Wulongtan in Renqiu

Wulongtan in Renqiu

About ten li north of Renqiu City lies a small village called Wulongtan. This village still circulates an interesting story.

In the early Tang Dynasty, there was a wealthy man named Wang in Sanhu Village. He had a son and a daughter only after turning fifty. Having children at such an advanced age naturally made him very happy. In no time, his son got married, and his daughter Fengxian also grew into a young woman. One day, the aunt and niece went to the village pond to wash clothes. Fengxian noticed something colorful floating in the water—green, red, yellow, white, and black—resembling a peach, and it was very beautiful. The aunt and niece fought over who could take a closer look, both enchanted and unwilling to let go. The aunt claimed it was an immortal peach that would grant eternal youth if eaten and urged Fengxian to try it. Fengxian refused, and they argued back and forth until finally, Fengxian ate it.

The incident passed without further thought—the aunt and niece assumed it was just a wild fruit that had ripened and fallen into the water. No one gave it much thought. But not long after, Fengxian began to feel unwell and realized her belly was growing bigger day by day. She was terrified. For an unmarried young lady from a reputable family to be pregnant—what would people say? Her father was a proud and highly status-conscious man. What would he do if he found out… Eventually, the truth couldn’t be hidden, and when her father did find out, he flew into a rage and insisted on burying Fengxian alive. Her sister-in-law, extremely worried, quickly sought their father to plead for Fengxian’s life. After much persuasion, the old man, to save face, agreed to dig a cellar outside the village to hide Fengxian, with her sister-in-law bringing her meals every day. Out in the wilderness, the wind howled against the cave roof, and the distant howls of stray dogs echoed through the air. None of what was happening could be explained even by Fengxian herself. She felt wronged and spent her days in tears, her drops falling into the cellar. Months passed slowly, and Fengxian finally reached her due date. But what she gave birth to were not human babies but five little dragons, each a different color. Only then did Fengxian realize that what she had eaten wasn’t an immortal peach, but a dragon egg—and she was carrying dragon offspring. The five baby dragons were obedient from birth, neither crying nor fussing, nestling in their mother’s arms and drinking sweet milk.

The little dragons grew day by day, becoming lively and playful, yet no one knew what had happened in the cellar. One day, the little black dragon was playing outside when he saw an old man passing by. Frightened, the little dragon let out a strange cry, which startled the old man so badly that he fainted on the spot. When the old man regained consciousness, he found his daughter Fengxian kneeling before him, tears streaming down her face. After Fengxian recounted everything—from eating the dragon egg by the pond to giving birth to the little dragons—the wealthy man realized he had wronged his daughter. And when he saw the five lively and adorable little dragons, he was overwhelmed with a mix of sorrow and joy.

After Wang the wealthy man left, Fengxian said to the little dragons, “Children, that old man you just saw is your grandfather. You must never behave disrespectfully again.” Then she told them the story of the dragon egg and all that she had been through. The five dragons grew even fonder of their kind mother and their good-hearted aunt. The dragons expressed a desire to visit their aunt with their mother, but Fengxian smiled bitterly and said, “You five are all like this—if your aunt sees you, won’t she be frightened?” Before she could finish, the five dragons transformed into five handsome young men.

The family visited relatives and friends. On their way home, the white dragon said to his mother, “You’ve walked quite a long way and must be tired. Let us carry you!” So they revealed their dragon forms and carried their mother as they soared through the clouds, flying swiftly. Along the way, they suddenly spotted a auspicious cloud drifting from afar. It was a heavenly messenger delivering the Jade Emperor’s decree to summon the Dragon Mother back to heaven. It turned out that Fengxian was originally the Dragon Mother but had offended the Heavenly Jade Emperor and was banished to the mortal realm. At the time, the area around Sanhu Village was covered in water, so she descended into the home of Wang the wealthy man in this village. Now that her term was up, she was to be recalled to heaven, while the five dragons were to remain in the human world permanently.

The five dragons continued to bring rain and aid the people during their time on earth, performing many good deeds. As they spent most of their time living and eating outdoors, over time, the cellar gradually turned into a pond. Later, people renamed the village Wulongtan (Five-Dragon Pool).