Kuling / Lushan

Wikipedia description of Lushan

Kuling / Lushan

Historic Lushan Book

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Hart Photos Kuling / Lushan

Kuling1895

Kuling 1910                                                                                                                                 Kuling March, 2009

Kuling Church that is now a cinema house showing the History of Lushan movie

Kuling Church

My grandmother told me a story about how all denominations shared this building. The Russian's living in a valley south of Kuling would come on Saturday for their services. They had many bee hives and engaged in honey production.

Lu Mountain is an old volcano that rises South of the Yangtze River near Jiujiang and Boyang Lake to the East in Jiangxi, Province. It rises  2200 meters high and provides a slight reprieve from the humid Summers. Many foreign missionaries had a Summer homes  where they could escape from the heat below in Kuling.

Charmain Mao had a villa built there, and like all his residences built for him around China, are one story and look like a bunker. Mao didn't like going beyond the first floor, as he believed he could be trapped by a coup, or aerial bombing. He also had a escape tunnel so that he could leave the building undetected and exited near the lake below the villa. Today his former residence is now the Lushan Museum, where a wall of Hart photos are displayed.

                                                           Top of 18 Curves Rd. with Kuling                            A section of 18 Curves Rd. where the                                                            nestled along the slops of Lushan                            road ends on the left, connect it with   

                                                                                                                                    the lower left photos right mid-side.

Passing the Dongling Buddhist Temples complex, you are now on the Kuling Road, which in several places has names like 18 bends, and is extremely steep in some places. It is difficult to imagine being a coolie and carrying a westerner up its inclines. As  you rise up the mountainside, the Buddhists temples Pagodas of Dongling and Singling, protrude from the forest canopy of bamboo and pine.

Lushan

Today the city of Lushan has incorporated the village of Kuling, and many Chinese only know its poets past and warrior legends of history  the mountain and little of he Kuling mission one. Along with how the Japanese were routed from it during WWII, and the Communist Party would hold some of their annual meetings there; very limited mission information. The former church, which was shared by all the faiths, is now the city cinema, where you can see the "History of Lushan" from the Japanese takeover to today. The building has a different roof line of red metal and the south side of the building no longer has its previous added extension.

There are many places of interest to see upon the mountain top. Some worth mentioning are the Three Ancient Trees, two cedar and one Ginkgo. The earliest being planted over six hundred years ago. The other two are five and three hundred years old. It used to be that one could climb up into the branches of the Ginkgo to have your photograph taken, but all the trees are now surrounded by a high fence.

Below them is Yellow Dragon, and Black Dragon Falls, which has small pools of water beneath them. A short distance over a ridge to the East, and down mid-mountain is the Three Water-Falls, where each drop becomes a successively higher cascade.  

On the West side of the mountain is Heavenly Valley, where there is a rock formation like a diving board is, many people will stand upon it to have their picture taken. Legend has it a general attempting to flee, crossed it safely, but the perusing one was halted by the instantly made gap. Another protruding formation will grant your wish if you walk three times around it, thought today the safety rail removes the apprehension to attempt circling it.  There is also a small formation that juts out in the image hands praying, hence the name praying Buddha Cave.

Rather than stand on it, I chose to hang from under the Heavenly Bridge being the troll I am

Christie, left    Dr.Edgerton, Hart Middle   Edward Little, right on a branch of the Ginkgo,

one of the Three Old Trees    

                    Three Ancient Trees,  March, 2009                                                     Three Old  Trees: 2 cedar & 1 ginkgo

              Dr. Edgerton Hart,              Edward Little,            ?                           Father: Bud, & me

                                                         Black Dragon Pool

                                 Lushan Upper & Middle                     Middle & Lower Falls in profile looking east                           Lushan 3 Waterfalls: May, 2007  Falls looking south

My great grandmother wrote: that one day one of the mission men on a picnic decided to go swimming above the top fall, he was observed being swept over the top cascade, but his body was never recovered.                                                                                                                                    

  Boyang Lake from Kuling                                 Small temple at top of knoll                                                                                                                                                                         

Buddha Cave with folded hands above entrance

  Notice above the entrance where the             Inside walls of cave adorned with                  Rock promontories of Heavenly  light / shadow meet is a rock out-                   many idols of Buddha to                                   Valley  cropping representing a Buddha's                    venerate  hands folded in prayer

Kuling street scene

                                                                          Kuling stream pool

East side of Lushan below 3 waterfalls

South side of Lushan, Horsetail Falls

More will be added at a later date.