Legends

Boyue Cave was originally named Furong Cave. According to legend, when the Tang Dynasty monk Xuanzang traveled west with his disciples to retrieve Buddhist scriptures, he passed by this cave, where a series of extraordinary events unfolded. Afterward, the cave was believed to possess mystical powers; whenever droughts struck, villagers would come to pray for rain, and their prayers were invariably answered. Thus, the cave also came to be known as "Immortal Cave."

Later renamed Boyue Cave, its new name is said to be linked to Wu Cheng'en, the author of Journey to the West.

During the Wanli reign of the Ming Dynasty, a young couple from the outskirts of Xinhua County—a fisherman named Bo'er and the wealthy landowner’s daughter, Yuexiang—fell deeply in love. Disapproving of Bo'er’s humble background, Yuexiang’s father forbade their marriage. Defying him, the lovers eloped to Immortal Cave, where they married, raised a son and daughter, and lived a harmonious life of farming and weaving.

Thirteen years later, Xinhua suffered a severe drought, with no rain for three months. Yuexiang’s father, accompanied by local gentry and the county magistrate, visited Immortal Cave to pray for rain. There, he unexpectedly encountered his long-lost daughter. Humiliated by her "elopement," he blamed Bo'er and accused him of "abduction," demanding severe punishment. The magistrate ordered the family of four—Bo'er, Yuexiang, and their children—to be arrested and taken aboard an official boat moored by the Zijiang River for trial back in the county seat. Fearful of their fate, Bo'er and Yuexiang, clutching their children, wept bitterly before leaping into the turbulent river.

Not long after, Wu Cheng'en, researching for Journey to the West, traced Xuanzang’s journey to Lengshuijiang. Moved by the tragic tale of Bo'er and Yuexiang, he visited the Zijiang River to pay his respects and later offered sacrifices at Immortal Cave. Noticing a natural basin above the cave entrance resembling a giant bowl, he told the locals, "This cave should be renamed 'Wanzishan Boyue Cave.'" Convinced by his words, the villagers adopted the new name.

Later, when compiling Journey to the West, Wu Cheng'en wove the legendary events involving Xuanzang with Bo'er and Yuexiang’s tragedy, crafting the story of the Twenty-Eight Mansions’ reincarnation as the Yellow Robe Demon and Princess Baihuaxiu of Baoxiang Kingdom. Their 13-year forbidden love, ultimately torn apart by Sun Wukong—the embodiment of orthodox Confucian ethics—spanned four chapters. The cave where the couple lived was named "Wanzishan Boyue Cave."