West Lake
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Xī Hú | |
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| Location | Hangzhou, Zhejiang |
| Coordinates | |
| Basin countries | China |
Xī Hú (Chinese: 西湖; literally "West Lake") is a famous fresh water lake located in central Hangzhou, in Zhejiang province of eastern China.
The lake is divided by three causeways called Sū Tí (苏堤) , Bái Tí (白堤), and Yánggōng Tí (杨公堤).
The name Xī Hú is also used by a large number of lakes in China and surrounding countries (with 800 lakes of the same name in China according to Lonely Planet). However, the lake in Hangzhou is the most famous of these.
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[edit] History
In middle of the Tang Dynasty Zhenyuan era (785-804), poet Bai Juyi (白居易) came to Hangzhou as a governor. Already an accomplished poet, his deeds at Hangzhou made him a great governor. He realised that the farmland nearby depended on the water of Xī Hú, but due to negligence of former governors, the old dyke had collapsed, the water level of Xī Hú dried out, and the local farmers suffered severe drought. He ordered the construction of a stronger and taller dyke, with a dam to control the flow of water, and thus solved the drought problem. The livelihood of local people of Hangzhou improved over the following years. Now that Bai Juji had more leisure time to enjoy the beauty of Xī Hú, he visited Xī Hú almost every day. He ordered the construction of a causeway connecting the Broken Bridge with the Solitary Hill, to facilitate walking on foot, instead of depending on boat. Then he planted coolabah trees and willows trees along the dyke, making it a beautiful landmark of Xī Hú. This causeway was later named Bai Di Causeway (白堤) in Bai Juyi's honour.
Over two hundred years later, in the beginning of Song Dynasty's Yuanyou era (1086-1094), another great poet, Su Shi (蘇軾, also known as Su DongPo), came to Hangzhou as governor. By that time, the farmers suffered drought again, due to overgrowth of the weeds at the bottom of the lake clogging the irrigation ducts. He ordered dredging of the lake and piled up all the mud into another causeway, in the style of Bai Causeway, but much wider and nearly three times as long, he also planted willow trees along its banks. This causeway was later named after him as the Su Causeway. There are six bridges along the 2.6 km Su Causeway (蘇堤). "Dawn on the Su Causeway in Spring 蘇堤春曉" is one of the attractions at the Xī Hú.
[edit] Ten Scenes of Xī Hú
Traditionally, there are ten best-known scenic spots on the Xī Hú, each remembered by a four-character epithet. Collectively, they are known as the "Ten Scenes of Xī Hú" (10 Scenic Spots in Xī Hú 西湖十景). Each is marked by a stela with the epithet written in the calligraphy of the Qianlong Emperor. They are:
- Dawn on the Su Causeway in Spring (蘇堤春曉)
- Curved Yard and Lotus Pool in Summer (曲院風荷)
- Moon over the Peaceful Lake in Autumn (平湖秋月)
- Remnant Snow on the Bridge in Winter (斷橋殘雪)
- Leifeng Pagoda in the Sunset (雷峰夕照)
- Two Peaks Piercing the Clouds (雙峰插雲)
- Orioles Singing in the Willows (柳浪聞鶯)
- Fish Viewing at the Flower Pond (花港觀魚)
- Three Ponds Mirroring the Moon (三潭印月)
- Evening Bell Ringing at the Nanping Hill (南屏晚鐘)
[edit] Other attractions
Other attractions include:
- Yue-Wang Temple (岳王廟), the tomb and memorial hall to Yue Fei (岳飛).
- Lingyin Temple (靈隱寺), a Buddhist monastery and surrounding hills and gardens.
- Long Jing tea farms (龍井茶園), an area renowned for the quality of its tea leaves.
- Galloping Tiger Spring (虎跑夢泉), a spring famous for its mineral water.
- Tomb of Su Xiao Xiao (蘇小小墓), a famous courtesan.
- Tomb of Wu Song (武松墓), Wu Song famous for slaying a tiger; destroyed during the Cultural Revolution, and rebuilt in 2004
[edit] Influences
Xī Hú is said to be the incarnation of Xi Shi, one of the Four Beauties of ancient China. Hence, since ancient times, Xī Hú was associated with a large number of romatic poets, profound philosophers, national heroes and heroines.
- Eastern Jin Dynasty philosopher Ge Hong practiced Taoism in the Ge Mountain, and wrote his great philosophical work: Bao Pu Zhi (抱朴子).
- Tang Dynasty poet Luo Binwang reclused in Lingyin Temple
- Tang Dynasty poet-governor Bai Juyi built the first causeway, which the Bai Causeway.
- Song Dynasty poet-governor Su Dongpo, dredged the lake and built up the Su Causeway, made it into another beautiful landmark of Xī Hú. He also invented a special recipe for preparing pork: the Dongpo Pork. Dongpo Pork is on the menu of every restaurant in Hangzhou
- Song Dynasty national hero Yue Fei was buried near Xī Hú
- The great Ming Dynasty essayist Zhang Dai, wrote a number great essays about Xī Hú in Reminiscence and Dream of Tao'an (陶庵梦忆), and a whole book: Search for Xī Hú in Dreams (西湖梦寻).
- Kunming Lake, the central lake on the grounds of the Summer Palace in Beijing, was created by extending an existing water body to imitate Hangzhou's Xī Hú.
Xī Hú has been famous for its exquisite beauty for more than one thousand years. Hangzhou was the site for the 2006 World Leisure Expo.
[edit] Gallery
 Qian King Temple, the front entrance into one of the major attractions of Xī Hú: Listining Orioles Singing in the Willows. |
 Sculptures inside Xī Hú |
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 Evening Sunshine over Leifeng Pagoda |
 A traditional Xī Hú entrance |
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[edit] External links
