The Legend of Baizhao Mountain
It is said that a long time ago, the northwest of Anlu City, Hubei Province was a vast plain that could not be reached as far as the eye could see. It would take three days and three nights on horseback to reach the end of the land. So, when did Bai Zhaoshan appear again? We have to start with the Jade Emperor. The Jade Emperor had an official named Taibai Jinxing who was responsible for drafting imperial edicts and issuing the title of Saint. This Taibaijinxing's surname is Li and his given name is Changgeng. He is quick in writing and talented, and is a rare civil servant in the imperial court. But he was a heavy drinker and often got drunk. One day, the Jade Emperor ordered Taibai Jinxing to issue an imperial edict to the world, requiring people to eat one meal every three days. Unexpectedly, after receiving the imperial edict, he saw that it was still early, so he ran to Guanghan Palace and played chess with Wu Gang while drinking. The two of them didn't finish the game of chess, but they drank one bottle after another, and they both became a little drunk without knowing it. In his drunken state, Taibai Jinxing brushed off a chess piece on the chessboard with his sleeve.
The chess piece fell from the sky with a loud "bang" and landed thirty miles northwest of Anlu, turning into a mountain a thousand feet high. Due to the huge impact when the chess piece landed, the ground was filled with rocks and smoke. So people called that place "the smoke shop". Those rocks turned into peaks and ridges of all sizes. It was also the loud "bang" sound of the chess piece falling into the lower realm that woke up most of Taibai Jinxing's wine. He suddenly remembered that the Jade Emperor ordered him to convey the imperial edict to the world. He came to Nantianmen in a panic as if he was drunk, and said to the world: "The Jade Emperor has ordered that the people of the world can only eat three meals a day from now on, without mistake!". Later, the Jade Emperor knew that Taibai Jinxing had misrepresented his decree because of his greed for wine, so he demoted him to the mortal world and allowed him to be reincarnated into a family named Li Bai in Jiangyou, Sichuan.
The Legend of the Ginkgo Tree
In front of the Patriarch’s Hall in Baizhao Mountain, there is an ancient ginkgo tree with a history of more than 1,200 years. Although it has gone through years of mulching, it is still vigorous and tall. It is said that Li Bai, the "Poetry Saint and Wine Fairy", planted it in his hand.
During the Kaiyuan period of the Tang Dynasty, a disease suddenly broke out in Anzhou (now Anlu City, Hubei Province). Most of the patients were middle-aged and elderly people. They either had angina, brain swelling, or hand cramps. , foot spasm, and even stroke paralysis. In order to cure diseases and eliminate disasters, people burned incense and prayed to Buddha, and also told fortunes and divination, but their conditions did not improve. For a time, diseases filled the countryside, and sorrows filled the fields. The situation was very miserable!
Li Bai, who lived in Baizhao Mountain, felt very sad when he saw that his fellow villagers were suffering from illnesses that had not been cured for a long time. He hated that he was not the doctor who had brought the dead back to life, and that he could not serve the villagers.
The origin of "Questions and Answers in the Mountains"
In the fifteenth year of Emperor Xuanzong's founding of the Tang Dynasty, the 27-year-old poet Li Bai "went to his country with his sword, said goodbye to his relatives and traveled far away" and came to Anlu. Here, he married the granddaughter of Xu Yu, the prime minister of Emperor Gaozong of Tang Dynasty. Later, he lived in Bishan, 10 miles away from Xu's house. Why Li Bai settled in Anlu is not understood by many people not only in modern times, but even at that time. There is still a story circulated among the people: One day, an elder named He, who was an official in the Anlu Dynasty, returned to his hometown at the foot of Bishan Mountain. He heard from the villagers that Li Bai was handsome and handsome, well-read, could read ten lines at a glance, and could recite poems and compose poems. Well done, I appreciate it very much. So, he ordered his family to prepare famous dishes and wines, and invited Li Bai to his house as a guest. After Li Bai arrived, Ge Lao was really extraordinary at first sight. When they talked about poems and books, Li Bai could answer them fluently, and Mr. Ge was even more impressed. So he couldn't help but ask: "Scholar Li, there are so many famous mountains in the world, why do you only focus on our Bishan?" After hearing this, Li Bai answered casually without thinking: "The peach blossoms disappear like water, and there is no other world than this world." Mr. Ge Upon hearing this, he praised it loudly and immediately asked his family members to take out pens, inks, paper and inkstones and asked Li Bai to record it. Li Bai immediately added two more sentences and named it "Questions and Answers in the Mountains": "Ask me why I live in the green mountains, smile and not answer, and my heart will be at ease. The peach blossoms and flowing water will disappear, and there is no other world than the human world."
This The first "Questions and Answers in the Mountains" spread like wildfire and was widely recited. "There is a different world" has also become a popular idiom, meaning a new realm.