The Heaven Border Temple was built by Yuesong, a monk living in the late Ming and early Qing dynasties. Since ancient times, the temple has to hit the bell 108 times at dawn every day. The tone of the bell is melodious, cleaning people’s hearts and resolving “108 troubled dreams”. “Dawn Bell Ringing from Heaven Border” is one of the old “eight small-sized scenic spots” in Xiamen and also one of the new twenty scenic spots in Xiamen. Behind Heaven Border Temple, the boulders are staggered, and the cave is formed naturally. There are stone carvings in the cave, which were inscribed by Huang Riji in the Qing Dynasty. The cave is cut through at both ends. When the wind blows, it will echo with the sound in the cave, with reverberation from hill and valley. The howling sound is endless, just like the growling of a tiger, hence the name. There are many inscriptions and dozens of poems on the stone walls inside and outside the cave. Among them, Four Scenes on Fairy Rock by Huang Riji is the most prominent, and the Poems by Generals Who Went on an Expedition against Japanese Pirates are the most valuable, and the latter are listed as a municipal cultural relic protection unit.
Inscribed Poems by Generals Who Went on an Expedition against Japanese Pirates
Inscribed Poems by Generals Who Subjugated Japanese Pirates are located on the rock wall in Changxiao Cave behind the Heaven Border Temple. The wall is engraved with a seven-character regulated verse by Shi Dezheng, the commander-in-chief of Fujian in thirty-sixth year in Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Li Yang, the general, and Xu Weibin, the Chief of Staff of Fujian South Road, etc. respectively. The inscribed poems describe the magnificent scene that the Ming navy patrolled the sea, and express the author’s loft aspiration to pacify Japanese invasion and protect the territory and people. This site is a municipal cultural relic protection unit.