Three Pools Mirroring the Moon

Three Pools Mirroring the Moon

Three Pools Mirroring the Moon is also called Lesser Yingzhou Isle, one of the Ten Best Views around the West Lake.

The isle occupies an area of 7 hectares protected by a stone embankment. Here you can see ” an islet in the lake and lakes on the islet”. Stone bridges, terraces, pavilions, flowers and trees, rockeries all combine to make a tradition al-style garden high in artistic quality. Three Pools Mirroring the Moon has been an ideal place to appreciate the full moon since ancient times.

The moment you reach the islet by boat, the first thing that meets your eyes is a building with Chinese architectural style, formerly the Temple of Great Schloars in Zhejiang. After the temple, you come to a zigzag winding bridge. Further ahead across the bridge is a smaller islet with a white wall on the left separating a dense bamboo grove from a stand of ancient trees. An archway in the middle of the wall bears a four-character inscription by Kang Youwei:”A bamboo-lined path leads to a secluded retreat.”

In the center of the islet are the ” Hall of Flower and Bird”, ” Greeting Greenness House” and the stele pavilion with the characters of Three Pools Mirroring the Moon. Yonder stands a small pavilion shaded by weeping willows, formerly called the Pavilion of Mutual Affinity. Here you can see three stone pagodas in the lake.

These stone pagodas, each 2.19 meters high, stand in the rippling water. They look like bottles with five small round holes and gourd-shaped top, decorated with relief design. At night, when the moon rises high up in the sky, the full moon, the pagodas and the clouds are all mirrored water, the water in a charming scene that defies any effort of description.

A Ming Dynasty poet Zhang Ning wrote:
” When out of the sea a moon is born,
The three pools become everywhere all bright.
Where boats are alive with song and dance,
People seem to walk in the mirror’s light.”

After his tour of the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon on a number of occasions, the famous reformist at the end of the Qing Dynasty Kang Youwei wrote a long couple in praise:
“An islet among the islets and lakes beyond the lake, opening into the beautiful zigzag winding bridge, witnessed the weeping willows along the causeway. The lotus covers an area of ten hectares, delicious water shield are grown on water. I have never seen such scenery after touring the whole country.”

“The amuck war over hegemony and the Buddha’s mind appear as if on static water, and the history of thousands of years has all been read. When the morning sun and the evening cloud, the mild spring and cool autumn, the green hills and blue waters have retired and forgot the way of life, everybody with no exception cannot but feel deeply moved.”

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Author: Amoytrip---Free China Travel Guide--Three Pools Mirroring the Moon
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