Danxia catches the bright moon and Huaxing comes out of the clouds.
-This is the etymology of "Danxia", which comes from Cao Pi's Poems by the Lotus Pond, meaning gorgeous rosy clouds in the sky.
In ancient China, Danxia was first and foremost a profound culture. China people's love for Danxia landform has a long history, which may be due to China people's worship of the red and yellow system. In the eyes of China people, red is fire, burning energy, prosperity, blood, rising and good luck. In the mind of Emperor China, yellow represents imperial power and the foundation of everything. Therefore, in China, Taoism, Buddhism and academies all prefer Danxia, and several Dojo involved in the primary stage of Taoism are all in Danxia area. Many famous Taoist mountains overlap with Danxia, and Buddhist disciples also love Danxia. There are more than 40 giant buddhas10m in China, of which 28 were built in Danxia landform area. The representative architecture academy of Confucianism also joined hands with Danxia. The dense areas of academies in Song Dynasty are consistent with the dense areas of Danxia landform, mainly concentrated in four southern provinces such as Zhejiang, Jiangxi, Fujian and Hunan.
Danxia landform refers to a kind of landform with special landform characteristics and bright red-Danxia landform, which looks like "rosy clouds" or "crimson clouds". On the geological and geomorphological level, Danxia can be defined as: Danxia is a geomorphological landscape formed on the thick sediments of the fault basin on the active continental margin of the western Pacific Ocean. It is mainly composed of red sandstone and conglomerate, which reflects the sedimentary environment of oxidized continental lake basin under dry and hot climate conditions. These sediments have experienced regional crustal uplift, severe fracture, deep erosion by flowing water, block movement, weathering and dissolution, and have shaped wonderful landscapes with beautiful landscapes such as peaks, cliffs and canyons. The landscape of Danxia in China includes a series of landforms: from the youth when the landform is not obvious and the undercut is undeveloped, to the prime of life when the labyrinthine peaks and canyons are well developed, and to the old age when the lonely peak is surrounded by a wide range of lowlands and vast water systems.
Geologists call the red river and lake sedimentary rocks that form Danxia landform "red bed", and the landforms developed on the red bed are collectively called "red bed landform", and Danxia landform is one of the "red bed landforms". Scholars stipulate that the height of "Ya Dan" should be above 10 meter to show the beauty, danger, strangeness and beauty of Danxia landform; The slope of "Ya Dan" should meet the conditions of cliff slope. Ya Dan with a height and slope between 55 and 90 below this standard cannot be regarded as Danxia landform, but belongs to red bed landform. According to the research of Professor Peng Hua of Sun Yat-sen University, most of the red beds of Danxia landform in China were not earlier than Mesozoic (80% of them were developed in Cretaceous period 242 million years ago). Up to now, more than 780 Danxia spots have been found in China, which are widely distributed in tropical and subtropical humid areas, temperate humid-semi-humid areas, semi-arid-arid areas and alpine areas of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.
Danxia, a term that introduced geomorphology, was named by the late famous geologists and academicians of China Academy of Sciences, Mr. Feng Jinglan and Mr. Chen, in Danxia Mountain, Shaoguan, Guangdong Province in the 1920s and 1930s. It developed in China and was called the quintessence of China. This unusual name originated from an encounter more than 80 years ago. 1929, geologist Feng Jinglan met a million-year-old red rock in Danxia Mountain, Guangdong Province, during a geological survey in Guangdong and Guangxi. He immediately realized that it was a unique landscape, and the bright colors made him name it after the word "Danxia" in the local place name. 1939, the famous structural geologist Chen officially named the landform developed on this red rock stratum as "Danxia landform". 1982, the geographer known as "Danxia Pool" and Mr. Chen's direct disciple published "Basic Ways of Danxia Landform Slope Development", which is the first paper to systematically study Danxia Landform in China.
It can be seen that Danxia landform is a geomorphological term created by China scholars, and it is also a real "Made in China". This term has long been widely accepted in China. However, Danxia landform is not unique to China. International research data show that the red beds in the world are widely distributed in all continents except Antarctica, and have developed the same or similar landform types as Danxia in China. Therefore, Danxia is a special natural geographical phenomenon and a red bed landform type with global significance. This is also one of the biggest difficulties in Danxia's application for the World Heritage. Geomorphology is a concept of geography and geology, but Danxia landform is only named by China scholars and has not been recognized by international geosciences. The stratum where Danxia landform is located has been determined by international geosciences and is called "red stratum". Taking a noun that foreign scholars have never seen before to apply for a legacy is tantamount to asking for directions. Danxia landscape has a unique aesthetic value, so some experts suggest that "Danxia landscape" be used instead of "Danxia landform" to apply for world heritage. However, this proposal was opposed by Professor Peng Hua, an expert in Danxia landform. In his view, "landscape" has lost the significance of geography and geology, and belittled the academic achievements of China scholars in the past century. "If a pile of red stone landscapes can be applied for, the value of the world's natural heritage is too low!"
Promoting learning by applying for World Heritage is one of the achievements that China scholars such as Qin Huang and Peng Hua hope to achieve. If Danxia landform can successfully apply for World Heritage, it means that Danxia, a landform and concept discovered and named by China scholars, will be recognized by international academic circles. This is a way for Danxia landform to go abroad.