Mingyan, located in the northeastern side of the ‘Hanyan Dongtian’ mountain, is renowned for its ‘three victories’: the first is ‘Five Horses Hidden’, the second is ‘Mantis Fishing for Toad’, and the third is ‘Monk Carrying Taoist’. If one were to carefully observe Mingyan, there are no less than forty to fifty scenic spots. To the east of its valley mouth, on the left stands ‘Lion Mountain’ and on the right is ‘Elephant Mountain’. Not far into the valley, one can find the Yellow Dog Plateau, Bell and Drum Rocks, Ba Cun Pass, He He Stone, and the Three-Eyed Spring (also known as Tonghai Pond). At the northern end of the Three-Eyed Spring, there are inscriptions on the ‘Rock Monstrosity’ and small stone bridges. On the northern cliff of Mingyan, there are Chu Lai Cave, Chao Yang Cave, and Tiger Cave. Above Chu Lai Cave, there is a natural rock painting of a fox fighting a rooster, and inside the cave, there is ‘Bodhidharma’s Western Journey Shadow’, which was the former site of the poetry society of the Qing Dynasty’s local worthy Qi Zhaonan. Chao Yang Cave has now been expanded into Chao Yang Temple, which is very quiet and refreshing. In the middle section of Mingyan, at the peak of the mountain, there is ‘Golden Orange Cave’, and at the foot of the peak, there is a large rock painting of ‘White Horse Going West’, and at the bottom of the mountain, there is a cave temple dedicated to Han Shan Zi in modern times. Near the south side of the mountain in the middle section, in addition to the Five Horse Shadows, there is also ‘Clear Sky Raining White Rain’. On the top of the mountain, there is a waterfall called ‘Mingyan Waterfall’, which can only be seen in the spring rain or thunderstorm season. The western section is the deeper and more secluded part of Mingyan. Inside, there are many scenic spots such as ‘Stone Hall Alley’, ‘Clapping Hands Rock’, ‘One-Fan Heaven’, ‘Mountain Climbing Carp’, and ‘Mountain Climbing Crucian Carp’. [Five Horses Hidden] On the rock wall to the south of Mingyan’s ‘Han Shi Er Dashi Memorial Tower’. This rock wall, about 8 meters high and 5 meters wide, has a flat surface, and the traces of the five horses on the wall, with different postures, are caused by rock patterns, water stains, and moss, but people would rather believe that they are the traces left by Taizhou’s governor Lu Qiu Yin leading five fast knights in pursuit of Han Shan Zi. [Mantis Fishing for Toad] Next to ‘Five Horse Shadows’, there is a huge peak, towering into the sky, cylindrical in shape, more than 40 meters high, with a circumference of more than 20 meters, and hanging in the air on all sides. On the top of the peak, there is an old flower that cannot be climbed, and from a distance, it looks like a mantis standing upright with its pincers curled up. There used to be an ancient vine hanging from the old tree on the top of the peak to the ground, connected to a large rock shaped like a tripod toad (ancient name toad) lying under the column peak, hence the name ‘Mantis Fishing for Toad’. Unfortunately, this ancient vine was cut down forty to fifty years ago.
Mingyan Ancient Temple
Mingyan, located in the northeastern side of the ‘Hanyan Dongtian’ mountain, is renowned[...]
