Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions

2021-07-19 15:12:51

Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions

Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions

Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions

The Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions are cliff-face inscriptions recording the ritual ceremonies held by state commissioners in charge of overseas trade, local officials and members of the imperial clan in the Song Dynasty to pray for propitious winds to aid the overseas trade shipping business. Together with the Site of Maritime Trade Office, the Site of Deji Gate, etc., it reflects the power that the state enjoyed under the Song Dynasty’s maritime trade policy to promote and manage maritime trade. These precious stone inscriptions are a historical archive providing an authentic record of such historical information as the operational cycles of maritime trade in the Song dynasty, which were closely connected with the monsoons. They reflect the spiritual impetus of the belief in maritime deities to trade activities. Today, 78 stone inscriptions from the Song Dynasty onwards remain on Jiuri Mountain, ten of which involve shipping prayers for propitious winds of the Song Dynasty. They are distributed on the eastern and western peaks of Jiuri Mountain, two on the eastern peak and eight on the western peak. The earliest dated back to 1174 and the latest to 1266. Six of the inscriptions record wind-praying rituals for departure in winter; three record wind-praying rituals for returning in summer; and one records rites of both winter and summer. Ten inscriptions record the participation of nine maritime trade officials and the involvement of 58 local government and military officials, 18 of whom were imperial clan members. Jiuri Mountain Wind-Praying Inscriptions were included into the third group of major cultural heritage sites protected at the national level by the State Council in February, 1988.