The White Crane Ridge Stone Inscription lies along the Yangtze River north of Fuling City, Sichuan Province.
The natural ridge is 1,600 meters long from east to west and 10 meters wide from north to south. It is a famous hydraulic relic in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and submerges in the water almost all year round, exposing its spine only in the dry seasons (winter and spring).
There were 36 figures of fish inscribed on the ridge in the Tang Dynasty (618-907), which have deteriorated over time. During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), two carps, including some text, were re-inscribed on the ridge. Around the stone fish was inscribed 72 low-water years during the 1,200 years from 763 of the Tang Dynasty to the early years of the 20th century. According to a recent hydraulic record, the low-water year of the Yangtze River occurs one time each ten years coincided with the record of the stone fish. Therefore, the inscription is of great importance to the study of the frequency of low-water years in the middle and upper reaches of the Yangtze River, and also to construction and transportation. It was believed that when fish emerged, a good harvest would follow. The years 1953, 1963 and 1973 all saw good harvests and the stone fish came to symbolize high crop yields. Apart from the stone fish and the hydraulic inscription records are also some 160 inscribed poems written by intellectuals and poets. The calligraphic style of the inscriptions is varied, and is reputed as the Underground Stele Forest.
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