Illustration of Guanyin Cliff

original: 觀音巖圖 (Guanyin Yan Tu). Guanyin is the Bodhisattva of Compassion, often associated with sacred grottoes and mountain retreats.

(This woodblock illustration depicts a dramatic landscape of towering, jagged rock formations with ancient pine trees clinging to the steep slopes. At the bottom left, a solitary figure holding a staff stands on the shore, gazing across the water toward a small grotto nestled within the cliffs on the right.)

Collected Illustrations of the Three Realms

original: 三才圖會 (Sancai Tuhui); a massive illustrated encyclopedia compiled by Wang Qi and Wang Siyi in 1609 during the Ming Dynasty.

Geography, Volume 11

original: 地理十一卷 (Dili Shiyi Juan)

Shaoshi Mountain is located eighty li a traditional Chinese unit of distance; approximately 40 kilometers or 25 miles northeast of the Shaozhou Prefectural seat the regional administrative center, known today as Shaoguan City in Guangdong Province. The rocks of this mountain are remarkably strange and marvelous. The range features three distinct peaks and four "plank paths" original: 棧 (zhan); cliff-side walkways made of wooden beams or cut directly into the stone, along with various formations known by descriptive names such as Coiling Dragon, Camel, Lion, Rainbow, Phoenix Pavilion, and Horse Saddle. The two primary "Shao rocks" stand facing one another, resembling a ceremonial gate original: 闕 (que); traditional freestanding gate towers that mark the entrance to high-status sites like palaces or temples.

According to ancient legend, when Emperor Shun one of the Five Legendary Emperors of ancient China, a sage-king revered for his virtue traveled to the south on his tour of inspection, he climbed these very rocks and performed music. The mountain was thereafter named "Shao" to honor the music played during his visit.

The celebrated poet Han Yu a prominent statesman and writer of the Tang Dynasty (768–824 CE) who was famously exiled to the south wrote:
Ashamed, I wish to moor my boat beneath the Shao rocks,
To serve as a guest to Emperor Shun, straightening my cap and robes.
original: 慙欲繫船韶石下，上賓虞舜整冠裾

The Song Dynasty statesman and reformer Wang Anshi a major political figure and poet (1021–1086 CE) also commemorated the site:
The strange rocks are steep and craggy, rising into the heights of heaven,
Where the ancients once performed the Xiao-Shao music.
original: 怪石巉巖上次寥，昔人於此奏簫韶. "Xiao-Shao" refers specifically to the elegant ritual music of Emperor Shun's court.