Stone Bell Hil

4 min read

The Stone Bell Hill(Shizhong Shan) is located in Shuangzhong Town, Hukou County, Jiujiang City, Jiangxi Province. On the confluence of the Yangtze River and Poyang Lake, the hill is surrounded by water on three sides and is joined to the mainland on the fourth. This hill comprises two parts, Upper Stone Bell Hill facing Poyang Lake on its southern side and Lower Stone Bell Hill facing the Yangtze River on its northern side. The total area of the two hills is approximately 100,000 square meters with an altitude of 67.7 meters.

There is a legend that tells of the origin of the Stone Bell Hill. One day, the Jade Emperor (the supreme deity of Daoism) wanted to build Lingxiao Palace in the Heaven, so he asked one god to carve two jade bells from the jade in Mount Jiuhua.

When the two bells were completed, the Jade Emperor asked another god, the one with great strength, to carry the bells up to the Heaven. When he was flying over the meeting point of Poyang Lake and the Yangtze River with the two jade bells on hisshoulders, he was attracted by the beautiful sceneries and forgot his mission. As aresult, he dropped the two bells without knowing it. One bell landed on the side of Poyang Lake, whilst the other landed on the side of the Yangtze River, giving us Upper and Lower Stone Bell Hills.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, please look at the big rock in the pavilion. If you hit it with a small stone, you will find the crashing sound just like the sound of striking bell. People said it is one of reasons the hill is called the Stone Bell Hill.

Ladies and gentlemen, look at the tablet in the middle of the pavilion. The inscription of the tablet is the well known verse “Visiting The Stone Bell Hill Note”written by Su Dongpo during the Song Dynasty (960AD-1279AD). One day, he went boating here in the moon night and wrote this Note to praise the beautiful view.

So on the other side of the tablet is the picture of Mr. Su.

This way will lead us to the cliff by the side of Yangtze River, and the cliff is called”Fan Zhou Yan”(boating by the cliff). It was said that Mr. Su boated here that night.

With a constant stream of visitors from different places for thousands of years，the Stone Bell Hill is famous for its unique scenery.It is a holy place for Confucian intellectuals，and a place of great strategic importance.Now，we are in the“Qing Zhuo pavilion”（“clear and turbid hoarding water”Pavilion）.As on one side of the hill is Poyang Lake which is green，and on the other side is the Yangtze River which is yellow，from the point of this pavilion，you can view the hill presenting people with a kaleidoscopic view with changes in color.As a place of strategic importance，many historical events and battles occurred here，including the war between Zhu Yuanzhang（first emperor of the Ming Dynasty（1368AD-1644AD）and Chen Youliang，（a general of the late Yuan Dynasty（1271AD-1368AD），and the ten-year war fought between Zeng Guofan（a famous general of the Qing Dynasty（1644AD-1911AD）and Shi Dakai（a general of the Taiping Army）.Down the path，we cn get to a pavilion which is named“Shang Yu Pavilion”（reporting the war affairs to emperor）.

The status who is standing on the bank of Yangtze River is Zeng Guofan.Can you guess what he is pondering on？

Ladies and gentlemen，we are in front of an ancient mansion named“Bao Ci Chan Lin”（the temple of paying gratitude）.It was built by Peng Yulin，a general of Zeng Guofan，to memorialize his died mother.Later，it became a place where people commemorated those soldiers who died in the wars.

Many literary giants of ancient China have left more than 20 calligraphy masterpieces carved upon the stone.Some of the most precious works date back to the Tang Dynasty（618AD-907AD）.Walking along the corridor of tablets，you canfind many famous people’s pictures and profiles in the history of China.

Ladies and gentlemen，the introduction of the Stone Bell Hill is over.Now you can take a short rest here，walk around or take some pictures.20 minutes later，we’ll meet at the entrance of gate.Then，we are going to have lunch-a special banquet，dishes made of the fish from Poyang Lake.