Thousand Characters

Chapter 40

[Original text]

Yue Zong Taidai, Zen Master Yunting.Yanmen Zisai, Chitian Chicheng.

【Note】

Yue: Five Sacred Mountains, referring to Mount Tai in the east, Mount Heng in the south, Mount Hua in the west, Mount Heng in the north, and Mount Song in the middle.Zen: Feng Zen.In ancient times, the ceremony of offering sacrifices to heaven was called "Feng", which was held in Mount Tai; the ceremony of offering sacrifices to land was called "Zen", and Zen was held in Yunshan and Tingshan at the foot of Mount Tai.Yanmen: Yanmen Pass, in today's Shanxi Province.Zisai: Northwest frontier, here refers to the Great Wall.Jitian: The name of a post station outside the Great Wall in the northwest in ancient times.Chicheng: The name of the mountain, one of the main peaks of Tiantai Mountain in Zhejiang.Starting from these four sentences, "Ganziwen" describes the magnificent rivers and mountains and beautiful scenery of the motherland to people, and tells us the different characteristics of each place, just like a detailed tourist map.For example, Yanmenguan is so famous not only because of its important geographical location, which is a battleground, but also because many stories happened here in history, such as the story of Zhaojun going out of the fortress and the story of Empress Dowager Cixi’s escape. Wait.

【Interpretation】

Among the Five Sacred Mountains, Mount Tai has the highest status and is the suzerain of the Five Sacred Mountains. Some emperors will come here to hold the Zen ceremony to worship the heaven and the earth when the regime changes or ascends the throne.If you want to see the majestic pass, go to Yanmen Pass, if you want to see the Great Wall, go to Zisai in the northwest; there is the oldest post station in Jitian, and the strange peak is Chicheng Peak in Tiantai Mountain.

(End of this chapter)