Shuxi

    Shuxi is located in the northern part of Mount Jiuhua UNESCO Global Geopark, Chizhou City, Anhui Province. It originates from the western side of Cuigai Peak and belongs to the Yangtze River tributary system. It is one of the“Five Streams”of Mount Jiuhua, the others being Longxi, Piaoxi, Caoxi, and Lianxi. Together they flow into the Jiuhua River, which then passes through Wuxikou northward and empties into the Yangtze River at Meigeng, Guichi District.

The most exquisite landscape in the Shuxi basin is“Shutan Reflecting the Moon”, one of the Ten Ancient Scenes of Jiuhua. It consists of the Shugu Spring and three cascading pools formed by three tiers of waterfalls: the Upper Snow Pool, the Lower Snow Pool, and the Yingluo Pool. The spring water emerges from rock crevices on the western side of Cuigai Peak at an elevation of 603 meters, striking the stones with a sound like that of zither strings. Each of the three pools has its own character: at the Upper Snow Pool, water plunges from a 10-meter-high cliff, above which is the“Great Fishing Terrace”; the Lower Snow Pool features a steep waterfall with rushing, turbulent water, with the“Small Fishing Terrace”to its north and the“Cockscomb Rock”to its south; the Yingluo Pool has a gentle riverbed, where the stream overflows the pool and trickles down like tassels and yingluo ornaments (jeweled garlands). On sunny days, the water shimmers with rippling light. On clear nights when the bright moon hangs in the sky, the three pools simultaneously reflect the moon, presenting the marvelous scene of“one moon imprinted on the water, shining over three pools.”It is precisely because of this unique landscape that the name“Shutan Reflecting the Moon”has been handed down to this day, becoming an iconic symbol of the northern mountain landscape of Mount Jiuhua.

Along the Shuxi basin, an ancient legend is passed down, recorded in Records of Strange Things by Ren Fang of the Liang Dynasty (502–557 CE)–the story of“Shu Gu Transforming into a Carp”. According to the tale, the daughter of a farmer surnamed Shu was skilled in playing the zither. One day, after she went into the mountains to gather firewood, she never returned. Her parents brought a zither to the pool and played the ancient melodies she loved. As they played, a red carp raised its head and leaped out of the water, repeating this several times. The villagers believed that the red carp was the transformed immortal of Shu Gu. When the Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai visited Mount Jiuhua, he wrote the famous lines:“The Milky Way hangs down with green water, showing nine lotus blooms in beauty.”According to research, the“green water”refers to the three-pool system of the Shugu Spring. During the Ming and Qing dynasties, monks erected a“Spring Chant Stele”by the Upper Snow Pool, with surviving fragments bearing inscriptions such as“the spring’s melody is like a Buddhist chant.”Zhou Shanmen, who served as both Sub-director of Studies and Education Officer of Qingyang County in the Qing Dynasty, brought an ancient zither named“Resounding Snow”to the Shu pools and played it. He also composed a long poem praising the noble and elegant spirit of Shu Gu.