This attraction introduction is compiled from historical materials in the "Zhangjiajie Tour Guide Network" (33519.com · Scenic Spots section). Ticket prices, opening hours, transportation, and contact information mentioned in the text may be outdated. Please refer to the latest official announcements from the scenic area before traveling; some content consists of historical background/cultural introductions and is for reference only.
The wonder of Water Curtain Cave, one of the "Four Wonders of the Southern Sacred Mountain," is located in Water Curtain Village, Nanyue Township, at the foot of Zigai Peak, 4 kilometers from Nanyue Town.
According to the "Comprehensive Gazetteer" and the "Record of Blessed Lands," Water Curtain Cave was anciently named Zhuling Cave, and legend says it was the dwelling place of the Great Emperor Zhuling. In the Tang Dynasty, people called Zhuling Cave "Zigai Immortal Cave." Daoists considered it the "Third Cave Heaven True Void Blessed Land" of Daoism, namely the "Zhuling Taixu Xiaoyou Heaven," abbreviated as "Zhuling Cave Heaven," and it has always been a cave dwelling of immortals. The "Qianhuo Reference Book" says: Legend has it that in ancient times, when Yu the Great controlled the floods, he came to the Southern Sacred Mountain to seek the golden slips and jade books, and once held a sacrificial ceremony at Zhuling Cave Heaven. In the twenty-sixth year of the Kaiyuan reign of the Tang Dynasty (738 AD), Emperor Xuanzong of Tang sent the inner attendant Zhang Fengguo with the Daoist Sun Zhiliang and others on a special journey from the capital to Zhuling Cave at the Southern Sacred Mountain to cast golden dragons and jade slips. This grand occasion of "casting dragons into the cave heaven" is recorded in detail in the "Gazetteer of the Southern Sacred Mountain." Later generations wrote a couplet at the place where the golden dragons and jade slips were cast at Water Curtain Cave:
Facing north, alone it pays no homage; pouring down a thousand-foot Milky Way, splashing jade and flying pearls, gazing toward its source coming from Zigai;
On the western tour there should be regret; abandoning the nine-layered golden palace, casting dragons to prolong life, in vain seeking the cave toward Zhuling.
The source of the Water Curtain Cave waterfall is the spring water of Zigai Peak. Three springs converge and flow into the valley above Water Curtain Cave. The valley is three zhang wide and was originally the resting place where nine perfected ones of the Liang Dynasty ascended to heaven in broad daylight; later the Nine Immortals Temple was built there. Near the Nine Immortals Temple are the Sun Spring, the Heart-Washing Spring, the Cave True Source, and the Immortal Pond. It is said the spring water is unfathomably deep. The spring water rushes down from the stone cliff, emitting a thunderous sound that carries for ten li. After visiting this place, Zhang Juzheng of the Ming Dynasty said: "The waterfall springs scatter down, the water curtain in several folds, hanging at the edge of the clouds, drooping like strung pearls, scattering like carved jade." Indeed, it sprays down from the sheer cliff, more than three zhang wide and over fifty meters high, scattering pearls and splashing jade, like a huge white cloth curtain, blocked by jagged rocks in the middle of the cliff, then twisting and refracting through the crevices, leaping out, with water splashing all over the valley, glittering with dazzling brilliance. The emerald pool below the water curtain cliff, the clouds in the sky, and the verdant mountains on both sides form a beautiful landscape painting. Zhang Juzheng of the Ming Dynasty wrote a poem "Water Curtain Cave" in praise: "Mistakenly suspect the Yinghai Sea has turned up jade waves; do not compare it to the Milky Way pouring down green currents; it is naturally the deep hiding place of the Xiang Consort, a crystal curtain hanging at the five clouds' head." This poem can be said to capture the wondrous scene of Water Curtain Cave's three excellences of light, sound, and shadow.
To the right of Water Curtain Cave, the stone cliff is steep. Originally on the rock there was a stone house, the Dragon God Shrine. This shrine was the place where Emperor Xuanzong of Tang sent the inner attendant Zhang Fengguo and the Daoist Sun Zhiliang to cast the "golden dragons and jade slips." More than twenty zhang across the mountain stream from the Dragon God Shrine stands a hexagonal pavilion built of inlaid granite, called Snow Wave Pavilion. It was built by the Qing scholar Li Yuandu in the tenth year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty (1884 AD). Inside the pavilion are stone tables and stone stools. The pavilion is named for the stream water churning like snow waves. Sitting in the pavilion at the time, watching the pearls and jade leaping in the emerald pool and listening to the roaring sound, one can naturally appreciate the charm implied by the four characters "Summer Snow, Clear Thunder" carved on the stone cliff. Today the Dragon God Shrine no longer exists, and only Snow Wave Pavilion remains. It provides convenience for visitors to rest and enjoy the wondrous scenery of Water Curtain Cave.
Legend says that Zhuling Cave is connected to the Zhuling Cave on Shigu Mountain in Hengyang. The one at Shigu is the Rear Zhuling Cave, and the one at the Southern Sacred Mountain is the Front Zhuling Cave. The water source comes from the summit of Zigai Peak of the Southern Sacred Mountain, flows through the mountain cave, and converges into a stone cave more than 6 meters wide and unfathomably deep. When the water fills and overflows, it cascades vertically, forming a waterfall more than 60 meters high, like a water curtain hanging from the ninth heaven, hence the name Water Curtain Cave. On clear days when the sun is high, above the water curtain a flying rainbow dazzles the eyes in five colors, making a magnificent spectacle. In the Tang, Song, Ming, and Qing dynasties, many poets and famous figures inscribed and composed poems for it. The stone carvings include "Southern Sacred Mountain Zhuling Cave Heaven" from the Song Dynasty, "Number One Spring Under Heaven" from the Ming Dynasty, and "Summer Snow, Clear Thunder" and "Drunk and Asleep Watching the Waterfall" from the Qing Dynasty. In addition, there are "Flying Jade, Splashing Snow," "Curtain Hanging Through Past and Present," and others. Water Curtain Cave was a place of Daoist activity in the Tang Dynasty. They regarded it as a cave heaven and blessed land, calling it "Zhuling Cave Heaven." Emperor Xuanzong of Tang also sent court historians to lead Daoists in sacrifices at the Dragon-Casting Pool. Now the valley above Water Curtain Cave was built into a large reservoir in 1964, and the former Sun Spring, Heart-Washing Spring, and others are all submerged in the reservoir. The reservoir water can both irrigate farmland and generate electricity. The waterfall is like a layer of pure white, thin, fine gauze, lightly hanging down to the bottom of the pool. Therefore, "the wonder of Water Curtain Cave" still remains one of the Southern Sacred Mountain's supreme attractions.
