The Site Where Cangjie Created Writing in Luonan

　　Yangxu Mountain is located 24 kilometers northwest of Luonan County, facing Yuanhu Mountain across the Luo River. It is said to be the place where Cangjie created writing. The *Yong Sheng Lüe* states: “Cangjie created writing here.” *Ce Hai · Da Shu* records: “Cangjie ascended Yangxu Mountain and gazed upon the waters of Yuanhu Luo. A divine turtle carried a book with vermilion shells and blue characters. Emperor Cang received it and thereby grasped the transformations of heaven and earth. He looked up at the curved form of the Kui star, observed the patterns on turtles, bird tracks, mountains, rivers, and the lines on his palms, and thus created writing.” *He Tu Yu Ban* says: “Cangjie, as emperor (another account says he was an official historian of the Yellow Emperor, also known as ‘Shi Huang’), toured southward and climbed Yangxu Mountain. Gazing at the waters of Yuanhu Luo, a divine turtle bore a book with vermilion shells and blue characters, which he received. He then studied the changes of heaven and earth, observed the curved form of the Kui star, and examined the patterns on turtles, bird tracks, mountains, rivers, and the contours of his palms, and thus created writing and devised the Six Methods of Character Formation. When writing was created, dragons hid and ghosts wept, fearing that people would write with it. Heaven rained grain and gold as if revealing the secrets of heaven and earth.” *Wai Ji* says: “Jie possessed saintly virtue and could write from birth. As he grew, he climbed Yangxu Mountain and gazed upon the waters of Yuanhu. A divine turtle emerged from the water carrying a diagram. Emperor Cang received it, studied the changes of heaven and earth, observed the curved form of the Kui star, and examined the patterns on turtles, bird tracks, the spiritual essence of mountains, rivers, and the contours of his palms, and thus created writing, devising the Six Methods of Character Formation. When writing was created, dragons hid and ghosts wept out of fear that people would write with it. Heaven rained grain and gold because it revealed the secrets of heaven and earth.”

　　Today, Yuanhu Mountain is called Shuanglian Mountain, situated on the southern bank of the Luo River, facing Yangxu Mountain to the north. Its majestic and beautiful peaks rise proudly. The *Yellow Emperor Record* states: “The Yellow Emperor sat in the pavilion of Yuanhu, accompanied by the Grand Marshal Rongguang, the aides Zhou Chang and the official historian Cangjie, along with 120 others. A phoenix flew to the emperor’s presence carrying a diagram in a yellow jade box labeled: ‘Decree of the Yellow Emperor, ordering the God of Destiny to compile the emperor’s chronicles.’” On the stone cliffs of Yuanhu Mountain, there were originally 28 characters carved in Cangjie’s own handwriting, described as “animal hoofprints and bird tracks.” Legend has it that Li Si, the Prime Minister of the Qin Dynasty, could only recognize eight of them: “The Heavenly Mandate Descends, Sovereigns Succeed One Another,” while the remaining twenty were unreadable. However, according to the annotations in Volume 5 of the *Chunhua Pavilion Ancient Calligraphy Model*, the 28 characters are: “Wu Ji Jia Yi Ju Shou Gong You Suo Zhi Lie Shi Shi Qi Guang Ming Zuo Hu Cong Jia Shou Chi Shui Zun Ge Gan Ye.”

　　About 20 kilometers northwest of Luonan County lies a village with a population of nearly 1,000. It was once an important market town—Heitanzi Town—and still holds some local fame today. This village is the site where Cangjie washed his brush after creating writing—known as the Heitan Relic Site. According to the *Luonan County Annals*: “…Cangjie created writing here. In front was a black pond, also named after the creation of writing, much like Wang Xizhi’s Ink Pond.”

　　Regarding the origins of Chinese writing, opinions have long varied. Synthesizing the records of numerous ancient legends, Xu Shen of the Eastern Han Dynasty provided a more systematic discussion on the development of writing in his *Shuowen Jiezi*: “In ancient times, when Emperor Fuxi ruled the world, he looked up to observe the patterns in the heavens and down to study the principles of the earth. He observed the markings on birds and beasts and the suitability of the land, drawing close from his own body and far from other objects, and thus began to create the Eight Trigrams, using hanging symbols to represent phenomena. Later, during the era of Emperor Shennong, knotted cords were used for governance, but as affairs became more numerous and complex, deception began to emerge. The historian of the Yellow Emperor, Cangjie, seeing the tracks of birds and beasts, realized that distinctions could be made based on patterns and thus initially created written characters.” *The Annals of the Emperors* states: “The historian of the Yellow Emperor, Cangjie, took inspiration from bird tracks and began to devise writing.” *Xunzi · Jiebi* also says: “Many loved writing, but only Cangjie’s tradition has been passed down.” These historical sources confirm that writing originated with Cangjie, who created it by the Luo River. Yangxu Mountain, Yuanhu Mountain, and Heitanzi Town are all sites of Cangjie’s writing creation.

　　At the foot of Yangxu Mountain, Cangjie left behind 28 carved characters in his own handwriting. These 28 characters have been widely recorded throughout history and are highly renowned. Therefore, every high-ranking official or literati passing through Luonan would pay homage to this sacred site, making rubbings of the characters as a mark of refinement. Though time has passed and the seasons changed, the traces remain. Later, unfortunately, the original characters were destroyed in a fire and became difficult to recognize. During the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, County Magistrate Wang Senwen collected authentic rubbings from the public, traced and carved them onto stone, and erected a stele at Xujiatemple Village at the foot of Yangxu Mountain. The stele is 1.6 meters tall, 0.65 meters wide, rectangular in shape, with the front inscribed as “Turtle and Phoenix Bring Auspiciousness” and the larger words “Site Where Cangjie Received Writing” below. The back is titled “Bird Tracks of Yangxu” with the 28 characters inscribed below. This stele serves as solid evidence that Cangjie created writing in Luonan and is currently preserved in the Luonan County Museum.

　　Cangjie’s creation of writing has been a meritorious deed for millennia and is celebrated across China. To commemorate this progenitor of writing, the Luonan County government built the Cangsheng Shrine in the fifth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty in the southeastern corner of the county. The shrine includes a main hall, an offering hall, and a front hall. The main hall houses a wooden spirit tablet inscribed with the five golden characters “Spirit Tablet of the Sage Cang” on a crimson background. The offering hall features the four characters “Kui Wen Qi Sheng” (Enlightenment Begins with the Kui Text) inscribed by Xu Zhenhui, the Educational Commissioner of Shaanxi. The gate bears the name “Cangsheng Shrine,” written powerfully by Yi Yunzhen, the magistrate of Luonan County. The Cangsheng Shrine remains in its original state today and has become an excellent destination for visitors to pay homage to the Sage of Writing.