Seven Pine Trees Climbing High
Category: Introduction
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There were seven (now only four) pines on the south mountain of Baiyang Valley, stretching in a line from the mountainside to the top and resembling the “humpback”, hence the name “Seven Pine Trees Climbing High”.
Legend has it that these seven pine trees were planted by Liu Yong, a wise minister of Qing Dynasty, in this wit competition with He Shen. According to the legend, the Emperor Qianlong visited here and was quite pleased. Seeing that, Liu Yong told the emperor that Baiyang Valley was a place of marvelous scenes, and suggested him to stay for a few more days. The emperor agreed, and so stayed in Baiyang Valley. He Shen was an opponent of Liu Yong. He found that the south mountain was deserted, not what Liu Yong described to the emperor that “it is steep cliffs planted with pines”. So he planned to sue against Liu Yong for his deceiving the emperor. His plan was known by a book servant of He Shen, so he told the news to Liu Yong. After confirming the south mountain was bald, that night he asked the mountain owner, a family surnamed Shi, for the reason why the mountain was deserted. The mountain owner said the south mountain was full of sporadic rocks and there was no place here for planting trees. Liu Yong said, “I see the heads of all the nine surrounding mountains are heading towards this mountain. This is a blessed place. If you do what I say, one day your family will raise a noble descendant who will serve the royal court and honor your family.” The Shi’s then did what Liu Yong said. They mobilized every villager to plant seven pine trees lined up from bottom to top. Liu Yong was then able to evade a disaster, and the family was honorable 200 years later for its descendant Shi Lifang who assumed the grade-7 official title in Luan County.
In the year after Liu Yong died, villagers found three of the seven pine trees fell down to the ground in the same direction. They said these trees had emotion and they were mourning for Liu Yong’s death. Three trees thus made an agreement to accompany Liu Yong in his way to the paradise, so that he could remember their unforgettable time in Baiyang Valley.
The Great Wall section in Baiyang Valley, which is known for its magnificent mountains and sheer passes with a length of about 4452 meters, starts at the Da Ao Tower at the conjunction with Dazhuang in the east, and ends at the Laojun Terrace in Sidaogou in the west. The Baiyang Valley section of the Great Wall still remains the original look of Ming Dynasty with zero human touch. There are totally twenty one gate towers on the wall, including six intact ones. They are Da Ao Tower, Kengzi Tower, Head Tower, Tip Tower, Square Tower, and Deity Tower from east to west. The Deity Tower stands out preeminently among all the other towers for its unique architectural style. There are many Great Wall sections in China, but Baiyang Valley section still amazes tourists. This marble section of Great Wall is 1.5KM long and was built by Qi Jiguang. It is still kept in good shape. The foundation is completely built with red marble stones with every stone weighing around 500KG. The Great Wall extends along the ridge marvelously. Therefore it is crowned as a wonder of the Great Wall built in Ming Dynasty.
The Deity Tower was built in 1596 in Ming Dynasty. It is not only a particular watch tower, but a well-designed ancient architecture. Instead of being built on the city wall, it is hung on the outer side of the wall, making it the only one of its kind along the Great Wall. The Deity Tower is more than 33 meters tall, designed in masonry structure with a flush gable roof. Since it’s built on scarcements, the direction of the whole building aligns with the Great Wall. An arch-shaped door is gouged facing the city wall, which is 2.1 meters long, 1.7 meters wide. The door has frames around it and bolts on both sides. A stone plaque, which is 1.04 meters long and 0.35 meters high, is embedded atop the door, with the characters “Shen Wei Lou” (Chinese characters of Deity Tower) inscribed on it. At the upper left corner it writes “by Zhang Shizhong, General of Guerrillas”, and at the lower right corner it writes “at the propitious moment in the summer of 1596, Wanli Reign”.
Situated on the 320-meter-high Tuolong Ridge of Baiyang Valley, the Guanyin Tower was built during the time of the North March by the Emperor Yan in Early Ming Dynasty. Legend has it that the guarding soldiers decided to build a Guanyin Pavilion on the mountain opposite to the Baiyang River in order to seek safety. All the bricks and woods were transported to the site and ready for work. In the next morning, workers found all the materials had been transported to Tuolong Ridge. Therefore, solders knelt down and worshiped to the deities, and the Guanyin Pavilion was built here.
The legend says Baiyang Valley used to be a treasure mountain owned by one goat and two sheep which were gentle and kind-hearted. A nine-eared macaque living in the mountain was their best friend, helping them guard the treasure in the mountain. But a warlock tried to seize the treasure, so the macaque drove him away. Later, the warlock killed the macaque and the goat with hidden weapons. The two sheep sorrowed for their death, hiding in the Hongyang Cave and crying every day. Their tears continuously poured out from rock cracks, hence the name “Sheep Spring”. Since the spring water flows out from rock cracks, it contains a rich content of trace elements, and tastes sweet and delicious as the top-ranking natural mineral water. Visitors to Baiyang Valley must take a sip of the water of Sheep Spring.
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Address: Baiyang Valley Village, Dacuizhuang Town, Qian’an City, Hebei Province
