Page:Peking the Beautiful.pdf/126

 The Jade Fountain Pagodas

I SING abruptly out of the broad plain of Chihli to the best of Peking, a mile and a half from the gates of the Summer Palace, is a famous hill and a still more famous spring. Known throughout China as the Yü Ch'uan Shan, or "Hill of the Jade Fountain," this place has for many centuries enjoyed the Imperial patronage. The tall pagoda that crowns its summitoverlooks a summer resort of the famous Chin emperors who ruled eight hundred years and more ago. The Mongols who succeeded them also kept up these gardens, and the Ming sovereigas improved and added to them. Later on the Manchu emperor, Kang Hsi, a lover of nature and art, built temples and pagodas on the site-"one dedicated to Buddha, and one to the Spirit of the Fountain The loveliest is of solid marble and rises from the ground like a white lily. The base is carved in imitation of the waves of the sea, and the whole pagoda, seven-storied, but of slight build, stands upon a gigantic lotus flower, the petals of which are again carved in all manner of beautiful designus." The tall spire at the top of the hill, known as the "Yü Feng Ta," is the more striking of the two, having been built entirely of stone, with winding stairways that lead from the lower levels to dizzy heights at the top. From our vantage point on the highest platform, most magnificent views can be had of all the surrounding plain. Nowhere but from this highest pagoda can we command such a wonderful bird's-eye view of beautiful Yi Ho Yuan, trace the outline of the lovely lake, note the position of bridges, islands, pavilions, and gilded palaces, and at the same time gaze over the peaceful sunlit rice fields to the glorious panorama of the Western Hills, with its peaceful groves and age-old monasteries. The chief glory of this charming retreat, however, lies not in its fascinating mone ments, nor even in its incomparable vistas, but in a quiet spot on the eastern slope, where, from among the rocks and ferns of a secluded little glen, there gushes forth a living stream of pure, sparkling water—the famous Jade Fountain - for whose sake all these stones and bricks and tiles have been gathered together. Engraven deep upon an overhanging rock above the fountain are some characters an inscription, we are told, by Emperor Ch'ien Lung, which reads, "The First Spring Under Heaven." And as we follow through devious paths, the deep cool stream of purest jade-tinted water, out to the vinding canal that carries it into the broad bosom of the K'un Ming Lake, we are inclined to agree with the great artist emperor who thus sought to honor one of nature's most precious gifts to mar. From the Summer Palace the waters of the Fountain are carried eastward to within the gates of the capital, where it supplies the "Three Oceans" of the Dinter Palace with an abundant supply of water. (See pages 22, 25, 48, and 54.)