Tomb of Wu Yifeng

　　Wu Yifeng was the founding figure of Tianzhu Mountain, making immortal contributions to its promotion and development, and was deeply loved by the people of Qianshan. Every year during the Qingming Festival, officials from various levels, teachers and students of Yezhai Middle School, friends of Mr. Wu from his lifetime, as well as local residents, spontaneously come to his tomb to pay their respects and offer flowers.

　　The Tomb of Wu Yifeng has become part of Qianshan’s spiritual heritage. Beyond commemorating this pioneer of Tianzhu Mountain, it serves more importantly as a source of profound humanistic inspiration through understanding the life and legacy of Mr. Wu Yifeng.

　　Wu Yifeng (1901–1989), originally from Liaocheng, Shandong Province, graduated from the Philosophy Department of Peking University in 1928. He once served as an editor at the Zhejiang Provincial Library, head instructor at Hangzhou Provincial High School, and principal of Xuancheng No. 1 High School and Anqing No. 1 High School in Anhui Province.

　　In 1933, while serving as secretary of the Anhui Provincial Education Department, he first visited Tianzhu Mountain and formed an inseparable bond with it ever since. In 1942, due to family and marital issues, Wu Yifeng drifted thousands of miles from Sichuan to live in seclusion at Tianzhu Mountain. He resided in Tianzhu Mountain Lodge, which he built in 1937 on the mountainside behind Mazu Temple, and became close friends with Monk Miaogao. By day, they explored the peaks; by night, they discussed Buddhism and Zen. In 1943, when the 176th Division Memorial Cemetery for Anti-Japanese Martyrs was completed in Yezhai under the leadership of Anqing Commissioner Fan Yuansheng, Wu Yifeng was invited to take charge of the school administration to protect the cemetery and inspire future generations by founding “Jingzhong Private Middle School,” whose name means “Admiring Loyalty and Bravery.”

　　At its inception, the school enrolled two first-year junior high classes and one second-year class, totaling 150 students. Upon learning of this, the Provincial Education Department, citing lack of approval, refused to recognize the students’ enrollment status and ordered the school to shut down.

　　While actively running the school and stabilizing the morale of faculty and students, Wu Yifeng lobbied in the provincial capital. The head of the Provincial Education Department, Wang Shaolun, was a classmate of Wu Yifeng who, recognizing his talent, kept him to oversee daily departmental operations. In May 1945, when Wang Shaolun went to Chongqing on official business, Wu Yifeng acted as acting director of the department.

　　As a result, Wu had “Jingzhong” resubmit its application for establishment to the Provincial Education Department, and he himself approved it. After the approval document was issued, Mr. Wu promptly resigned from office and returned to Qianshan to continue running the school.

　　To develop Tianzhu Mountain, he actively raised funds, successively building reception facilities such as Wangyue Pavilion and Yueyun Mountain House on the mountain, and laying over 2,000 stone steps from Liangyaoping to Baiyue Platform.

　　Wu Yifeng climbed the mountain hundreds of times for research and made it his mission to compile a chronicle of Tianzhu Mountain. After 18 years of effort, he completed a manuscript of over 500,000 words. Unexpectedly, he was then labeled a “Rightist” and imprisoned. It wasn’t until 1969, after his release, that he was sent to do labor in the rural areas near Yezhai. He was fully rehabilitated in 1979 and appointed Director of the General Courses Teaching and Research Section at Anqing Normal School, as well as Associate Professor of Psychology. He also served as a deputy to the 4th and 8th Qianshan Municipal People's Congresses and a member of the 4th and 5th Anhui Provincial Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference.

　　However, his manuscript was confiscated during his imprisonment. After searching every corner, he managed to recover parts of the original draft. Following more than 2,500 days of editing and revision, the book Tianzhu Mountain Chronicles was finally officially published by Anhui Education Press in 1984.

　　Wu Yifeng was immensely talented and extremely prolific throughout his life. Besides Tianzhu Mountain Chronicles, he also authored works such as A Study of Li Zhiwu’s Writings, A Historical Account of the Relationship Between Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism During China’s Medieval Period, Tribute to the Scholarship of Mr. Ma Yifu, Collection of Poems by Ma Zhanweng, Treatise on Human Nature, Poetry Drafts from Yueyun Mountain House, and Letters of the Tianzhu Elder. It is estimated that Wu Yifeng wrote over 1,000 regulated poems in his lifetime. In 2002, on the centennial of Mr. Wu’s birth, Xu Jida, president of the Tianzhu Mountain Tourism Association, organized the selection and publication of Selected Poems from Yueyun Mountain House, which includes 77 poems about Tianzhu Mountain.

　　Wu Yifeng loved mountains all his life and called himself “The Elder of Tianzhu” and “The Hermit Who Forgot the Fishing Trap.” On February 26, 1989, Mr. Wu passed away at the age of 88 in his cottage at the valley entrance in Yezhai.

　　According to his wishes, he was cremated in a seated urn at Sanzu Temple and buried on the southern mountain in Chazhuang Village, Tianzhu Mountain Tea Plantation. He devoted most of his life and energy to Tianzhu Mountain, and after death, returned to the embrace of the mountains. The nearby grave belongs to his wife in Qianshan, Madam Yu Jurong.

　　

　　Wu Yifeng (1901~1989)　　Wu Yifeng (1901–1989), courtesy name Guanjun, also known as “Hermit Who Forgot the Fishing Trap” and “Elder of One Peak,” was originally from Dongchangfu District, Liaocheng, Shandong Province, and later settled in Yezhai, Qianshan, Anhui. He studied in the Philosophy Department at Peking University in 1928, and held positions including editor at the Zhejiang Provincial Library, teacher at provincial high schools, secretary of the Anhui Provincial Education Department, principal of Xuancheng High School and Anqing No. 1 High School, associate professor at Chongqing University in Sichuan, and principal of Jingzhong Middle School in Qianshan. In 1942, he served as a member of the Tianzhu Mountain Development Committee. His works include A Study of Li Zhiwu’s Writings, Tianzhu Mountain Summary (mimeographed edition), Tianzhu Mountain Chronicles, A Historical Account of the Relationship Between Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism During China’s Medieval Period, Tribute to... More+