembling a celestial pavilion in the sea. To the north, the Xuan Mountain Pagoda appeared to be enveloped in the Buddha’s halo cast by the moonlight. Gazing west toward the Guanyin Mountain Range, rolling clouds and mist surged like a giant dragon emerging from the water. Looking south over Jieshi Bay, the sparkling waves stretched as far as the eye could see, with masts standing densely like a myriad of soldiers charging into battle. Full of praise, he wielded his brush and inscribed four powerful characters — “Guilin Soaring in Grace” — on the Stone Drum. Since then, the “Guilin Moonlight Illuminating the Stars” has become one of the Eight Scenic Spots of Jieshi.