The place with foaming water, not far from here, is Dragon Spring, also called Dragon Pool. The pristine pool is infinitely deep. Local villagers ever fathomed it with a pole as long as a dozen or so meters, but still failed to touch the bottom despite all their effort. As a drought descended upon Southern China in 1934, Changwu Area (Changzhou along with its Wujin District) suffered so much that myriad rivers went dry and 1,000 mu or more fields cracked open. Instead, the spring water here looked as crystal as usual, but even gurgled endlessly. So, legend says the pool must be connected with the Dragon Palace of the Eastern Sea. As a local ballad puts, “O Dragon Spring rises from the East Sea far away; it tastes sweet and fresh over so many centuries. Like a mother, the spring nourishes all creatures on both sides. All this is ascribed to the Dragon Maiden’s White Jade Turtle.”
“Yin and Yang”, making their debut in I Ching, interpret the provenance of all things including the universe at large. The notion of “Five Phases”, consisting of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire and Earth, sprang into form in The Book of History. The two concepts had not begun to converge until the Warring States Period. This is the origin of Naturalists i.e. the School of Yin and Yang and Five Phases.
This scenic spot, set in a giant black aerolite, epitomizes what yin and yang really mean through Seven Stars of the Big Dipper, Eight Trigrams, etc. The man looking up the sky, in front of the rock, is Zou Yan, a native of Qi State, who is well-known as the best embodiment of Naturalism. Erudite as he was, the grandmaster expounded the cosmic evolution and rise and fall of dynasties applying the doctrine of Five Phases and Yin and Yang. So, he has been called “Yan Talking Celestial Phenomena” as a notable of Jixia Academy. This academy was the earliest institution of higher education and primordial science. According to some scholars, it appeared merely 20 years later than world-famous Plato’s Academy. Legend says, to promulgate his doctrines, Zou Yan toured various countries, being revered by all kings. When he arrived in Yan State in the north, the king in person swept the road for Zou Yan and took him as his own mater. Even sages like Confucius and Mencius had never enjoyed such honour. Obviously, his theory gained overwhelming prevalence during that period.
The best paragon of Agriculturalism was Xu Xing, who asserted himself as a descendant of Shennong. He studied hard agricultural technologies, but proposed the political idea that “lord and his people shall both farm the land”. That most shows his thought of equality between the ruling class and the populace.
Xu Xing leading his disciples worked hard at farming, so that “they’ve received good harvests of five grains, thus leading a well-off life”. Ancient China’s five grains refer to rice, glutinous millet, foxtail millet, wheat and soybean. Between Warring States Period and the Qin-Han Period, the Chinese mainly consumed five vegetables: sunflower, pulse-leaf, leek, scallion and garlic. Those plants mentioned by The Book of Odes amount to 132, including over 20 vegetables. As time went by, some species had faded out of the table.
What pleases the eye to the left is a row of rustic dwellings, which imitate the ancient cottages of the Spring and Autumn Epoch. Owing to the heavy rainfall here, these folk houses, in fact wood structures, had deteriorated with great speed. Within the relics park, there is therefore no such dwelling unscathed till now. What stand the test of time are simply the cities along with moats and numerous antiquities excavated all these years.
In ancient China, this school points to doctors, in particular famous ones like Eastern Han’s Zhang Zhongjing and Hua Tuo, Tang’s Sun Simiao the King of Medicine. Bian Que in the Spring and Autumn Period stood out of these doctors through the ages. Qin Yueren was called Bianque because his superb medicine, in the hearts of the people, matched well the magical doctor in the primeval past.
The sculpture in the center of the square shows how the wondrous doctor took his patient’s pulse. According to The Book of the Grand Historian, Bianque first applied pulse-based diagnosis in clinical treatment. The forefather of Chinese medicine was the first of his kind officially recorded in history. He initiated four diagnostic methods: watching, smelling, asking and pulse-taking. Such tremendous contributions have earned him a niche in history.
