Mapao Spring

Mapao Spring

Mapao Spring is located at the northwest foot of an artificial hill east of the Li Qingzhao Memorial Hall in Baotu Spring Park, Jinan, Shandong. The spring water flows into a stream, blending seamlessly with the hillside, and winds around the north side of the hill before flowing into the East Luo River. The Mapao Spring Pool actually consists of two springs, the other being “Qianjing Spring,” which is listed in the Jin Dynasty’s Inscription of Famous Springs, the Ming Dynasty’s Poems of Seventy-Two Springs, and the Qing Dynasty’s Record of Seventy-Two Springs.

The spring pool has an irregular shape, slightly rectangular, measuring over 12 meters in length and more than 5 meters in width. The pool’s edge is built with weathered limestone rocks, featuring undulating and staggered contours. The spring water flows out from crevices in the rocks, meandering along a small stream at the bottom of the pool toward the northeast, eventually draining into the moat (West Luo River). Surrounded by rugged rocks and shaded by green trees, the spring pool presents an exceptionally elegant and charming scene.

The name of the spring originates from a legend: during the late Northern Song Dynasty, a Jinan general named Guan Sheng valiantly fought against the invading Jin troops and died a heroic death. His horse, in grief and rage, pawed at the ground and caused a spring to emerge. It is said that in the third year of the Jianyan era of the Southern Song Dynasty (1129), when Jin forces marched south and reached Jinan, the city’s governor Liu Yu, fearing for his life, planned to surrender the city. However, his general, the broadsword-wielding Guan Sheng, strongly advocated resistance. Leading his troops, Guan Sheng repeatedly defeated the Jin army, but was ultimately killed under a combined assault by the Jin forces and Liu Yu outside the western gate of Jinan. Upon seeing his master fallen, Guan Sheng’s horse let out a mournful cry, pawed the ground frantically with its front hooves, and unearthed a clear spring—this is the origin of Mapao Spring.