Gazing at Snow on the Foolish Stream

Gazing at Snow on the Foolish Stream

Exit through the West Gate of Yongzhou City, cross the Yellow Leaf Ferry to reach Liuzi Street. Behind the street flows a small stream, its waters murmuring as they join the Xiao River. Originally named Ranxi (Ran Stream), it was named after the Ran family who lived there. It’s also said that the stream used to be so muddy, resembling black dye, that it was undrinkable—hence it was also called Ranxi (Dye Stream). In the fifth year of the Yuanhe era of the Tang Dynasty (810 AD), Liu Zongyuan relocated his residence beside the stream and renamed it Yu xi (Foolish Stream). At the confluence of Yu xi and the Xiao River stands a two-arched stone bridge called Yu xi Bridge. The bridgehead features rugged rocks. Xu Xiake, the famed geographer of the Ming Dynasty, once left his footprints here.

Legend has it that ever since Liu Zongyuan settled by Yu xi, he worked together with local residents to build dikes and control the water. Starting from the three sources of Yu xi — Daihua Mountain, Taigu Source, and Xiaotaoyuan — they toiled through dozens of miles of waterways, enduring untold hardships to construct 72 dikes. This act moved heaven itself. From then on, willows and bamboos flourished on both banks, the stream waters turned crystal clear with fish visible, and the stones on the riverbed and along the shores all turned white. The locals joyfully began calling Yu xi the "Jade Port."

Liu Zongyuan wrote poems and essays such as “Ranxi,” “Poems on Yu xi,” and “Preface to the Poems on Yu xi.” In the “Preface to the Poems on Yu xi,” he stated, “Thus I composed Eight Poems on the Foolish [Themes] and inscribed them on the stones of the stream.” The locations where these inscriptions were carved have been lost to time. Yu Qiu (Foolish Hill), Yu Quan (Foolish Spring), Yu Gou (Foolish Ditch), Yu Chi (Foolish Pool), Yu Tang (Foolish Hall), Yu Ting (Foolish Pavilion), and Yu Dao (Foolish Isle) have also mostly faded from recognition due to the passage of time. Yet the scenery of Yu xi remains a draw for visitors. Especially in the deep winter, when snowflakes flurry and water and sky blend into one, with jagged rocks and trees on the western bank and a few lonely wild ducks scattered about, it forms an exquisite painting—a naturally wondrous sight, hence the name “Gazing at Snow on the Foolish Stream.”