Original text, annotations, translations and appreciation of Shizhongshan Ji

Work: The Story of Shizhongshan

Introduction

This article is selected from "Seven Collections of Dongpo". The author Su Shi (1036-1101), named Zizhan and Dongpo Jushi, was a native of Meishan, Meizhou (now Meishan County, Sichuan). Together with his father Su Xun and his younger brother Su Zhe, they are also known as the "Three Sus". They are essayists of the Northern Song Dynasty and are among the "Eight Great Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties". Su Shi's achievements in the history of Chinese literature are even more outstanding. The "Seven Collections of Dongpo" has a total of one hundred and ten volumes, including forty volumes of "Dongpo Collection", twenty volumes of "Post Collection", twelve volumes of "Sequel", fifteen volumes of "Collection of Memorials", and "Water Collection". There are seven types of "Zhiji Ji" in three volumes, "Neizhi Ji" in ten volumes, and "Yingzhao Ji" in ten volumes. This article is a travel note written by Su Shi after he visited Shizhong Mountain. Through the exploration of the basis for naming Shizhong Mountain, it shows that in order to understand the truth of things, one must conduct on-the-spot investigations, and one should neither believe in other people's words nor make subjective assumptions.

"Shui Jing" says: 'At the mouth of Pengli, there is a mountain of stone bells.' Li Yuan thought, 'Under the deep pool, the breeze blows, the water and rocks compete with each other, and the sound is like a loud bell.'" That's it, People often doubt it. Nowadays, a bell chime is placed in the water. Although the wind and waves cannot make a sound, how about the rocks? In the Tang Dynasty, Li Bo began to "visit his remains" and found two stones on the pool. The sound stops and the lingering rhyme slowly rests." I think I have achieved it. However, I doubt it. Stones with sonorous sounds can be found everywhere, but this one is only named "Zhong", why?

In June of the seventh year of Yuanfeng, Ding Chou, Yu Ziqi'an went on a boat trip. Lin Ru, the eldest son Maijiang went to Raozhi Dexingwei and sent him to Hukou, because he could watch the so-called stone bell. The monk asked the boy to hold an ax and pick one or two of the axes among the rocks. In vain, I laughed and didn't believe it. At the end of the night, when the moon was bright, I took a small boat with Mai alone to the bottom of the cliff. The boulders stand thousands of feet on the side, like ferocious beasts and strange ghosts, eager to attack people; while the falcons on the mountain will startle when they hear the sound of people, and they will chirp in the sky②; there is also an old man coughing and laughing in the valley, maybe saying: " This is a stork and a crane." Yu Fang's heart was eager to return, and he made a loud noise on the water, and the sound was like bells and drums. The boat people were terrified. If you look at it slowly, you will find that there are stone caves under the mountain. I don't know how shallow or deep they are. Microwaves penetrate into them and they are filled with surging waves. This is why. The boat returned between the two mountains and was about to enter the port. There was a large rock in the middle of the stream, which could seat a hundred people. There were many holes in the air, which were in harmony with the Feng Shui. There was the sound of boring and boring mandarins④, which corresponded to the sound of those who were facing it, like a piece of music. Yan. Because of his laughter, he said to Mai: "You know what you know? Those who squeak are like the King of Zhou Jing who has no shot; those who are boring and boring are like the song of Wei Zhuangzi. The ancients did not deceive them."

Is it okay to infer the existence of something without seeing it or hearing it? What Li Yuan saw and heard is almost the same as that of Yu, and it is unknown; the scholar-officials were unwilling to park their boats under the cliff at night, so they could not know. However, even though fishermen and navy masters know it, they cannot tell it. This is why it is not taught in this world. But those who are ignorant seek it by testing the impact with axes and pounds, thinking that they have achieved it. After I remembered it, Gai sighed at Li Yuan's simplicity and laughed at Li Bo's crudeness.

Notes

①枹(fú): drumstick. ②甔(zhé)甔: the cry of birds. ③噌吰(chēnɡhónɡ): describes a loud voice. ④窾(kuǎn)徳: the sound of hitting objects; 闗鞳(tānɡtà): the sound of bells and drums. 5. Wushe (yì): the name of the bell.

Waves were blown, and the water and rocks collided and fought with each other, making a sound like a bell." People often doubt this statement. Nowadays, if you put a bell and a chime in the water, it will not make a sound even if there are strong winds and waves, let alone the rocks? It was not until Li Bo of the Tang Dynasty that he began to search for this site and found a pair of rocks on the water pool. After beating them, The sound of the stones on the south side of the pool was heavy and unclear, while the sound of the stones on the north side was clear and high-pitched. Even after the drumsticks stopped beating, the sound was still floating, and the lingering sound gradually faded away, so he thought he had been named. However, I am more skeptical about this statement.

There are stones everywhere that can make clanging sounds, but this stone is named after "Zhong". Why?

On Ding Chou's day in June of the seventh year of Yuanfeng, I set out from Qi'an and took a bus. When the ship went to Linru, my eldest son Su Mai was about to take office as county captain in Dexing County, Raozhou. By the way, he was sent to Hukou County, where he was able to observe the so-called "Stone Bell" Mountain. The monk in the monastery on the mountain sent a child with an ax to pick out one or two pieces among the rocks and beat them to make a "harp" sound. Naturally, I wanted to laugh and didn't believe it. At night, the moon was clear and bright, so we took a small boat and rowed to the bottom of the cliff of Shizhong Mountain. Huge rocks stand abruptly, thousands of feet high, like ferocious beasts and ghosts, gloomily trying to attack people; and the eagles perched on the mountain peaks are frightened and fly up when they hear the sound of people, chirping and flying. Go up into the sky. There were echoes like the sound of an old man coughing and laughing in the valley. Someone said: "This is the stork screaming!" I was panicking and thinking about going back, when suddenly there was a huge sound coming from the water, "dong dong buzzing" "It kept ringing like bells and drums. The people on the boat were scared. But after slowly observing, it turns out that there are stone caves under the mountain, and it is impossible to tell their depth. Microwaves flow into these caves and ripple, which is why the sound is made. The boat rowed back to the middle of the two peaks, and when it was about to enter the port, there was a large rock in the middle of the current, which could accommodate a hundred people. The center of the rock was hollow, and there were many holes on it, which interacted with the wind and current. , making a "clang-dang-dang-dah" sound, which echoes the "dong-dong-buzzing" sound mentioned above, just like music is being played. So I smiled and said to Maier: "Do you understand? The 'dong-dong-buzzing' is King Zhou Jing's 'Wu She Chime', and the 'clang-dang' is Wei Zhuangzi's 'Singing Bell'." The ancients did not fool us!"

Is it okay if we don't see things with our ears and eyes, but only rely on speculation to judge whether they exist or not? What Li Daoyuan saw and heard was probably the same as mine, but The explanation is not thorough; after all, the scholar-officials would not drive their boats to anchor under the cliff at night, so it is impossible to know; and although the fishermen and sailors knew it, they could not explain it: this is the correct explanation that cannot be spread. The reason why I live in this world. So people with little knowledge would use axes and hammers to beat them to find out the reason, and they thought they had discovered the truth. Therefore, I wrote it down specifically to feel sorry for Li Daoyuan's simplicity, and to laugh at Li Bo's crudeness.