Climbing the North Peak of Huashan Mountain: Visiting Jin Yong’s “Huashan Mountain Sword Discussing”
The North Peak of Huashan Mountain is 1,614.7 meters above sea level. It is located on the north side of Huashan Mountain and is one of the main peaks of Huashan Mountain. It is surrounded by cliffs on all sides, with a crown of scenic clouds above and a ground connection below. It is majestic and beautiful, like a cloud platform, so it is also called "Yuntai Peak". At 9:50 am on June 12, 2022, my friends and I arrived at the top of Huashan North Peak——
At 9:25 am, after we took the North Peak Cableway to climb Mount Huashan, Walk along the climbing steps for about 25 minutes to reach the top of the North Peak. Then, from top to bottom, leave the North Peak. On the platform below the North Peak, there is a stone archway erected on the top of a rock with three large green characters "North Peak Top" written on it.
Passing through this stone archway, facing Yuntai Villa, it is the best place to rest and enjoy the scenery when visiting Huashan. It is located at the intersection of roads leading to the main peak area of Mount Huashan, such as the "Huashan Mountain Road from Ancient Times" and "Zhi Huashan Road". It has convenient transportation and many tourists. This is also the end point of hiking Huashan Mountain. Visitors can rest here and continue climbing the next day.
On the rock wall below Yuntai Villa, I saw a large number of green cliff inscriptions, including five contents from the Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China: inscribed by Li Guanghan in the Qing Dynasty "Zhu Jie Chen", "Yuntai Peak" inscribed by Bai Shaoli in the Qing Dynasty, "Baiyun Wonderland" inscribed by Shen Yuyue, "Gongchen" inscribed by Chen Jie in June of the 22nd year of the Republic of China, and "Inscription of Zhejiang in the Early Autumn of Shen, Jiangsu" Jiang Qiao, Shandong Yu Lian, Xu Peiji traveled together" and so on.
Passing through the gate of Yuntai Villa, facing the Zhenwu Hall above, it was built to worship Emperor Zhenwu. It is built on the cliff, simple and elegant. Emperor Zhenwu, also known as "Xuantian God" or "Xuanwu Emperor", is the god of the north. He stands on the North Peak and guards Huashan Mountain.
After bypassing the Zhenwu Hall and continuing upwards, a huge stone appears in the middle of the road. The southern end looks like a fish's mouth, which is called "Fish Mouth Stone". Perched high on the north peak, surrounded by white clouds, from a distance, the stone fish seem to be rolling with the waves in the sea. It is said that when it rains heavily, the fish mouth stone will make a roaring sound. After investigation, it may be caused by the many gaps in the fish mouth stone.
After leaving the Fish Mouth Rock, pass between the boulders and soon reach the top of the North Peak. The space here is not large, but the view is excellent. You can overlook the main peak of Huashan Mountain to the north, and the East Peak, Middle Peak, South Peak and West Peak are clearly visible. These four main peaks echo each other, like a bunch of blooming flowers, so this mountain is called "Hua (Flower) Mountain".
On the top of the North Peak, there is a sign with the four characters "Huashan Discussing Swords" inscribed by Jin Yong. On October 8, 2003, Jin Yong climbed Mount Huashan for the first time and participated in the large-scale live broadcast "Jin Yong Huashan Swordsmanship" on the North Peak. At that time, Jin Yong, who was nearly eighty years old, finally came to the prototype of his "Huashan Sword" after having stopped writing and living in seclusion for many years.
In Jin Yong's trilogy of "The Legend of the Condor Heroes", there are three sword discussions at Mount Huashan, which shows his love for Mount Huashan. In the first Huashan sword discussion, Wang Chongyang won the first place and won the "Nine Yin Manual"; in the second Huashan sword discussion, Wang Chongyang had passed away, Dongxie, Xidu, Nandi, Beibei, Guo Jing, Lao Nantong , Qiu Qianren and others competed here; the third Huashan sword debate appeared in "The Legend of the Condor Heroes" and judged the new "Huashan Five Wonders". Guo Jing was called the "Northern Xia", Yang Guo was called the "Western Maniac", the Southern Emperor was changed to the "Male Monk", the old naughty boy was changed to the "Middle Naughty Boy", and East Evil remained East Evil.