Nine Dragon Pool

Time：2024-10-08 10:23:03

[Nine Dragon Pool + Nine-Bend Bridge] Tourists, on the left is the Nine Dragon Pool, which covers an area of three mu (a unit of area approximately equal to 0.0667 hectares) and is the intersection of the main waterways in Huangcangyu. The saying goes, "A pool doesn't need to be deep; it becomes spiritual with dragons."... But where are the dragons? Look at the stream on the right; isn't there a black dragon there? This black dragon is made of Lingbi stones, which are produced in Lingbi County, Suzhou City, Anhui Province, and were praised as "the best stones in the world" by Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. The black dragon curves its body and raises its head, as if slowly swimming in the stream, vivid and lifelike. However, due to the blockage of the Dragon-Locking Bridge, the black dragon cannot drill into the Nine Dragon Pool on the left and can only wait here for the right moment to arrive.

The Nine-Bend Bridge in front of us on the left has nine bends, like a jade belt floating on the water, and follows the九曲 (nine bends) of the water surface, with the aesthetic beauty of a "winding path leading to a secluded spot," which is a unique aesthetic taste in landscape gardening art. The Nine-Bend Bridge is 40 meters long, connecting the Nine Dragon Avenue on the right and the entrance and exit for motor vehicles on the left. After finishing the tour of the scenic area, tourists who return first can enjoy the scenery and leisurely wait on the Nine-Bend Bridge.

[Nine Dragon Avenue] Tourists, upon entering the gate, we are greeted by a long scroll featuring nine dragons, which is 95 meters long. The number "95" symbolizes imperial authority (because 9 is the largest among odd numbers, ancient people believed it to be the "extreme of yang numbers," representing the utmost greatness; 5 is in the center among odd numbers, representing central harmony; when combined, 9 and 5 symbolize the supremacy and centralization of imperial power). The long scroll depicts nine divine dragons, with the first being Liu Bang, the founder of the Western Han Dynasty, and the second being Zhu Yuanzhang, the founder of the Ming Dynasty. The remaining seven divine dragons may very well be hidden among you, because our place is called "Huangcangyu," and generally, people of great wealth and nobility are like "divine dragons whose heads are seen but tails are not," and perhaps someone among you will leap over the dragon's gate and soar into the sky in the future. (The nine divine dragons on the long scroll are depicted vividly, some coiling and wriggling, playing with pearls in the waves, some raising their heads and bodies, swallowing clouds and exhaling mist, each one jumping and moving with lifelike detail.)