Riyuetan Pool

Riyuetan Pool

Sun Moon Lake is located in shuishe village, Yuchi Township, Nantou County, north of Alishan Mountain and south of nengshan mountain in Taiwan Province of China. It was formerly known as shuishalian, Longhu, shuishedahu, Zhutan and Shuangtan, also known as shuilishe.

The lake is 748 meters above sea level, with a normal area of 7.93 ㎞ 2 (10 ㎞ 2 at full water level), a maximum water depth of 27 meters and a circumference of 37 kilometers. It is one of the freshwater lakes with the most alien species in Taiwan, China. It is bounded by Guanghua island. The north half of the lake is like a round sun, and the South half is like a crescent moon.

In 2009, Sun Moon Lake was selected as "the largest natural freshwater lake in Taiwan, China" by the world record association. In the Qing Dynasty, it was selected as one of the eight major scenic spots in Taiwan, with "another cave overseas"

It's called "the best of the best".

geographical environment

position

Sun Moon Lake is a beautiful "Tianchi" in Taiwan, China. It is located in the north of Yushan mountains and the south of NengGao waterfall, between Jiji mountain (West of the lake) and shuishe mountain (east of the lake).

climate

Tropical monsoon climate, subtropical monsoon climate.

landforms

There is a small island in the Sun Moon Lake, which looks like a bead floating on the water. It is called Lalu island. Taking this island as the boundary, the north half of the lake is shaped like a round sun, and the South half of the lake is shaped like a curved moon.

vegetation

Subtropical Evergreen Broad-leaved Forest

geographical distribution

According to the characteristic planning, there are six theme parks, including landscape, nature, peacock and butterfly, waterfowl, religion, eight special scenic spots, and two service areas of water society and Dehua society.

The beauty of Sun Moon Lake lies in its broad surface and clear water. In the four seasons of the year, the scenery is different. The average temperature in July is not higher than 22 ℃, and that in January is not lower than 15 ℃. It is cool and pleasant in summer and is a summer resort.

The shuishe mountain in the east of the lake is more than 2000 meters high; there is a Wenwu temple on the hillside of the north of the lake; in the south of Qinglong mountain, the terrain is steep, and there are several temples at the foot of the mountain, among which Xuanzang temple is dedicated to the spiritual bones of Tang Xuanzang, an eminent monk of the Tang Dynasty; in the west, there is a Peacock Garden with dozens of peacocks; in the southeast, Shao people's settlements have folk song and dance performances for tourists.

There is a small island in the Sun Moon Lake. To the north of the island, the lake looks like a sun wheel, and to the south, it looks like a crescent moon. Therefore, it is called the Sun Moon Lake. Because of the impoundment of water and the construction of a power plant, the lake looks like a maple leaf. The dam is 91 meters long and 48.5 meters high. The water storage capacity of the reservoir is 147 million cubic meters. The water discharged from the reservoir is injected into the Sun Moon Lake through a 15 kilometer long tunnel to supplement the water source in case of low water. Before the hydropower station was built, the water area of Riyuetan lake was 4.4 ㎞ 2, the average water depth was about 4 meters, and the lake elevation was 726.8 meters. After the completion of the hydropower station, the water level was raised by more than 30 meters, and the lowlands near the pool were completely flooded. The water area of the lake expanded by 70% to 7.73 ㎞ 2, with an average water depth of 19.1 meters, a circumference of 35 kilometers and a maximum water depth of 40 meters.

Cause of formation

The Sun Moon Lake is formed by accumulated water in the fault basins of Yushan and alishanzhang. Huantan is 35 kilometers in circumference, with an average water depth of 30 meters and a water area of more than 900 hectares, about 1 / 3 larger than the West Lake in Hangzhou. There is a small island in the Sun Moon Lake. From afar, it looks like a bead floating on the water. It is called "Pearl Island". After the victory of the Anti Japanese War, it was renamed "Guanghua island" to celebrate the restoration of Taiwan. In the northeast of the island, the lake is round as the sun, which is called the sun lake. In the southwest, the lake is round as the moon, which is called the moon lake.

Sun Moon Lake scenic spot is the most famous scenic spot in Taiwan. There are few natural lakes in Taiwan. The largest and most famous one is the Sun Moon Lake, with a water area of 9 ㎞ 2 and a water depth of more than 30 meters.

History and culture

Historical legend

First, it is said that the discovery of Sun Moon Lake is due to a deer. 300 years ago, 40 local mountain people went hunting together. A huge white deer ran to the northwest and followed. They chased for three days and three nights, and the white deer disappeared in the rich forests of the mountains. They searched in the mountains for three days and three nights. On the fourth day, when they crossed the mountains and forests, they saw a group of Chengbi lake water surrounded by thousands of peaks and green forests. It was shining with precious blue light on a sunny day, just like a pure baby sleeping sweetly in her mother's arms. The mountain people also found that there is a round island with dense woods in the blue water, which divides the lake into two parts. One half is as round as the sun, and its water is red; the other half is as curved as a crescent moon, and its water is clear. So they called the lake "Sun Moon Lake" and the island "Pearl Island". They found that there was plenty of water, fertile soil, dense forest and suitable for farming and hunting, so they decided to move here. The leader of the tribe was the ancestor of Mao Xinxue, the chief of Shao nationality today. Huantan area, called shuishalian in ancient times, belongs to Yuchi township of Nantou County. It is the settlement of Shao people of Gaoshan Nationality.

Secondly, a long time ago, in Taiwan, a beautiful island, there lived a brave young man named Dajian and a beautiful girl named shuishe. They loved each other and often met under a big tree.

There are two dragons living in this big pool. One day the sun passed through the sky, and the Dragon leaped up and swallowed the sun. At night, when the moon passed through the sky, the mother dragon leaped up and swallowed the moon. This pair of dragons swam around in the pool, spitting and swallowing the sun and moon, touching and hitting each other, like playing ball of beads. They only want to play for themselves, but they don't expect that there is no sun and moon in the world. They can't tell day from night. The trees are withered, the birds are not singing, the ripening rice in the paddy field is withered, the food of every household is eaten up, the cattle and sheep are starving, and the life can't go on

Dajianhe water society is determined to find the sun and moon for the world. But how to kill the dragon? Brother Dajian and sister shuishe sneak into the cave where the dragon lives. From the dragon's conversation, they overhear that they are most afraid of the golden axe and scissors buried at the bottom of Mt. Ali. Brother Dajian and sister shuishe went through all kinds of hardships and hardships. They finally came to the foot of Ali Mountain and dug out gold axes and scissors from the foot of the mountain. Then they went back to the pool. Two dragons were playing with the sun and the moon in the pool. Brother Dajian jumped down the pool, waved a golden axe, and cut the dragon's head full of blood. Sister shuishe saw the right time and cut the dragon's stomach with golden scissors. The two dragons died, but the sun and moon still sank in the pool. Brother Dajian takes off the eyes of the male dragon and swallows it; sister shuishe takes off the eyes of the female dragon and swallows it. They became giants and stood in the pool like two mountains. Big brother Jian threw the sun hard. Sister shuishe pulled up the palm trees beside the pool and held the sun up to the sky. Then sister shuishe threw the moon into the sky, and brother Dajian also put the moon into the sky with palm trees. The sun and the moon are high in the sky, shining on the earth, and everything revives. When the grass and trees are alive, the birds in the trees are singing again, and the rice in the fields is heading again, people are cheering. And big Jiange and sister shuishe have become two majestic mountains standing by the pool forever.

Later, people called this big lake Sun Moon Lake, and the two big mountains dajianshan and shuishe mountain. Every autumn, people can still be seen wearing beautiful clothes, picking up bamboo poles and colored balls to play ball dance by the Sun Moon Lake, learning from Dajian elder brother and shuishe elder sister, throwing the colored ball into the sky, and then holding it with bamboo poles to prevent it from falling down, so as to commemorate Dajian elder brother and shuishe elder sister, the young heroes.

Minority culture

Shuishalian Shao nationality

Shao nationality is a minority living in Sun Moon Lake. Before Daoguang in the Qing Dynasty, Shao people had a huge influence in shuishalian. They formed six communities in Yuchi, maoyao, shuishe, Shiyin, Yapu and Toudu. However, after Xianfeng and Guangxu, due to the Han people's reclamation and the plague, Shao people not only had a sharp decrease in population, but also had to move to other places.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the government officials strongly advocated the open policy, and the Han people went into the land of no one. In addition, after the population contact of different ethnic groups, the people did not have antibodies to some foreign diseases (such as smallpox). As a result, the population of Shao nationality decreased sharply in the second half of the 18th century, and the original population of thousands of people decreased to about 300 in the late Qing Dynasty.

During the period of Japanese occupation, the Shao people were faced with a second movement. Later, due to the Japanese construction of the Riyuetan hydropower project, the Shao people finally moved to bujishe, i.e. yidashao (Riyue Village), while the people who originally lived in Toushe moved to Dapinglin.

After the restoration of Taiwan, the government's classification of ethnic minorities was basically based on the classification of nine ethnic groups by Japanese scholars such as Yi Neng Jiaji at the end of the Japanese occupation. However, most of the "Shufan" who were on the verge of extinction were not further dealt with. As a result, the "Shufan" was collectively referred to as the "Pingpu People". The Shao people, one of the "Shufan" people, were classified as the Cao people in 1951 when they conducted a survey on the "identity of mountain people" because their legendary ancestors came from Alishan and moved to the Sun Moon Lake area in pursuit of white deer.

The BuNong people in Gaoshan

Bunun nationality is a Typical Alpine ethnic group, scattered in the mountains on both sides of the central mountains since ancient times. The Bunun people in the patriarchal clan society are divided into five major communities, namely, Ka society, Luan society, Dan society, Jun society and Zhuo society

Chinese PinYin : Ri Yue Tan