The Huaqing Pool

  The Huaqing Pool is located about 30 kilometers east of the city of Xi’an. Historically, during the Western Zhou Dynasty, a stone pool was built and was given the name the Lishan Tang(Lishan Hot Spring). The site was enlarged into a bigger palace during the Han Dynasty, and was renamed the Li Palace ( the Resort Palace). During the Tang Dynasty, Li Shimin (Emperor Tai Zong) ordered the construction of the Hot Spring Palace, and Emperor Xuan Zong had a walled palace built around the Lishan Mountain in the year 747. It was known as Huaqing Palace. It also had the name the “Huaqing Pool” because of its location over the hot springs.

  The Huaqing Pool is located at the foot of the Lishan Hill, a branch of the Qinling mountain range. It stands 1,256 meters above the sea level. It is covered with pines and cypresses and looks very much like a black dark green galloping horse from a long distance. In classical Chinese, a black horse was called “Li”, and this is how it got its name, Lishan.

  The Huaqing Pool was destroyed during An Lushan and Siming Rebellion at the end of the Tang Dynasty. The present-day site is only a small part of the original the Huaqing Palace. Huaqing Pool which we see today was rebuilt on the site of the Qing Dynasty structure. The palace covers an area of 85,560 Square meters.

   Entering the West Gate of the Huaqing Pool, you will see the Nine-dragon Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool, the Frost Drifting Hall, etc. All these structures were rebuilt in 1959 according to the Tang Dynasty architectural style.

The Frost Drifting Hall

  The Tang Emperor, Xuan Zong and his favorite lady, Yang Guifei ( Lady Yang Yuhuan), used to make their home in the Frost Drifting Hall. There is always mist and vapor in the air over the pool in front of the Hall. In winter, snowflakes fly in the air, and everything in sight becomes white. However, the Snow flakes thaw immediately in front of the Hall. This owes a great deal to the lukewarm vapor that rises out of the hot spring; hence the name the Frost Drifting Hall “that we see today.

The Nine-dragon Pool

  Close by the Frost Drifting Hall lies the Nine-dragon Pool. According to legend, the Central Shaanxi Plain was once stricken by a sever drought a long time he disaster when t ago. By the order of Jade Emperor ( the Supreme Deity of Heaven), an old dragon came with eight young ones, and made rain there. Yet when the disaster was just abating, the dragons lowered their guard and relaxed vigilance, and the drought became serious again. In a fit of anger, Jade Emperor kept the young dragons under the Jade Causeway, with the Morning Glow Pavilion and the Sunset Pavilion Built on the east and west sides of it to make the young dragons spout clear water all day long to meet the needs of local irrigation. He had the old dragon confined to the bottom of the Roaring Dragon Waterside Pavilion which was situated at the upper end of the Jade Causeway. The old dragon was obliged to exercise control over the young ones.

The Marble Boat

  The Nine-dragon Pool, leads directly to the Marble Boat. This boat resembles a dragon boat, floating on the pool. In the Marble Boat lies the Nine-dragon Hot Spring Pool where Emperor Xuan Zong would take his baths. Every October he would take his court ladies and hundreds of his officials to the Huaqing Palace and spend his winter days here, return to Chang’an at the end of the year. The Nine-dragon Hot Spring Pool was originally built with crystal jade. Its surface was decorated with carvings of fish, dragons, birds and flowers. In the pool, twin lotus flowers carved out of whiter jade could be seen as well. The spring water wells up from a mouth of a spring, and spouts up to the lotus flowers. Hence the name, the Lotus Flower Pool (the Lotus Flower Hot Springs).

The Source of the Hot Springs

  The source of the hot springs that flow into Huaqing Pool and the Five-room Hall, the historical site of the Xi’an Incident, are all situated to the east of the Huaqing Pool.

  In this area there are four hot springs. They have a flow of 112 tons an hour with a constant temperature of 43℃. The spring water contains lime, sodium carbonate, sodium sulphate and other minerals, which makes it suitable for bathing and the treatment of quite a few diseases such as dermatosis, rheumatism, arthritis and muscular pain. The source of the spring water at “ the Fine Sunset-bathed Pavilion” was discovered about 3,000 years ago, roughly in the Western Zhou Dynasty. Its water flow averages 25 tons per hour.

  The Xi’an Incident

  Climb the step east of the source of the hot spring, and you will gradually see the Five-room Hall where Chiang Kaishek stayed temporarily during “the Xi’an Incident”.

   “The Xi’an Incident” took place on December 12,1936. It is also known as the “Double Twelve Incident.” After the “Incident of September 18,1936” the Japanese imperialists seized the three provinces in northeastern China, and intensified their invasion efforts in the North of China. This was a very vital time for the Chinese nation. Yet Chiang Kaishek doggedly persisted in carrying out his reactionary policy “domestic stability is a must for the resistance against the Japanese invaders.” He commanded the Northeast and the Northwest Armies, headed by Zhang Xueliang and Yang Hucheng, to attack the Shaanxi-Gansu-Ningxia border region. Inspired by the Chinese Communist Party’s policy “stop the civil war and unite to resist the Japanese aggressors,” these two generals put forward to Chiang Kaishek the proposal of forming a united front with the Communist Party for the resistance drive. Not only did he reject the proposal, but flew to Xi’an to scheme the “suppression of the Communist Party,” and “the slaughter of the patriotism, Zhang and Yang started the famous “Xi’an Incident”.

  Early on the morning of December 12, 1936, their plan began. Zhang Xueliang, together with Yang Hucheng, ordered a squad of body guards to surround the Huaqing Pool. They fought a fierce battle there, and wiped out Chiang’s bodyguards in one vigorous effort. Chiang Kaishek heard the gunshots and he was so terrified that he crept out of a window in his nightgown and slippers. He staggered up the Lishan Hill, and hid himself, halfway up, behind a stone in a crevice. Those brave soldiers began to search the hill immediately after they had rushed into the Five-room Hall and found that Chiang’s hat and clothes were still there and that his quilt was still warm. At 8:00 in the morning they found Chiang, and escorted him to Xi’an.

  In order to avoid a civil war and try to establish a united national front for the resistance against Japan, Mao Zedong, on behalf of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee, stood for a peaceful settlement of the incident. Therefore, a delegation headed by Zhou Enlai and his delegate did a lot of work there and took everything possible into consideration. Ultimately Chiang Kaishek was forced to accept the proposal made by his two generals. On December 25, Chiang was released, and flew to Nanjing. Consequently “Xi’an Incident” was settled peacefully.

  The Peaceful settlement of “Xi’an Incident” put an end to civil war which had lasted for years, and accelerated the formation and development of the National United Front for the Resistance against Japan. Moreover, it is a new page of the cooperation between the Communists and Nationlists and marked a great turning point in modern Chinese history.

 The Remonstration Pavilion

   In the year of 1946 the Nationalist Government had the “ National Rejuvenation Pavilion” built near the crevice where Chiang Kaishek had hidden himself during the Incident. It was then called “the Justice Pavilion”. After the national liberation in 1949 it was renamed “The Catching-Chiang Pavilion.” Iron chains and rings are available all the way up to the crevice east of the pavilion by which visitors can climb up to take a look at Chiang Kaishek’s shelter.

The Beacon Tower

  Located on the Xixiu Ridge (the West Embroidery Ridge) of Lishan Hill, the remains of the Beacon Tower of the Western Zhou Dynasty is easily identified.

  The becon tower was built at the top of the mountain to give alarm of border attacks in ancient times. It was constantly manned by special guards. Once the enemy pressed the border, the signal from the beacon tower would be sent. It is said that in Western Zhou Dynasty, on the peak of every mountain a beacon tower was built. Whenever the enemy came, the soldiers would send signals by burning wolf’s droppings to seek help from other dukes. Why were wolf’s droppings used? It is said that when wolf’s droppings were burnt, their smoke went straight up to the sky, and people could see it from a distance.

  King You of the Western Zhou Dynasty had a palace built in the Huaqing Pool, and a beacon tower on top of Lishan Hill. The King had a favorite concubine named Bao si. Though she was ravishingly beautiful, she always wore a sad face and never smiled. King You left no stone unturned to make her happy, but in vain. So the King became very much worried. One day, one of his ministers suggest that the beacon be lit to make fun of other duke states to make Bao Si smile. Sure enough the trick worked very well. At the sight of the signal, the soldiers of other duke states hurried to the foot of Lishan Hill. They were wet through with sweat and out of breath, but only to find themselves deceived, and dismay fell upon everyone. Bao Si was amused to see them mortified and gave a cold smile. The King WAS delighted and awarded 1,000 pieces of gold to the minister, who put forward the idea. Later the joke was repeated several times. One day when a real danger threatened him, King You had the beacon fir lit again, but the dukes thought that the King was playing the same trick again to please his concubine. No one came to his rescue; therefore, the Western Zhou Dynasty was overthrown and the King was killed. Hence the Chinese saying “ A single smile costs 1,000 pieces of gold” and “The sovereign rulers are fooled by the beacon fire.”

The Museum of the Imperial Pools of the Huaqing Palace

  In April, 1982, on a construction site that was well under way, the ruins of the imperial pools in the Tang-Dynasty Huaqing Palace were discovered. After excavation and sorting out the information at hand, archaeologists found the ruins of the five pools in an area of 4,200 square meters. They proved them to be the Star Pool, the Lotus Flower Pool, the Crabapple Pool, the Crown Prince Pool and the Shangshi Pool, all of which were recorded in history. The Museum of the Imperial Pools in the Tang-Dynasty Huaqing Palace was built on their ruins and was opened to public in October 1990. “The Chinese Flower Crabapple Pool” was specially built by the order of the Tang Emperor, Xuan Zong, for his favorite lady Yang Yuhuan to bathe in. Therefore, it was also called Lady Yang’s Pool. The pool was like a platform with two layers, 3.6 meters long, 2.9 meters wide. It was built of eight pieces of stone. The overall view of the pool resembles a Chinese crabapple in full blossom.

  Beside the five pools, on display in the museum, there are also pottery sewer pipes, and various types of tiles and bricks that were unearthed during the excavation. These were building materials during the prosperous Tang Dynasty.