Stone Weir Seclusion Carvings

　　Located in Wuyunshan Village, Xinghua Township, Hong’an County. These are stone carvings from the Ming and Qing dynasties. On a 3-meter-high stone cliff, three carved surfaces are hewn from right to left. The central carved surface is 1.5 meters high and 0.2 meters wide, featuring an inscription in intaglio regular script that reads: “Constructed by Geng in the winter of the 44th year of the Wanli reign during the Great Ming Dynasty.” The right carved surface is 0.9 meters high and 0.45 meters wide; although the inscriptions have weathered, after cleaning and tracing, the content has been analyzed as: “The Stone Weir Seclusion was originally one of the Eight Scenic Spots. By imperial decree, its destruction is prohibited. Anyone who damages the stones in this stream will be collectively punished and the area leveled with sand. This was jointly agreed upon by the public and the Geng family.” The left carved surface is 0.85 meters high and 0.4 meters wide, with an intaglio regular script inscription that reads: “Reconstructed in the third year of the Xianfeng reign by the local community, with Wang Daohuo as the fund-raising leader.” These carvings document the formation time of one of the ancient Eight Scenic Spots of Huang’an — “Stone Weir Seclusion” — as well as information about the construction and maintenance of the “Qiangong Weir,” a water conservancy project from the Ming dynasty. They fill gaps in local chronicles and represent the earliest known stone carvings in Hong’an related to the protection of cultural landscapes and environmental conservation, making them of great historical significance.

　　Source: Hubei Provincial Cultural Relics Bureau