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Built around 1725,the
third year of Emoeror Yongzheng's reign,on the three isles
in the middle of the Fuhai Lake,it was commonly known at that
time as Penglai Island and renamed Immortal Abode on Penglai
Island in the early years of Emperor Qianlong's reign.According
to Records of the Historian,Qin Shihuang(reigning 221-210BC),the
first emperor of a united China,longed for an eternal life
.Alchemist Xu Fu told him that there were three holdy islands-Penglai,Fangzhang,and
boys on a voyage to search for these place and an elixir of
eternal life.
The immortal Abode on Penglai Island was
landscaped in the image of the painting,"One Poll and Three
Hills"by LiSixun(651-716),a renowned Tang-dynasty painter.At
the height of Yuanmingyuan,the emperor would head a group
of ministers and imperial family members,and stay in the Wangyingzhou(gaze
on the Yingzhou Island) Pavilion on the west bank to watch
the dragon-boat race on the Fuhai Lake,while the empress and
concubines wouls laze and amuse themselves on the Penglai
Island.
The elaborate complexes on the the islands
survived the 1860 fire only to be burnt to the ground in 1870.
In 1985,repair and cleaning word restored
the foundations,embankments and bizarre-shaped stones on the
three islands.as well as the hexagonal Yinghai (Vast Ses)
Immortal Mountain Pavilion on the eastern island,a courtyard
on the weatern island and a winding bridge.
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