Since ancient times, Jiaoshan 焦山, sited at the Yangtze River’s entrance into the sea, has always been a strategic location for armed forces, and at the same time, been known as a collection of various intellectuals humanities and the inspiration to them. A lot of monks and Taoist practitioners cloistered here, especially Buddhist monks, who have influenced Jiaoshan the most. Jiaoshan zhi 焦山志, first published in Qing Dynasty, is the earliest available local record of Jiaoshan. Through this book of facts, we can also learn the different features of the Qing Buddhist culture. Since Han Dynasty Jiaoshan has become the venues for hermits to practice. During Tang Dynasty, some Buddhist monks built lots of monasteries for traveling monks to rest. In Song Dynasty, poets and scholars interacted fluently with monks in Jiaoshan area and Jiaoshan has become an extraordinary place with religion and culture significance. All these contents were included in Jiaoshan zhi. Besides through the monk biographies in Jiaoshan zhi, we can sort out the lineages of Caodong 曹洞 and Linji 臨濟 Chan. After mid-Qing Dynasty, Jiaoshan zhi recorded lots of information about how Dinghui Monastery 定慧寺, which was located in Jiaoshan, interacted with the Qing court, such as building temporary imperial palace in Jiaoshan. And how Dinghui Monastery reassured people during wars and natural disasters. This essay is about to discuss the diversity of the cultural features in different time periods of Qing Dynasty in Jiaoshan, and figure out the connections of different versions of Jiaoshan zhi.
