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26
2018
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Scenic Beauty of Panshan Mountain
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Panshan Scenic Area, located northwest of Jixian County in Tianjin, is a national 5A‑level tourist attraction. Its history dates back to the Han Dynasty, with its construction beginning in the Tang and reaching its zenith during the Qing Dynasty. The Qianlong Emperor of the Qing dynasty made 32 imperial tours to Panshan, leaving behind 1,366 poems praising the scenic beauty of the mountain, and famously remarked, “Had I known of Panshan earlier, why would I have needed to journey south?”
Panshan Scenic Area is a National Key Scenic and Historic Interest Area and a national 5A‑level tourist attraction. It was once listed among China’s fifteen most famous scenic spots and is renowned at home and abroad as the “First Mountain of Eastern Jing.” The Panshan Scenic Area is located 12 kilometers northwest of Jixian County, Tianjin.
Panshan was historically known as Panlongshan, Sizhengshan, and Wuzhongshan. It earned the name Panlongshan because its winding, serpentine form seemed to have no fixed orientation yet resembled a dragon in motion. It was also called Sizhengshan because a solitary peak rose sheer and unassisted, its honeycomb‑like, lotus‑petal–shaped slopes were identical on all four sides. As it lay within the territory of the ancient state of Wuzhong, it was likewise named Wuzhongshan; during the Three Kingdoms period under the Wei dynasty, it retained this appellation. In Cao Cao’s “Memorial on Tian Chou,” it is recorded: “Tian Chou led his clan into the mountains of Wuzhong.” Since Tian Chou, a recluse of the Wei court, once served as a guide for Cao Cao in his campaign against the Wuhuan, yet declined the official titles and ranks bestowed by the emperor and remained a hermit in the mountains, later generations, in honor of Tian Chou, renamed Wuzhongshan “Tianpanshan”—meaning that Tian Chou had long lingered there. The abbreviated name eventually became simply “Panshan.”
The Panshan Scenic Area has now reopened its five major zones and more than 130 attractions. Three passenger cableways—Panshan, Yunsong, and Guayue—have been constructed and put into operation, allowing visitors to take the cable car directly to the summit of Panshan, Guayue Peak.
When appraising the scenic splendors of Panshan, the illustrious Wang Heng remarked, “The pine trees are surely the finest feature of Panshan.” In his “Panshan Travelogue” from the Republic of China era, Xu Tongxin wrote: “Water and stone can be found on many other mountains, but only the pines of Panshan stand alone in their unique charm. Huangshan pines are renowned throughout the land, yet they grow exclusively on sheer cliffs, displaying forms of extraordinary and wondrous variation—far less so than the pines of Panshan.” Emperor Qianlong once praised them thus: “Where in the world are there no pines? The pines of Panshan are the very root and source of all pines under heaven.”
During the Ming dynasty, Tang Shunzhi, while touring Panshan, wrote of its remarkable rocks and clouds: “Seeking out all forms to emulate the rare and precious, they vie with one another in myriad shapes; some recline upon the grass like grazing sheep, surely the illusion of immortal artistry; others lean as if bearing a burden or crouch like tigers, astonishing with the divine accuracy of their aim; still others stand firm and unmoved—could they be the metamorphoses of longing wives?” The famed stones of Panshan were originally said to comprise eight celebrated specimens, but through the inscriptions of eminent figures and the discoveries of travelers, their number has steadily grown. Zhipu recorded twenty-five such stones, while the Qianlong‑era Imperial Commissioned Record of Panshan listed forty-two; by the Republican period, the work “Shuo Panshan” had documented fifty-seven.
Li Daoyuan’s “Commentary on the Water Classic” records: “The waters of Panshan spring forth from the mountain… Three li from the mountain, one can see that the water cascading down its slopes rises as high as twenty li; the white rapids surge mightily, their tumbling waves resound through the valleys as they flow downward…” In the Ming dynasty, Liu Dong described Panshan’s clear springs thus: “Beneath them, countless rushing streams abound; the water stirs and strikes the rocks, splashing and ringing day and night. Together with the sharp-edged stones whose flat tops lean outward, their forces sway and tilt in mutual harmony—thus are these ‘Panshan Springs’ formed.” Emperor Qianlong, in his “Record of the Thousand‑Foot Snow at Panshan,” wrote: “Gathering the waters of myriad mountains, they converge into a single ravine; the torrent of Cangchi crashes against the stone face, while the rustling breeze hums among the treetops. At times, when gloomy rain gives way to sudden clarity, the myriad streams swell in fury, swelling to great heights—so mighty that even the thunderous clang of a thousand men striking a great bell could scarcely match its grandeur.”
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