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.” |