Shagou rock paintings in Shagou

There are two small villages in the southeast of Pengyang Township. They are located in the upstream and downstream of a river ditch from north to south. They are called Shangshagou in the north and Xiashagou in the south. The hills and mountains here are undulating and the mountains and rivers linger here. It was the north-south hub from central Shandong to southern Shandong in ancient times. On the east mountain between the two villages, there is an east-west ravine, about 5 meters deep and 3 meters wide, with white rock walls on both sides, carved by millions of years of rain. On the north wall of this ditch, about two-thirds of the height, there is a picture carved with shadows: an official hat, the kind often seen in dramas, with a dangling gauze cap on each side. Wing fan. On the left side of the official hat, there is a lotus that seems to be unable to bloom. The lines of the rock paintings are concise and simple, and the size is comparable to the real thing. This painting has not attracted the attention of academic and archaeological circles so far. However, in this area, there are various legends surrounding the rock paintings that have been passed down from generation to generation. Typical ones are the following two.

One of the legends: In the early years of the Qing Dynasty, the annual imperial examination candidates in Zichuan, Shandong Province ranked first in the country, which aroused the jealousy of the southern barbarians, who believed that there must be a good Feng Shui in Zichuan County. They invited a Feng Shui master to secretly inspect the Zichuan area. As a result, a secret was discovered in the sand ditch 30 miles west of Zichuan County. It turns out that less than 5 meters downstream of the stone wall mentioned above, the geological structure is relatively complex, with loose sandy rock surrounding hard purple sandstone. Under the erosion of the stream over the years, the surrounding sandy rock has been eroded. , while the hard purple sandstone protrudes. The wonderful thing is that the image of a turtle formed by this empty purple boulder sits east to west, squatting among the green mountains and green waters. Looking from a distance, the half wall of the cliff behind the turtle looks like a huge monument, forming the basis of the turtle carrying monument. Stereoscopic picture. This tortoise-carrying stele is huge and unparalleled. The Feng Shui master stood on the road at the foot of the mountain and looked eastward under the setting sun. He saw a dense purple atmosphere and countless official hats ranging from the first to the ninth rank were placed around the monument. He suddenly realized that the earth spirit of Zichuan County is here, so it is not surprising that the officials are so prosperous. So, he secretly carved the painting on that monument - the cliff. The meaning is: Although there are many official hats, they are all flowers and cannot bear fruit, which means that you will not be able to pass the official examination. This feng shui is also destroyed.

Legend 2: There is a piece of flat land on the top of the cliff, and a family named Zhang chose it as a cemetery. A Feng Shui master was shocked when he saw it and said that this family would definitely have a high official in the future. He had bad intentions and secretly chiseled the painting at night. The intention is the same as the above example. It is said that many people with this surname have worn official hats over the centuries, but unfortunately they were on the stage.

The above legend is of course nonsense. But the rock paintings actually exist, and people have suggested that the topography of the "Turtle Carrying Monument" does have some similarities. I tried to make the following research on this phenomenon and asked the Fang family for advice.