Longfeng Mountain Scenic Area

　　    Longfeng Mountain is the collective name for Dragon Head Mountain and Phoenix Crying Mountain, located southeast of Linzhou City and right next to the urban area. Before 1992, this was a desolate place, with only a normal school, a martyrs' cemetery, and a breeding farm as the main structures. With the reform and opening-up policy, all industries flourished. In 1992, the Lin County Party Committee and County Government put the development of the Longfeng Mountain scenic area on their agenda, and assigned Deputy County Magistrate Shen Fusheng to oversee the project. After five years of hard work, the Longfeng Mountain Scenic Area emerged before the world in a brand-new look.

　　    The Legend of Dragon Head Mountain

　　    In ancient times, Lin County was once an expanse of ocean, and Dragon Head Mountain was originally a dragon in the sea. Due to geological changes, Lin County turned from sea into land, becoming arid and lacking water. The dragon, unable to drink, lay there exhausted and slept in a daze for hundreds of millions of years. By the Wanli era of the Ming Dynasty, an enlightened county magistrate named Xie Sicong came to Linlu. A native of Ziyang County in Hebei Province, he advocated for the development of water conservancy to solve the difficulties of drinking water for people and livestock. He built a large reservoir at the southern gate of the county town, naming it Fumin Pool, which people also called Xie’s Pool. He also successively dug the Hongshan Canal, diverting spring water from Fanshan into Anqin, and constructed the Taoyuan Canal, channeling water into Fumin Pool. The clear, rippling water was sweet and never ran dry, bringing joy to the local people.

　　    The dragon of Dragon Head Mountain, which had gone without water for many years, wanted to reach its head into Fumin Pool to drink once water became available. It was said that if this dragon could drink from the pool, Lin County would enjoy abundant harvests, long life, and prosperity, and would even produce as many officials as a bushel of sesame seeds. At that time, a foreign missionary discovered this secret, and jealousy arose within him: if Eastern culture were to thrive, how could Western culture continue to deceive the Chinese? He devised a plan to suppress the dragon by building a pagoda to keep it from moving. But as he was not a local, he could not directly build the pagoda. So, he summoned the then-county magistrate to the ancient temple on Dragon Head Mountain, where he engaged in mystification, speaking of feng shui in deceptive terms—saying the opposite of what he meant—to trick the magistrate. He claimed: “The Taihang Mountains to the west of the city are like a tiger, and this mountain, though low, is called Dragon Head Mountain. When a dragon and tiger clash, one must lose—the little dragon will surely be no match for the big tiger. The feng shui and the land’s energy determine that whoever becomes county magistrate here will have a hard time.” When the magistrate asked how to balance the land’s energy, the foreigner said: “Build a pagoda on this mountain to pin down the dragon’s head so it can’t move, thus preventing the dragon-tiger conflict and ensuring everlasting peace.” The magistrate, finding the solution simple, readily agreed. From then on, a pagoda was erected on Dragon Head Mountain. The dragon never got to drink the precious water from the pool, and the feng shui that could have produced a bushel of sesame-seed officials for Lin County was disrupted—instead, it gave rise to a bushel of artisans. Tens of thousands of construction workers leave the Taihang Mountains every year to work in the capital and other parts of the country. What could have been an officialdom hub instead became a hometown of builders.