The Hanyan Cave in the Tiantai Mountains

The Hanyan Cave in the Tiantai Mountains

The Hanyan Cave is a big cave in the Tiantai Mountains. It is 15 meters in height, 48 meters in width, and 78 meters in depth. Earlier it was known as "Fushi Cave." It was also called "Qianzhen Cave" because Mi Fu (1051-1107), a great calligrapher of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), wrote the characters "Qian Zhen" in the cave. Han Shan (dates unknown), a vernacular poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-907) who is known both at home and abroad, lived here in seclusion for more than 70 years.

In front of the cave lie the ruins of the Hanyan Temple, and the naturally weathered tortoise-shaped and snake-shaped rock formations guard each other at the entrance of the cave. The stone snake, as large as a thick pillar, rises up from the ground and raises its head to the sky. It is very vivid and lifelike. A large stone at the entrance of the cave, commonly known as the "Meditation Stone," marks the place where Han Shan would sit in meditation. 

The mountain where the Hanyan Cave resides is called the Hanshi Mountain. It is situated over 35 kilometers west of Tiantai County. The mountain is distinctive for its craggy, majestic, imposing and dangerous features and its numerous caves. It looks like a mighty dragon with steel scales (geologically marine-abrasion rocks). The Hanshi Mountain consists of the Hanyan Cliff and the Mingyan Cliff. The Hanshi Cave constitutes the main body of the Hanyan Cliff which is at the back of the mountain while the Mingyan Cliff is at the front and faces the sun. 

天臺寒巖洞

寒巖洞，為天臺山大洞，稱“寒巖洞天”，高約15米，寬48米，深78米，舊名拊石洞，因宋代大書法家米芾在洞中書有“潛真”二字，又名“潛真洞”。聞名海內外的唐代白話隱逸詩人寒山，就曾隱居于此長達70余年。洞前有寒巖寺遺址，洞口有“龜”“蛇”相守的形象，是由天然巖石生成的。尤其是石蛇，大如粗柱，從地下鉆出，翹首望天，非常神似。洞口有塊大石，俗稱“宴坐石”，相傳是寒山當年宴坐之處。

寒巖洞所在的山稱為寒石山。寒石山位于天臺縣西70余里，山勢峭、雄、奇、險，山內洞穴眾多，獨具特色，在當地被稱為“十里鐵甲龍”（地學上屬于“海蝕石”）。寒石山由寒巖和明巖兩部分構成，寒巖以寒巖洞為主體，位于山體的背面；明巖則在山體的正面、向陽。