Sima Rock Carvings

　　    Located at the summit of Jiuyan Mountain under the management of TianTai Mountain in Hong’an County, these are Ming Dynasty stone carvings. The three characters “Sima Yan” are carved in the middle-upper part of the cliff face in regular script, recessed and deeply engraved, vigorous and powerful, with each character measuring approximately 0.6 meters in diameter. To the left of “Sima Yan,” there are three columns of recessed characters that read “Ming Dynasty Minister of War Zhang Jinyan pacified and campaigned here.” Each character is about 0.2 meters in diameter. In the lower right corner of “Sima Yan,” there are nine columns of recessed regular script that read “Military Supervisor Li?N, Vice Minister Zhang Shenyuan, Deputy General Chen Xilei, Jiao Peng, Staff Officer Guo Ding, Zhang Lianggong, Guerrilla Leader Zhang Xun, Yu Shigou, Commander Li Shiqi.” These are arranged from top to bottom and from right to left according to rank, with each character about 0.1 meters in diameter. Zhang Jinyan (1599–1672), from Xinxiang, Henan, became a Jinshi (advanced scholar) in the fourth year of the Chongzhen reign (1631) during the Ming Dynasty. He held various positions including Director of the Ministry of Revenue, Compiler, Military Affairs Censor, and eventually Minister of War. In the seventeenth year of Chongzhen (1644), when Li Zicheng entered Beijing, Zhang first surrendered and then fled. He returned to his hometown to train troops and contacted the Prince of Fu (Hongguang Emperor) in Nanjing, who reinstated him to his former position and ordered him to lead forces in an attempt to restore the Ming Dynasty. In the second year of the Shunzhi reign (1645), the Hongguang regime collapsed. In the third year of Shunzhi (1646), Zhang Jinyan surrendered to the Qing. He subsequently served as Right Provincial Administration Commissioner of Shandong and Left Provincial Administration Commissioner of Zhejiang. In the seventeenth year of Shunzhi (1660), he was exiled to Ningguta. He passed away in Ningguta in the eleventh year of the Kangxi reign (1672). These carvings are believed to have been created during Zhang Jinyan’s tenure as Minister of War of the Southern Ming, when he led troops in military operations in the border region of Hubei and Henan. They hold certain value for the study of military activities by the Southern Ming and Qing armies in the Dabie Mountain area. The inscriptions are dignified and vigorous, also possessing high artistic value.

　　    Source: Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau