颐和园昆明湖景区

颐和园昆明湖景区 三:颐和园昆明湖景区(昆明湖名称含义;西堤;东堤;湖中诸岛) First, let’s visit the kunming lake area. Kunming lake covers an area of 220 hectares. The name of the lake came from: kunming pool in changan, made by emperor wudi in the han dynasy for training his navy. Qing emperor qianlong just followed the example of han wudi and gave the name kunming lake. To the west kunming lake, there is a long causeway on the lake, it is called west dike, patterned after the su dike in the west lake in hangzhou. Along the dike there are six bridges that separate the lake into two parts. The first bridge is the lake boundary bridge. It is the last one on the north end among six bridges along the dike. Because the bridge is located at the diving line of the lake and the outer lake, it is named Lake Boundary Bridge. The second bridge is the local song bridge. Originally, the bridge was called Sangzhu Bridge, which got the same pronunciation as the name of the seventh emperor of the qing dynasty who was empress dowager cixi’s husband. So empress dowager cixi changed its name. The name of this bridge came from an ancient poem written 2000years ago about the labors. The emperor chose this name of the bridge because the emperor wanted to show his concern for agriculture. The third bridge is the jade belt bridge. This bridge is made of marble and granite. Its high-arched body looks like a jade belt, so its name jade belt bridge. Three Chinese characters yudaiqiao were carved on the east and west sides of the bridge in emperor qianlong’s handwriting. This bridge is also the water entrance of the kunming lake. The fourth bridge is the mirror bridge. The bridge was named according to an ancient poem written by famous poet libai of the tang dynast, describing a clear mirror with pure water on both sides. Emperor qianlong also wrote a poem depicting the lake as looking like a mirror. The fifth bridge is the white silk bridge. Again ,the bridge got its name according to an ancient poem. Lian in Chinese means white silk. Here the name of the bridge stands for the bridge that was built over the lake, but the lake water was as pure and clear as white silk. The sixth bridge is the Willow Bridge. The name of the bridge was based on an ancient poem written by a very famous poet dufu of the tang dynasty. Willow threes were planted on the dike so the bridge would be sheltered by the willow branches. Hence the name willow bridge. The south lake island is the biggest island on kunming lake. It is located on the eastern part of kunming lake and linked with the east dike by the 17-arch bridge .Beautiful buildings, halls, pavilions and towers were built on the island with old pine tress and cypresses. Since this island is so pretty, it is also called the penglai Fairland, the home of immortals. The temple of the dragon king was built on the south lake island. Inside the temple, the statue of the dragon king is placed in the middle of the temple. The dragon king was believed to be the god of rain in ancient Chinese mythology. in ancient times, people practiced the custom of the building the temple of the dragon king on the bank of a river or a lake to control water. So the temple of the dragon king was built here, not only with the purpose of decorating the island, but also to control water. It is said that emperor qianlong at the age of 80 came here in person to pray for rain. Soon after, rain poured down in torrents that night. The next day, the emperor came here again to have a big ceremony to show his thanks to the dragon king. Until the end of the qing dynasty, the empeor came the temple of the dragon king every year in person or sent his high ranking officials to come here to worship. The 17-arch bridge is the largest bridge in the summer palace. It links east dike at its eastern end, and connects the south lake island at its western end. It is 150 meters long and 8meters wide with 17 arches. There are 544 stone lions in different sizes and posters. Seen from a distance , it looks like a rainbow hanging across the water on the lake. The 17-arch bridge was built in 1750, and it was believed that the bridge was an imitation of Marco polo bridge, but more beautiful. To the east of the 17-arch bridge there is a bronze ox placed on a marble terrace with carved sea waves. In ancient china, the ox was used as a symbol of flood control. In the xia dynasty, more than 4000years ago, it was one of the Chinese traditional customs that whenever and wherever a flood was brought under control, people would throw a big iron ox into the river-bed, assuming that the flood could in this way be controlled forever. In the tang dynasty, people placed the iron ox somewhere on the river-bank instead of river-bed. In the qing dynasty When emperor qianlong finished the construction of kunming lake. He just followed the tang example, and placed a bronze ox at the east part of kunming lake, to symbolize water control. The 80-word goldern ox inscription, writtern by emperor qianlong was cast on the back of the bronze ox, just to explain its presence.