The Second Best Spring Courtyard and Stone Carvings

The Second Best Spring Courtyard and Stone Carvings

The Second Best Spring Courtyard and Stone Carvings are a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

The Second Best Spring Courtyard and Stone Carvings are located at Huishan in Wuxi City, Jiangsu Province.

The "Second Best Spring" refers to the spring at the foot of Huishan Mountain. Legend has it that this spring was dug during the Dali era of the Tang Dynasty by Jing Cheng, the then magistrate of Wuxi. It was named Huishan Spring because the monk Huizhao resided there. Huishan is home to nine dragons and thirteen springs, among which the Second Best Spring is the most renowned. The spring is divided into three pools: upper, middle, and lower. The upper pool is octagonal and is the source of the spring, known for having the best water quality. The middle pool is square and is adjacent to the upper pool. According to the *Huishan Record*: “The flowing water is clear and lovely.” Both pools have stone bottoms and are enclosed by bluestone railings. The railings around the upper pool are polished very smooth, especially the parts frequently stepped on, where indentations have formed over nearly a thousand years from people drawing water for tea.

The lower pool is the largest, rectangular in shape, and was dug during the Mingdao era of the Northern Song Dynasty. The pool is about 7 meters long, 10 meters wide, and 0.33 meters deep, situated under the Yilan Hall. On the night of the Mid-Autumn Festival every autumn, the bright moon reflects on the water, creating a natural “Moon Reflected in Two Springs.” The pool wall features a carved stone dragon head from the Hongzhi era of the Ming Dynasty, commonly known as the stone dragon head, which is the first dragon head among Huishan’s nine dragons and thirteen springs. Its style is vigorous and rustic. Spring water flows through the dragon’s mouth into the square pool, evoking the sentiment that “water needs no depth when there is a dragon within.” In front of the pool are Taihu rocks stacked to resemble Guanyin standing on a koi fish, commonly called the Guanyin Rock. To its right is the Dragon Girl Rock, depicted as “gently lifting her emerald sleeve,” and to its left is the Good Fortune Boy Rock, shown as “putting his palms together.” Below the rocks are inscribed four-character inscriptions signed “Huīyán,” remnants from the villa of Gu Kexue, Minister of Rites in the Ming Dynasty, and relocated here during the Qianlong era. Ming Dynasty's Shao Bao recorded: “In the third month of spring, the fifth year of the Zhengde era, the people of Wuxi dredged the springs of Huishan. By the eighth month of autumn, the work was completed, resulting in three pools, two channels, one pavilion, and one hall, while the Three Sages (Zhan Ting, Li Shen, and Lu Yu) Shrine remained above the springs.” On the northern wall of the square pool is embedded a large calligraphic inscription by Wang Shu, an official from the Ministry of Personnel in the fifth year of the Yongzheng era (1727), reading “The Second Best Spring.”

Emperor Gaozong of the Song Dynasty, Zhao Gou, once drank from the Second Best Spring during his southern crossing and later had the Second Best Spring Pavilion built. Its rooftop is adorned with two dragons playing with a pearl, and the plaque reads “Source of Living Water.” Inside the Second Best Spring Pavilion is a stone tablet inscribed with the characters “The Second Best Spring” by Zhao Mengfu, a great calligrapher of the Yuan Dynasty, measuring 0.47 meters in height and 1.70 meters in length. There is also a horizontal tablet, 0.32 meters in height and 2.90 meters in width, engraved with the *Record of the Spring Pavilion Renovation* by Yongjia, a Jinshi scholar of the fourth year of the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty and Vice Commissioner of the Bureau of Civil Affairs; *On the Second Best Spring* by Song Zhijin of the Qing Dynasty; and *Record of the Reconstruction of the Huishan Pavilion and Spring* by Wang Shu. Nearby is the *Record of the Yilan Hall Renovation* tablet, 0.55 meters in height and 1.10 meters in width, written in the 11th year of the Jiaqing era (1806) by Maoqin, the 14-year-old son of Magistrate Yang Run.

Later generations have referred to Lu Yu’s spring evaluation, Su Shi’s poetic inscription, and Wang Shu’s calligraphy as the “Three Wonders of the Second Best Spring.” In 2006, the Second Best Spring Courtyard and Stone Carvings were included by the State Council in the sixth batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units as ancient architecture dating from the Tang to the Qing Dynasties.

Huishan Subdistrict: Huishan Subdistrict administers 9 community committees and 1 family committee: Mianhua Lane Community, Xinglongqiao Community, Wulixincun Community, Sheng’an Yicun Community, Sheng’an Ercun Community, Huichangli Community, Xinhuilu Community, Ronghu Community, Huiquanshan Community, and Huaying Family Committee. … More details about Huishan Subdistrict ++

Further Reading:

· Fourth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Sixth Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units