Jiuhua Lotus Mountain

　　Jiuhua Lotus Mountain is located in Nangongyingzi, Harqin Left Wing Mongolian Autonomous County, Chaoyang City, Liaoning Province. It is named after the nine springs that flow from the mountain. This mountain was the backyard garden of the "Prince’s Mansion," and it is said to be buried with great treasures.

　　It stands at an altitude of 758.7 meters. The mountain stretches from northeast to southwest, situated on the north bank of the Da Ling River. Its northeastern end lies in Zhu Zhangzi Village, Pingfangzi Town, while its southwestern tip is near the railway bridge at the junction of Xicun in Nangongyingzi Town and Shanwanzi Village in Pingfangzi Town. When you’re within the mountain, apart from the exposed cliffs, lush forests, and brushwood, there isn’t much that seems remarkable. But viewed from afar, the mountain resembles a blooming lotus, with nine springs distributed across its beautiful waist like lotus leaves. The springs overflow naturally, forming several small streams on the mountain that nourish the red flowers and green grass, irrigate the crops in the fields below, and are even scooped up by villagers to cook with when they flow into the villages. When the springs eventually seep into the ground, people say they stop to linger, captivated by the beauty of Lotus Mountain. Even today, several springs still flow on the mountain—spring water feeds peach blossom floods that nourish farmland and relieve spring droughts, while in summer, the streams irrigate thirsty seedlings.

　　Speaking of Jiuhua Lotus Mountain, there is a local legend: on the mountain lies a crescent-shaped pool where, hundreds of years ago, a sacred lotus bloomed every night, radiating a soft, bright moonlight. That’s why the mountain was also called Jiuhua Lotus Moon Mountain. But why did the moonlight and the lotus in the moon pool disappear? The legend begins here—

　　Back then, Emperor Kangxi, disguised, traveled north and arrived at the foot of Jiuhua Lotus Mountain, in the territory of the Harqin Left Wing Banner. He stayed at the Prince’s Mansion at the foot of the mountain. The prince was overjoyed by the imperial visit. During the evening meal, he summoned his most beautiful maidens to dance for Emperor Kangxi. Suddenly, one maiden swayed and nearly fell, causing Emperor Kangxi to startle and fix his gaze on her. The prince seemed to understand and, when the emperor retired after bathing, a weeping maiden appeared by the bedside—sent by the prince to accompany the emperor for the night. Recognizing her as the dancer who had nearly fallen, Emperor Kangxi asked her name. She replied, “I am Lotus. The prince forced me to be a dancing girl, and now I am pregnant. I beg Your Majesty for mercy.” Emperor Kangxi then ordered his guards to escort her back to her quarters.

　　Emperor Kangxi returned to the capital and soon forgot the incident, but word had already spread there. One night, he summoned the Minister of Astronomy and asked which crown prince would succeed him. The minister, knowing the prince had sent a dancing girl for the emperor but unaware she had been sent away, pretended to study the stars and said, “The true Son of Heaven comes from the Mongol banner in the northeast!” The emperor was shocked and unsure how to respond. The astronomy minister then suggested bringing the one-month-old son born to Lotus into the palace, declaring him the crown prince, bringing him to court daily, and giving him a dragon throne—to gradually disperse his imperial aura. As the young prince grew up in the palace, he was made the Prince of Zhang. Following the astronomy minister’s plan, the emperor ordered the Prince of Zhang to lead troops from 48 Mongol banners of the Northern Pass to suppress the rebellion of the Dzungars upstream of the Yellow River, hoping he would die in battle and eliminate the threat. However, the Prince of Zhang survived two major battles and returned in triumph. Fearing his plot would be exposed, the astronomy minister once again targeted the prince, persuading the emperor to send him to campaign in the Western Frontier. Secretly, the minister bribed the Ministry of War to withhold supplies and reinforcements, leaving the prince surrounded, suffering heavy losses, and ultimately dying in battle.

　　After the Prince of Zhang’s death, the astronomy minister volunteered to oversee the funeral to dispel suspicion from the Prince’s Mansion. Once approved, he led a procession to Jiuhua Lotus Mountain to bury the prince. When he saw the mountain, the minister felt a pang of unease, thinking, “This must be the mountain that produced such talent for the Mongol banner. Perhaps a true dragon will rise here.” So he ordered the prince buried deep in the moon pool of the mountain, aiming to sever the dragon’s vein and end the princely lineage. The prince was buried deeply in the moon pool, and his birth mother—the dancing girl Lotus—also took her own life. Since then, the moon pool became a graveyard, the moonlight faded, and the beautiful lotus vanished. Later, the Zasak Prince’s Mansion was rife with power struggles over succession. Taxes and military conscription increased, leaving locals hungry and cold.

　　No one knows how many years passed this way until the Five-Star Red Flag rose over Tiananmen in Beijing, and the people under Jiuhua Lotus Mountain finally lived happy lives. Entering the 21st century, tremendous changes took place around Jiuhua Lotus Mountain. In transportation, the Weitai Railway Line and National Highway 306 pass through the area. With one hundred million tons of limestone reserves on the mountain, the county built a cement plant here with an annual output of 40,000 tons, and the town sells 40,000 tons of limestone to the Jianchang Cement Plant every year. Down the mountain are fruit orchards, with Fuji apples selling for over a yuan per jin, providing farmers with significant income. In the 1980s, Qijianfang Village built a pond dam at the foot of the mountain for water storage, and in 2003, Xicun constructed a water cellar with a capacity of 150 cubic meters in the mountains to combat drought. The small town at the foot of the mountain has begun to take shape.

　　Source: Tourism Bureau of Harqin Left Wing Mongolian Autonomous County