Qingshui Rock

The peak of Qingshui Rock stands 767 metres above sea level. The temple complex clings to the mountain slope at an elevation of 500 metres. Backed by a mountain ridge shaped like a lion, it is embraced by three brush-shaped peaks. Facing a deep valley and encircled by rolling hills of Penglai Basin in the distance, it commands a magnificent view from the summit. Lofty halls stand amid exquisite mountains and rivers, often shrouded in sea of mist and drifting clouds. Its fairyland scenery earns it a high reputation across the country and overseas.

Master Puzu took Yang Dao and Zhou Ming as his disciples. During his nineteen years residing on the mountain, he built bridges at Tongquan, Valley Mouth and Taikou, and paved the path to Yangzhong Pavilion with generous alms from believers. He also erected Yangzhong Pavilion as a free clinic to treat the sick. After eighteen years of fundraising and construction led by Jianjun, the corridors and main buildings of Qingshui Rock Temple were finally completed. On the 13th day of the fifth lunar month in the first year of the Zhongjing reign of the Southern Song Dynasty (1101), Master Puzu passed away. Local people carved a statue of him from eaglewood and enshrined it in the temple, honouring him as Patriarch Qingshui.

From the second year of the Jingyan reign of the Southern Song Dynasty (1277) up to modern times, Qingshui Rock underwent more than thirty rounds of successive construction, reconstruction, expansion and renovation. Built against the mountain and facing the deep ravine, the buildings adopt a three-storey pavilion style. The first floor houses Haotian Hall; the second floor enshrines the Patriarch Hall; the third floor is the Garuda Hall. Bell Tower and Drum Tower flank the main compound, together with Sandalwood Hall, Guanyin Hall, Donor Hall and monk quarters distributed on the east and west sides. Tiered pavilions twist and interlock with one another. Seen from afar, the whole complex resembles the Chinese character for "emperor", imposing and spectacular. Legendarily there were ninety-nine rooms. The surviving structures date back to the Ming, Qing and modern periods.

Scattered around the temple are numerous cultural relics and natural wonders. Behind the main hall on the cliff stands the Song-dynasty Vacuum Pagoda where Patriarch Qingshui’s ashes were buried. Beneath a huge boulder behind the middle hall lies a deep cavern known as the Lion’s Throat. Outside the mountain gate, visitors can find Split Bamboo, Clear Pearl Curtain, Square Mirror Pond, Stone Basin, Buddhist Pine, Jue Pavilion, Stone Granary, the stele carved with a panorama of the rock plus its shelter pavilion, and the Tree with Branches All Pointing North. Other attractions include the Three Loyalists Temple, Dragon Viewing Pavilion, Qingshui Villa and Dragon Palace. The most striking sight is the Clear Pearl Curtain: every spring and summer, crystal water drops gush out of rock crevices on the cliff left of the mountain gate. Under sunlight, they form a colourful pearl curtain hanging down. The Tree with Branches All Pointing North is an ancient camphor tree so thick that seven children linking hands can barely encircle its trunk. Affected by terrain and wind direction, nearly all its branches stretch northward. According to legend, when the national hero Yue Fei was framed and killed by the treacherous official Qin Hui in the early Southern Song Dynasty, the tree was deeply moved, and all its boughs turned north in remembrance of the loyal martyr.

More than twenty stone steles and cliff inscriptions survive here, spanning the Song, Yuan, Ming, Qing dynasties up to modern times. The calligraphy includes seal script, clerical script, regular script and running script, among which regular and running scripts predominate. The Song-dynasty panorama stele is especially precious. At the highest point of Qingshui Rock stand four jagged stone pinnacles rising abruptly into the sky. Starting from Heqian Bridge in Penglai, tourists will encounter grotesque rock formations such as Banling Pavilion, Boundary Protection Palace, Kasaya Rock, Cinnabar Mortar, Stone Chicken and Stone Dog. The natural scenery is endlessly charming, making visitors feel as if they have stepped into a fairyland.

Qingshui Rock is located on Penglai Mountain, 24 kilometres northwest of Anxi County seat. It is a Major Historical and Cultural Site of Fujian Province as well as a provincial scenic area. Patriarch Qingshui, ranked among China’s hundred immortals, is enshrined here, turning the site into a world-famous pilgrimage resort. It receives more than 300,000 Chinese and foreign tourists annually. Over 300 branch temples dedicated to Patriarch Qingshui have been built in Southeast Asia, Japan, Taiwan and other regions.

The scenic area boasts towering palaces, enchanting landscapes and dense cultural relics. Among the existing historic sites, 29 date to the Song Dynasty, 1 to the Yuan Dynasty, 8 to the Ming Dynasty, 5 to the Qing Dynasty, and another 23 were added in modern times. Combined with magnificent natural landscapes, they form a breathtaking fairyland. Highlights include the extremely rare Song-dynasty panorama stele, and the Buddhist pine said to grow three inches taller each year yet shrink three inches whenever thunder and lightning strike. The temple complex with a unique layout exists nowhere else in the country.

A trip to Qingshui Rock allows tourists to enjoy the beauty of nature while fulfilling their wish of burning incense and worshipping Buddha — killing two birds with one stone. An old local saying goes: Whoever visits Anxi must come to Qingshui Rock, and whoever comes here will surely gain something meaningful.