Pengdao Yaotai

Pengdao Yaotai

Pengdao Yaotai is one of the 40 sceneries of Yuanmingyuan.

Built around 1725 (the third year of Yongzheng), it was called penglaizhou at that time and named Pengdao Yaotai in the early years of Qianlong. In the center of Fuhai, there are three islands: abbot, Penglai and Yingzhou. The buildings on the island are in the shape of fairyland pavilions. At the peak of the garden, the dragon boat race was held at Fuhai Dragon Boat Festival. The emperor and his princes and ministers watched in the pavilion of "wangyingzhou" on the West Bank, while the Empress Dowager and his concubines and relatives watched in Yaotai, Pengdao.

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Cultural relic landscape

Built around 1725 (the third year of Yongzheng), it was called penglaizhou at that time and named Pengdao Yaotai in the early years of Qianlong. In the center of Fuhai, there are three islands: abbot, Penglai and Yingzhou. The buildings on the island are in the shape of fairyland pavilions.

The structure and layout of Pengdao Yaotai are designed according to the painting of "Xianshan Pavilion" by ancient painter Li sixun. There are three palace gates, seven main halls, three Shenzhou islands in the West and three Changjin buildings in the East. The east side hall is Suian room, and the west side hall is the good news of peace every day. In the southeast, there is a ferry bridge, which can lead to the East Island, with Yinghai Xianshan Pavilion on the island. In the northwest, there is a curved bridge, which can lead to the North Island, with three temples on the island .

The big island in Pengdao Yaotai symbolizes the "Penglai" holy mountain, while the small islands in the northwest and southeast of Pengdao Yaotai symbolize the "Abbot" and "Yingzhou". There is also a six square Pavilion on the southeast Island, on which there are a lot of mountain stones and many royal carved stones, some of which are still preserved.

According to the royal secret records of the Qing Dynasty, it is impossible to observe this magnificent Island palace from every corner of Fuhai. Especially when the mist rises in Fuhai, the Pengdao Yaotai is as ethereal as the fairyland in mythology, which adds a sense of mystery to these palaces. Through research and measurement, modern scholars found that the side length of Fuhai is 600 meters, and the limit distance that people can see is 200 meters. Pengdao Yaotai is just in the center of Fuhai, and the distance from Fuhai coast is more than 200 meters. This special visual phenomenon makes people along the coast unable to observe the Imperial Palace, which makes this scenic spot full of charm.

At that time, the dragon boat race was held in Fuhai every year during the Dragon Boat Festival. The emperor and the Empress Dowager watched the Dragon Boat Race in wangyingzhou and Pengdao Yaotai respectively. In 1753, the Emperor Qianlong authorized Portuguese envoys to watch the race. On the 15th of July every year, Fuhai was still the place where the river lanterns were put. The wharf of Yaotai in Pengdao was the main place where the emperor put the river lanterns.

In October 1860, when the British and French allied forces occupied the Yuanmingyuan Garden, the Pengdao Yaotai was not destroyed because there were no ships available at that time. However, in 1870, an accidental fire broke out in the Pengdao Yaotai. Because there were still no ships available on the shore, the Pengdao Yaotai was finally burned.

Current situation of cultural relics

When the Yuanmingyuan Garden was robbed in 1860, the Yaotai temple on Pengdao survived on the island and was destroyed by fire in 1870 (the ninth year of Tongzhi).

In 1985, the Qing Dynasty rebuilt the foundation site, revetment and stacked stone of the three Yaotai islands in Pengdao, and restored the six square Pavilion of "yinghaixianshan" in the East Island, the courtyard of the West Island and the East-West curved bridge.

Construction ideas

Myths since Qin Dynasty

According to the records of the historian, the first emperor of Qin (221-210 B.C.) had a delusion of immortality. Xu Shi, the founder, said that there were three sacred mountains in the East China Sea, Penglai, abbot and Yingzhou, where immortals lived. So the first emperor of Qin sent thousands of boys and girls from Xushi to search for fairyland and medicine. The scene of Yaotai in Pengdao is modeled on Li sixun's "one pool and three mountains". At the peak of the garden, the dragon boat race was held at Fuhai Dragon Boat Festival. The emperor and his princes and ministers watched in the pavilion of "wangyingzhou" on the West Bank, while the Empress Dowager and his concubines and relatives watched in Yaotai, Pengdao.

Legends of ancient China

Penglai legend: it has been known as "fairyland on earth" since ancient times. In the myth, one of the three sacred mountains (the other two are "Abbot" and "Yingzhou") inhabited by immortals in the Bohai Sea. Yuan, Ben. The beginning, the beginning, the innate Qi. This Qi was the person who opened up the world, that is Pangu, the ancestor who presided over the heaven, that is the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. As soon as Pan Gu stretched out his body, the sky rose and the earth fell. And the heaven and earth are more connected, the left hand holding chisel, the right hand holding axe, or with an axe, or to chisel. It is a divine power, and heaven and earth are separated for a long time. The ascending and descending of the two Qi means that the upper part of the clear is heaven, and the lower part of the turbid is earth. Heaven and earth open, Pangu exhausted, but die. The male is called Fuxi, the female is called Nuwa, and the brother and sister are also human headed snakes.

Fuxi and Nuwa lived in it, and they were very idle. Fuxi was angry, and he began to carve a gully on the earth, which became a river, running eastward and becoming the East China Sea. There are five mountains and seven mountains in the gully soil. There are mountains and rivers between heaven and earth. The sun, the moon and the stars come out of them.

The mountains and rivers became, but there was no life. Nu Wa chatted very much, so she fought and made it from loess. After the force is not time for, but lead the rope in the mud, lift for life. Therefore, there are five immortals and five insects between heaven and earth. Heaven, immortals, and loess are the five immortals; human, ghost, and demon are the five immortals and five insects. This is the beginning of heaven and earth, the origin of all things. Immortals are self-cleaning, while ghosts and Demons alone are unfair. If they want to become immortals, they are doomed.

The sun and the moon are changing, the stars are changing, and the world is full of ghosts and demons. We are all made by Nu Wa. Why do we suffer from reincarnation? As time goes by, there are also those who have fallen and become immortals. The immortal said: if there are virtuous people in the world, they can find Penglai, and those who have completed the road can become immortals. When this saying came out, it caused a great disturbance in the world. People, ghosts and Demons all tried their best to practice the Dharma in order to prove the truth one day. It is the so-called: there is a fairyland in the world, the way in Penglai. Yes.

Development in the Warring States Period

During the Warring States period, people all wanted to unify China. The war was going on, and people's lives were not guaranteed. They longed for a fairyland beyond the dust and vulgarity, which could not only keep away from the harm of war, but also cultivate themselves and prolong their life. Inspired by the myth and fantasy, they imagined a fairyland. After the unification of Qin and Han Dynasties, in order to enjoy a comfortable life forever, the supreme ruler wanted to live a long life, preferably not to die, so he set off a fanatical belief in immortals from top to bottom. Some of the alchemists who were transformed from witches were intellectuals who had made great contributions to culture at that time, and some of them, for their own fame and wealth, did not hesitate to cater to the supreme ruler and publicized the legendary Penglai, abbot and Yingzhou on the sea. This is the "three fairy mountains" in the East, and also the "five God mountains" in the East, which is generally called the Oriental Penglai fairyland. At the end of the Warring States period, the king of Qi Wei, the king of Qi Xuan and the king of Yan Zhao, as well as the first emperor of Qin Dynasty and the emperor of Han Dynasty all sent people to look for the fairyland of Penglai, but none of them really arrived. Either Sanshen mountain was hidden under the water, or they returned halfway due to the strong wind. It can be seen that the so-called fairy mountain is really nihilistic. It's made up by those alchemists.

Among them, Xu Fu, a scholar from the Qi Dynasty, once wrote to the first emperor of Qin and went to the sea to seek immortality. In the 28th year of the first emperor of Qin Dynasty (219 BC), he took thousands of boys and girls with him. He spent a lot of money, but there was no result. After that, he simply never came back. Where on earth has Xu Fu gone? People in China and Japan say that he went to Japan, and some legends also describe Xu Fu as having traveled across the ocean to escape the tyranny of the first emperor of Qin. After arriving in Japan, he spread Chinese farming techniques in Japan with the seeds and farm tools he brought. He was honored as "the God of cultivating the people" and "the God of medicine" by the Japanese people. It is said that there are three places in Japan called Penglai, namely Mount Fuji, Hotan palace and Kumano. Xiong Ye has a tomb called Xu Fu. The original meaning of Japanese "Fuji" contains the meaning of "immortal". The legend of Xu Fu's eastward journey has a wide influence in Japan and Southeast Asia. Of course, it is an academic question whether Xu Fu has really gone to the East and whether he can lead thousands of boys and girls. Chinese and foreign scholars are discussing it.

After the rise of Oriental fairyland, it gradually replaced Western Kunlun and became immortal hometown. When people talk about fairyland, they know more about Penglai than Kunlun. Emperor xianmiwu, one of the emperors of the Han Dynasty, built an artificial Taiye pool in Ganquan palace of the Imperial Palace, on which there are fairy mountains such as Penglai, which cost a lot of money.

Construction of royal gardens

In the Qing Dynasty, the idea of "one pool and three mountains" was widely accepted by the ruling class. The construction of Pengdao Yaotai was in line with the emperor's pursuit of immortals and fairyland. According to historical records, in the years of Yongzheng, Qianlong, Jiaqing, Daoguang and Xianfeng when Yuanmingyuan had not been destroyed, the emperors of the Five Dynasties left poems describing the scenic spot. This is rare in Yuanmingyuan, the royal gardens of the Qing Dynasty, and even in the whole ancient Chinese history.

Penglai Yaotai in Fuhai is based on the Fairy Island of Penglai, formerly known as Penglai Island. According to legend, the first emperor of Qin sent a man named Xu Fu to lead more than a thousand boys and girls to the sea to search for fairyland and elixir for him, so as to make him immortal. This, of course, can only be "tourists talk about Yingzhou, the smoke is vast, the letter is hard to find.". The Yongzheng emperor, on the other hand, asked craftsmen to build three large and small islands with jagged boulders in the East Lake of Yuanmingyuan, symbolizing the legendary "three fairy mountains" of Penglai, Yingzhou and abbot. On the island, there were pavilions and platforms, "looking like five golden halls.". According to the moral of "seeking from Xu Fuhai", the East Lake is divided into two parts

Chinese PinYin : Peng Dao Yao Tai