Foundry Lake

Foundry Lake

Foundry Lake is situated in Zhuanqianchong within the Cuiyuan Scenic Area of Triangle Mountain. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, Xu Shouhui, also known as Zhenyi (or Zhenyi), leader of the Red Turban Army, was originally from Luotian, Hubei, and started out as a cloth merchant. In August of the 11th year of the Zhiyuan era (1351) under Emperor Taiding of Yuan, he responded to Liu Futong’s call to resist the Yuan Dynasty. Together with Peng Yingyu, Zou Pusheng, and others, he launched a rebellion through the White Lotus Society under the banner of “overthrowing the rich to benefit the poor,” gathering an army of hundreds of thousands (some say a million), and successively captured Hanyang, Wuchang, Anlu, Mianyang (now Tianmen), Xingguo (now Yangxin), Longxing (now Nanchang), stretching from the east in Jiangsu and Zhejiang to the west in Sichuan and Shaanxi.

In Qishui (now Xishui), he was enthroned as emperor, establishing his capital at Qingquan Temple (now the site of the Wen Yiduo Memorial Hall), naming his kingdom “Tianwan” (symbolizing the overthrow of the “Great Yuan”), with the reign title “Zhiping.” Legend has it that in order to consolidate his regime and issue currency, and because the rebel forces had used mountain strongholds as bases—with Triangle Mountain as one of their strongholds—they chose this valley to build furnaces and smelt copper for minting “Zhiping Tongbao” coins. Hence, the place came to be called “Coin Casting Valley,” and the ruins of the coin casting furnaces still remain (now submerged underwater). In 1969, a dam was built to impound water, creating “a serene lake amidst towering gorges,” turning it into a “Lake Erhai” of Triangle Mountain, hence the name “Foundry Lake.”

Covering an area of about 7,000 square meters with a capacity of 60,000 cubic meters, Foundry Lake boasts crystal-clear waters and a mirror-like surface. On the lake, there are pavilions, bamboo rafts, rowboats, and fishing platforms. Along the lakeside, there are bamboo walkways, hiking trails, vine-covered paths, orchards and vegetable gardens, poultry and livestock pens, bamboo cottage villas, parking plazas, as well as stone tables, stone chairs, and bamboo fences.

Ripples of lake light reflect the mountain hues; bamboo cottages nestle gracefully by the water and sky.