Page 63 - Sothebys Fine Chinese paintings Hong Kong

Two Caves and a Buddhist House 雙巖佛屋

The caves Hanyan and Mingyan lie back to back making it a naturally formed Buddhist house. 寒明二巖同一山，以脊相背而倚。過孟湖三茅繞峯
in the same mountain. To the east past the peaks On the southwest is a deep ravine spanned 而東，為寒巖，高百仞。前有立石五色，名「綬帶
Menghu and Sanmao is the Hanyan Cave fronted at the top by a stone beam. The footing is so 山」。又一石極方正，昔寒山大士宴坐處也。上構
by the Shoutai Hill, a variegated rock measuring treacherous that the beam has been given the 石室，宋米芾題曰：「潛真巖」。內平廣容千人，
hundreds of Chinese feet high. The flat square name of “Sky Bridge”. Three to four li-miles to 嵌置佛屋，不藉瓦覆。西南臨絕壑，有石梁架兩崖
rock is said to be where Monk Hanshan used to the east is the Mingyan Cave. Hemmed in by 間。險峻不可攀，名曰「天橋」。東轉三四里至明
meditate. Above is a rock chamber inscribed by steep rocks, the passageway is too narrow for
the Song calligrapher Mi Fu as the “Qianzhen even carriages. A few hundred paces to the north 巖，峭石夾峙，道不容軌。北數百步有兩巨石，側
Cave”. Inside the cave is a flat space large are two towering rocks leaning onto each other to 立相湊，前後通天，名「合掌洞」。
enough to accommodate a thousand people, form the Hezhang Cave.