|
 Black
Dragon Pool is situated
at the foot of Longquan
Hill in the northern
outskirts of Kunming, 17
kilometers from the
downtown area.
Surrounded by towering
old trees and bamboo
groves, the pool has
never got dry even in
the years of drought.
Legend goes that there
used to be ten violently
destructive dragons
doing wrong in the
world. About 750 A.D.,
Lu Dongbin, a famous
Taoist priest in the
Tang dynasty, suppressed
nine dragons and left
the tenth, a black
dragon, remained in the
pool. Hence the name
Black Dragon Pool.
Came into being in 1394,
Black Dragon Pool is
divided into two parts
by a stone bridge. The
color of the water in
the south pool is green
and the north yellow.
Although the water of
these two parts meets
each other, fish in one
pool never visits the
other one.
There are two Taoist
temples in Black Dragon
Pool, the lower one is
Black Dragon Palace and
the upper Longquan
Temple. The Black Dragon
Palace was first built
in 1394 during the Ming
dynasty. Enshrined in
the temple are the
Dragon King, god and
goddess of thunder, god
of rain and god of wind.
Built in a two-courtyard
structure, it provides a
quiet and comfort place
for relaxation.
Longquan Temple is a
restored Ming dynasty
temple, which used to be
the largest Daoist
(Taoist) center in
southwest China. The
temple, perched on a
hillside overlooking the
pool, is built on three
levels. The first
contains many famous
ancient trees in its
courtyards, in which a
Tang dynasty plum tree,
over 1000 years old, is
the most famous one. The
second level building
now serves as an art
gallery and the top
level is a restored
temple building. Main
buildings in Longquan
Temple include
Thunder-Lightning-Deity
Hall, the Hall of the
North Pole, Sanqing
Hall, the Hall of the
Jade Emperor and some
other halls for
worshipping Daoist
immortals.
Besides, the Black
Dragon Pool owns the
greatest plum garden in
China, in which over 87
kinds of plums were
planted. |
