Historical origin of Jinming pool

The famous parting courtyard in the Northern Song Dynasty, also known as Xichi and Jiaochi, was located outside Shuntian Gate in Tokyo in the Song Dynasty. The site is located in the northwest of Nanzhengmenkou Village in the west of Kaifeng City, southwest of Tucheng Village, east of Luzhuang and southeast of Xicaitun. Jinmingchi was built in 957, the fourth year of Xiande in the Zhou Dynasty after the Five Dynasties, and was originally used to exercise the water army. In Song Taiping's seventh year of rejuvenating the country (982), Song Taizong was lucky enough to study the water war in his pool. During the period of Zheng He, Song Huizong built a temple in the pool, which was the place where the emperor went for a spring outing and watched the water play. The circumference of Jinming Pool is 9 miles and 30 steps, and the shape of the pool is square. There are walls around and many doors. The northwest corner is the water inlet, and outside the back door of the pool is the water gate on the west side of the Bianhe River. The south gate is Lingxingmen, and the south is opposite to the Jinbao Building in Joan Lin Yuan, where colorful buildings are opposite. From the south bank to the center of the pool, there is a giant arch bridge-Xianqiao, which is hundreds of steps long and has a wide deck. The bridge has three arches, namely, "red paint fence shield, lower row of goose pillars", and the middle part rises like a flying rainbow, which is called "camel rainbow". According to Meng Qian Bi Tan, "Jinming Pool was excavated in the first year of Taiping Xingguo in the Northern Song Dynasty (AD 976). The water in the pool comes from Jinshui River, and its former site is in the west of Kaifeng City.

"Nine miles and thirty paces around Jinmingchi, there is a fairy bridge, a bridge deck with three rainbows, red paint rafters, goose pillars in the lower row, and the central Longxing, which is called a hump, is like a flying rainbow. At the bridge head, there are five halls connected with Jinbaolou, which is located in the middle of the water. There are magnificent halls, magnificent pavilions, exotic flowers and rocks, rare birds and animals, docks, warships and dragon boats. Every March, Jinming Pool is full of spring, with peach blossoms, willow green smoke, butterflies among flowers, orioles on trees, and residents of Beijing come out for an outing one after another. Lotus root is also planted in the whole Jinming pond. On rainy nights, people like to come here to listen to the sound of rain beating against lotus leaves. After the rain, everything is fresh and has a new atmosphere, so it is called "golden pool night rain" At the end of the bridge, there is a group of halls, called five halls, which are the living quarters for the emperor's entertainment. There is an "Olympic House" on the north shore, also called Long 'ao. Opposite the five halls, the big dragon boat stops there. North of Xianqiao, near the east bank, there is a waterfront hall facing north, which is a place for banquets for ministers. It is open from March/KLOC-0 to April 8 every year, allowing people to visit. Along the coast, "weeping willows dipped in water, tobacco paved the embankment", and a temporary color shed was set up on the east coast, where the people watched the water show. The environment on the west coast is quiet, and many tourists fish on the shore. The Song Dynasty painting "The Picture in Gold" is a vivid portrayal of winning the bid in this regatta at that time, depicting the regatta scene in the Royal Garden of the Capital of Song Dynasty. Poets in the Northern Song Dynasty, such as Mei, Wang Anshi and Sima Guang, all have poems praising American dollars. Jinmingchi has beautiful scenery and magnificent architecture. It is one of the "Eight Scenes of Kaifeng" in Ming Dynasty and is called "Night Rain in Jinchi". After the flood in the fifteenth year of Chongzhen in Ming Dynasty (1642), the pond garden was completely annihilated.