Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake

Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake

Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake

Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake is located at the western end of Bai Causeway, backed by Solitary Hill and facing the outer lake. During the Tang Dynasty, there was a Lakeside Pavilion built here, which was later supplemented with a Dragon King Temple in the Ming Dynasty. It was named Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake during the reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, and it is one of the Ten Scenes of West Lake. A poem by Song Dynasty’s Wang Wei titled “Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake” reads: “A vast expanse of cold light spreads out in a single night; no cloud mars the path of the water wheel. The cool west wind drifts from distant vulture peaks, while osmanthus blossoms dot the jade-like dewdrops.” Whenever autumn arrives with crisp air, the lake surface becomes as smooth as a mirror, and the bright autumn moon hangs high in the sky. The moonlight and lake water reflect each other, creating a scene reminiscent of “a boundless lake glowing under the autumn hues,” hence a stone tablet was erected by the lakeside inscribed with the name “Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake.” A couplet at the “Lake and Sky in One Hue Pavilion” reads: “The vast lake stays smooth as a mirror; the fairest moon shines best in autumn.”

Among the lake stones and rockeries, numerous trees and flowers such as red maples, pomegranates, sweet osmanthus, and crape myrtles are planted, set off by pavilions, towers, halls, and terraces, creating an extremely poetic and picturesque atmosphere. In fact, as one of the Ten Scenes of West Lake, Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake did not have a fixed location during the Southern Song Dynasty. This is evident from the poems and writings of literati from that period, as well as the Yuan and Ming Dynasties, many of which describe admiring the moon from boats on the lake at night, such as the line by Southern Song’s Sun Rui: “The cold moon chills the spring so it freezes and does not flow; where is the boat song drifting on the water?” Ming Dynasty’s Hong Zhanzu wrote: “Autumn boats rise over rippling waves, fairyland towers and pavilions turn to dust in the mirror.” The woodblock prints of the Ten Scenes of West Lake from the Ming Wanli era, which have been passed down through the ages, still depict visitors in boats on the lake looking up at the moon as the main subject in the print of “Autumn Moon over the Calm Lake.”

Located in the western part of the scenic area, the Lake and Sky in One Hue Pavilion was originally part of the heritage of the private villa “Luoyuan” owned by the Jewish tycoon and “adventurer” Silas Aaron Hardoon during the late Qing and early Republican periods. It later became the site of the Ba Yi Society, the cradle of China’s modern woodcut movement. Today, it has been turned into the Xiling Seal Art Society, adding a touch of scholarly elegance to the beautiful lake and mountain scenery.