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This cave lies halfway up the steep face
of Xiling Mountain about ten kilometers
northwest of Yichang. Legend says that
three great poets of the Tang Dynasty
(618-907), Bai Juyi (772-846), Yuan Zhen
(779-831), and Bai Xingjian (776-826),
once came to visit the cave together.
Each of them wrote a poem in praise of
the scenery there, and then Bai Juyi (Bai
Xingjian’s brother) wrote a “Preface to
Poems Written when Three Friends
Visiting a Cave” and that is how the
cave got its name. The interior of the
cave is an irregular rectangle, about 30
meters long, 23 meters wide, and 9
meters high, with jagged rocks that give
the cave an element of mystery and
wonder. Huge stalactites hanging in a
row like pillars separate the cave into
two parts. The front part is bright and
spacious, its stone walls covered with
poems and inscriptions by visitors. The
rear part is dark and serene, with a
narrow side passage leading to the
outside. The smooth, round ceiling of
the rear cave resembles the face of a
clock; and when struck with a stone, it
sounds like a chime. When the stone
falls to the ground, the sound is more
like that of a drum. This phenomenon has
been called the “heavenly clock and
earthly drum.” |
