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Searching for the Ming: Part Two

Zhang Dai
Translated by Duncan Campbell

Northern Approaches 西湖北路

Pavilion of the Jade Lotus 玉蓮亭

During Bo Juyi's tour of duty as Prefect of Hangzhou,[31] so fair-minded did his administration prove that few were the cases that made it all the way to court. The poor, when convicted of breaking the law, would be ordered to plant a few trees along the lakeside; the wealthy could make reparation for any crime committed by paying to have a mu or two of the lake cleared of matted rape turnip. Once Bo had been at his post for a number of years, the rape turnip had been completely eradicated and the newly planted trees had begun to offer up their shade. He took to visiting the lake with a concubine in tow, to gaze up at the mountains and to view the flowers and the willows. The locals erected a statue of him and began to worship at it. This pavilion commands the lakefront and a myriad blue lotus have been planted here to symbolise his purity.

Turning right and heading north from here, one comes upon Boat Mooring Pavilion where the many storied houseboats gather, beneath the tall willows and spread out along the lengthy embankment. Visitors hire a boat to go out on the water, and the spot proves as noisy as a marketplace. Off to the west is the Garden of the Jade Ducks. This corner of the lake, by contrast, hidden as it is beyond a secluded corner of the city wall, is not much frequented by the boats. For those living beside the lake, there is no better place to escape from the hustle and bustle of everyday life. A tower stands within the garden, and leaning upon the windowsill and gazing out to the south, there where the water glistens brightly at the edge of the sand, one often sees a hundred or so wild ducks bathing in the lake, bobbing in and out of the waves. The scene here is extraordinary for its tranquillity.

白樂天守杭州，政平訟簡。貧民有犯法者，於西湖種樹幾株；富民有贖罪者，令於西湖開葑田數畝。歷任多年，湖葑盡拓，樹木成蔭。樂天每於此地，載妓看山，尋花問柳。居民設像祀之。亭臨湖岸，多種青蓮，以象公之潔白。右折而北，為纜舟亭，樓船鱗集，高柳長堤。遊人至此買舫入湖者，喧闐如市。東去為玉鳧園，湖水一角，僻處城阿，舟楫罕到。寓西湖者，欲避囂雜，莫於此地為宜。園中有樓，倚窗南望，沙際水明，常見浴鳧數百出沒波心，此景幽絕。

Temple of Manifest Blessings 昭慶寺

The earth vein upon which the Temple of Manifest Blessings is sited flows here from Lion Cub Peak and the Rock of Amassed Roseate Clouds; according to the Geomancers, it is that of the Fire Dragon.

Construction of the temple began in the First Year of the Latter Jin dynasty [936], but it was destroyed by fire in the Fifth Year of the Qiande reign period of the Song [966]. The temple was rebuilt in the First Year of the Taiping Xingguo reign period [967], at which time the altar was established. At the beginning of the Tianxi reign period [1017-21], the temple acquired its present name but in that same year it again burnt down. During the reigns of the Hongwu [1368-98] and Chenghua [1465-87] emperors of the Ming dynasty, the temple was destroyed by fire and rebuilt twice. In the Fourth Year of his reign, the Chenghua Emperor [1469] ordered the temple restored and he put the Surveillance Commissioner Yang Jizong in charge of the project. The wealthy men of Huzhou all contributed funds to this end and eventually the sum of ten thousand taels was raised. Once completed, the halls and chambers of the temple proved more grand and imposing than ever before.

In the Thirty-fourth Year of the reign of the Jiajing Emperor [1556], during the depredations of the pirates, in fear that they would capture the temple and make use of it as their base, it was burnt down. Once order had been restored, the temple was again rebuilt and on this occasion the advice of the Geomancers was followed to the letter, the area being entirely cleared of ordinary dwellings so as to allow the gate of the temple to overlook the lake, in the hope that this would serve to preclude future conflagrations. Despite all these efforts, however, in the Third Year of the reign of the Longqing emperor [1569], the temple was destroyed yet again. In the Seventeenth Year of the reign of the Wanli Emperor [1589], the eunuch Sun Long of the Directorate of Ceremonial had the temple rebuilt with the assistance of the Imperial Silk Manufactory, and the pendants and arrayed censers became a contemporary byword for splendour.

Along the two covered walkways, crowded one upon another, is a veritable marketplace of fine stalls, all replete with exquisite goods outrageously priced. During the months of spring a pilgrims' fair is held here and devotees from Eastern Zhejiang heading for Putuo Monastery in the South Seas and to the India Temples all gather here to trade with the women and children of the outlying villages. The din of their voices as they shout at each other, wearying their tongues out with their haggling, only ceases once the summer arrives.

In the Thirteenth Year of the reign of the Chongzhen Emperor [1640] the temple was razed to the ground by fire yet again, the smoke and ashes completely blocking out the rays of the sun and turning the water of the lake a brownish red. By the beginning of the Qing dynasty, in keeping with the saying: 'continuing the process increases ornament',[32] the altar had been completely restored and had become even more imposing than ever it had been throughout previous dynasties.

One story told about the founding of the temple claims that it was established as part of the celebrations associated with the eightieth birthday of Qian Liu, the Martial and Majestic Prince of Wu and Yue.[Fig.3] Yuanjing, a monk of the temple at the time, organised his fellow black-robed monks Gupu, Tianxiang, Shenglian, Shenglin, Cishou and Ciyun into a White Lotus Society to undertake the recitation of the sutras and the releasing of animals in propitiation of the health of the prince. On the first day of each month they would mount the altar to conduct a service. The local populace would circumambulate the altar holding incense sticks, paying homage to the Buddha and making manifest the prince's blessings. Thus was the temple so named. Today, the various halls of the complex take their names from these venerable worthies.

Fig.3 King Qian Temple 錢王祠, reprinted without attribution in Old Photographs of West Lake, p.122.

昭慶寺，自獅子峰、屯霞石發脈，堪輿家謂之火龍。石晉元年始創，毀於錢氏乾德五年。宋太平興國元年重建，立戒壇。天禧初，改名昭慶。是歲又火。迨明洪武至成化，凡修而火者再。四年奉敕再建，廉訪楊繼宗監修。有湖州富民應募，摯萬金來。殿宇室廬，頗極壯麗。嘉靖三十四年以倭亂，恐賊據為巢，遽火之。事平再造，遂用堪輿家說，辟除民舍，使寺門見水，以厭火災。隆慶三年復毀。萬曆十七年，司禮監太監孫隆以織造助建，懸幢列鼎，絕盛一時。而兩廡櫛比，皆市廛精肆，奇貨可居。春時有香市，與南海、天竺、山東香客及鄉村婦女兒童，往來交易，人聲嘈雜，舌敝耳聾，抵夏方止。崇禎十三年又火，煙焰障天，湖水為赤。及至清初，踵事增華，戒壇整肅，較之前代，尤更莊嚴。一說建寺時，為錢武肅王八十大壽，寺僧圓淨訂緇流古樸、天香、勝蓮、勝林、慈受、慈雲等，結蓮社，誦經放生，為王祝壽。每月朔，登壇設戒，居民行香禮佛，以昭王之功德，因名昭慶。今以古德諸號，即為房名。

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Searching for the Ming

• Introduction: Search for West Lake in My Dreams 西湖夢尋
• Part One: General Prospectus 西湖總記
• Part Two: Northern Approaches 西湖北路
• Part Three: Western Approaches 西湖西路
• Part Four: Central Approaches 西湖中路
• Part Five: Southern Approaches 西湖南路
• Part Six: Environs 西湖外景

Notes: Part Two

[31] Bo Juyi served in this post between the years 822-25.

[32] A quotation from Xiao Tong's 蕭統 'Preface' (xu 序) to the Wen xuan 文選, for which see David R. Knechtges, trans., Wen xuan, or Selections of Refined Literature: Volume One: Rhapsodies on Metropolises and Capitals, Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 1982, p.75.