Second Spring under Heaven

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Second Spring under Heaven
天下第二泉
Tiānxià Dìèr Quán

No 2 Spring In China.jpg

The Second Spring
Location Xihui Park in Wuxi, Jiangsu, in China

The Second Spring or Second-best Spring under Heaven (Chinese: 天下第二泉, Tiānxià Dìèr Quán) is the name of a spring in Xihui Park at the foot of Mount Hui. The park is located in western Wuxi in eastern China's Jiangsu province. [1]

Chinese language family of languages

Chinese is a group of related, but in many cases not mutually intelligible, language varieties, forming the Sinitic branch of the Sino-Tibetan language family. Chinese is spoken by the Han majority and many minority ethnic groups in China. About 1.2 billion people speak some form of Chinese as their first language.

Xihui Park

Xihui Park is a key state park of China located west of Wuxi in eastern China's Jiangsu province. It was established in 1958 and commands historically famous views overlooking the city, the adjacent Grand Canal, and nearby Lake Tai. Its grounds include the Jichang Garden, the Second Spring under Heaven, the Dragon Light Pagoda, and a cable car connecting the park to the summit of Mount Hui.

Huishan National Forest Park

Huishan National Forest Park is a Chinese park in western Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, China. It is adjacent to Xihui Park.

Contents

History

There are more than thirty springs located around Mount Hui. During the Tang dynasty, the mountain was considered holy. [2] Jing Cheng (styled Yuan Shen), a county magistrate for Wuxi, constructed improvements around its springs. [4] The present-day Second Spring was one of those he improved, under the name Huishan Spring (惠山泉). [5]

Tang dynasty ruling dynasty in China

The Tang dynasty or the Tang Empire was an imperial dynasty of China, preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed by the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. Historians generally regard the Tang as a high point in Chinese civilization, and a golden age of cosmopolitan culture. Tang territory, acquired through the military campaigns of its early rulers, rivaled that of the Han dynasty. The Tang capital at Chang'an was the most populous city in the world in its day.

Wuxi Prefecture-level city in Jiangsu, Peoples Republic of China

Wuxi is a city in southern Jiangsu province, China. The city borders two other large cities, Changzhou to the west and Suzhou to the east, and borders Zhejiang Province as well in the south. It also covers a coastline of the Yangtze River in the north and two separate coasts of Lake Tai. Wuxi is noted for its modern industry and commerce, along with its resorts around Lake Tai. Wuxi is a famous historical and cultural city of China. It has been a land of fish and rice since ancient times. It is known as cloth wharf, money wharf, kiln wharf, silk capital and rice market. Wuxi is the cradle of China's national industry and township industry, and the birthplace of South of Jiangsu's model. Wuxi culture belongs to Wu Yue culture, and Wuxi people belong to Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces

The present name derives from the Classic of Tea written by Lu Yu. [6] In it, he divided all waters into 20 classes, ranking Huishan Spring's second in the world. The Song emperor Gaozong erected a pavilion over the spring after visiting to drink water from it. The placards proclaimed it the "Second Spring Pavilion" and "Source of Running Water". Su Shi, a famous Song-era poet, wrote several poems for the spring. Even after he moved to Hangzhou, he would write his friend[ which? ] in Wuxi to send him water for tea. The present name featured on the pavilion was engraved by the celebrated Yuan-era calligrapher Zhao Mengfu.

Lu Yu Chinese tea master

Lu Yu is respected as the Sage of Tea for his contribution to Chinese tea culture. He is best known for his monumental book The Classic of Tea, the first definitive work on cultivating, making and drinking tea.

Tianxia or All under Heaven is a Chinese term for an ancient Chinese cultural concept that denoted either the entire geographical world or the metaphysical realm of mortals, and later became associated with political sovereignty. In ancient China, tianxia denoted the lands, space, and area divinely appointed to the Emperor by universal and well-defined principles of order. The center of this land was directly apportioned to the Imperial court, forming the center of a world view that centered on the Imperial court and went concentrically outward to major and minor officials and then the common citizens, tributary states, and finally ending with the fringe "barbarians".

Song dynasty Chinese historical period

The Song dynasty was an era of Chinese history that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou, ending the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period. The Song often came into conflict with the contemporary Liao and Western Xia dynasties in the north. It was eventually conquered by the Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Song government was the first in world history to issue banknotes or true paper money nationally and the first Chinese government to establish a permanent standing navy. This dynasty also saw the first known use of gunpowder, as well as the first discernment of true north using a compass.

Architecture

The spring has three pools: an upper, middle, and lower. The upper pool is an octagon with water of the best quality. It has such a high surface tension that the water can brim several millimeters over a glass without spilling and the water is very clear and sweet. The middle square-shaped pool has the worst water quality. The lower rectangular pool is the largest and was excavated during the Song dynasty.

The pool wall features the head of a stone dragon carved by Yang Li in the 14th year of Hongzhi during the Ming Dynasty (AD 1501). The spring water runs out from the dragon's mouth into the pools. There are some Taihu rocks [7] in front of the pools, forming a statue: the Avalokitesvara standing on the back of a bixi turtle. The Avalokitesvara statue has another of the dragon's daughter on the left and Shancai on the right side. At the bottom of the stone is an inscription of four characters by Hui Yan, which were originally part of the villa of Gu Kexue, the Director of the Board of Rites during the Ming dynasty.[ when? ] It was moved to its present location during the reign of the Qing dynasty's Qianlong Emperor. The large characters reading "Second Spring under Heaven" on the northern wall of the square pond are Wang Shu's.

Chinese dragon legendary Creature in Chinese mythology

Chinese dragons, also known as East Asian dragons, are legendary creatures in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and East Asian culture at large. Chinese dragons have many animal-like forms such as turtles and fish, but are most commonly depicted as snake-like with four legs. They traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it in East Asian culture. During the days of Imperial China, the Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power and strength.

Longnü

Longnü, translated as Dragon Daughter, along with Sudhana are considered acolytes of the bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara in Chinese Buddhism. However, there are no scriptural sources connecting both Sudhana and Longnü to Avalokiteśvara at the same time. It is suggested that the acolytes are representations of the two major Mahāyāna texts, the Lotus Sūtra and the Avataṃsaka Sūtra, in which Longnü and Sudhana appear, respectively.

Qing dynasty former empire in Eastern Asia, last imperial regime of China

The Qing dynasty, officially the Great Qing, was the last imperial dynasty of China. It was established in 1636, and ruled China proper from 1644 to 1912. It was preceded by the Ming dynasty and succeeded by the Republic of China. The Qing multi-cultural empire lasted for almost three centuries and formed the territorial base for modern China. It was the fifth largest empire in world history.

Legacy

Hua Yanjun, a famous folk musician also called Blind Abing, spread the fame of the Second Spring in his song The Moon Over a Fountain 二泉映月. [8] Although the usual English translation does not clarify what "fountain" is meant, the more literal translation would be "The Moon Reflected in the Waters of the Second Spring."

Abing Chinese musician

Abing, born as Hua Yanjun, was a blind Chinese musician specializing in the erhu and pipa.

See also

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References

  1. ↑ "Mount Hui". government of Mount Hui,惠山政府网.
  2. ↑ For instance, Dugu Ji, the district magistrate of Changzhou during the Tang, wrote: "At the foot of the holy mountain in Wuxi lie many springs." [3]
  3. ↑ "Dugu Ji". Silkqin.com. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  4. ↑ Jing Cheng. Record of the New Springs in Huishan Temple.
  5. ↑ "Hui Shan Spring". Chinaculture.org. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  6. ↑ From this connection, it is sometimes also referred to as the Luzi Spring.
  7. ↑ "Taihu Rock". luckywonders.com. Retrieved 26 April 2012.
  8. ↑ "Erhu Music: The Moon over a Fountain". Oriental Discovery Travel. Retrieved 26 April 2012.

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