The legends of Wind, Flowers, Snow and Moon 风花雪月

Dali (Yunnan Province), one of the most attractive cities in China, has been drawing millions of visitors from around the world for many years. It is famous for four scenes- the wind in Xiàguān, the flowers in Shàngguān, the snow on Mt. Cāngshān, and the moon over Ĕrhăi Lake, which is also known as “dà lĭ sì jué”. Their popularity is not only based on the charming sceneries themselves, but also partly formed by the magic stories behind them. This time we are just focusing on the fantastic legends.

The wind in Xiàguān

The cool and strong wind can be experienced effortlessly the moment you arrive in the city. The wind mainly blows from the southwest due to a natural bridge. There are several legends about the wind. One of them goes like this. A long time ago, the princess of Nanzhao kingdom fell in love with a hunter; but their love was strongly opposed by her father, the King. He ordered the enchanter in Luóquán temple to banish the hunter to the bottom of the Ĕrhăi Lake. In order to save her lover, the princess borrowed 6 bottles of wind from Guānyīn, the Buddhist Goddess of Mercy, to blow dry the water in Ĕrhăi Lake. Worrying about her lover, she ran in a hurry. Accidentally, she fell down on the ground and broke 5 of them when she reached the natural bridge. From that time until now, gales still howl all year round.

The flowers in Shàngguān

People living in Shangguan have a special penchant for cultivating flowers. It is said that there were a couple living in Shàngguān. Every time when the husband went to the mountain to chop wood, he would share his meal with an old man dwelling there. Once his wife suffered from a difficult birth, the old man gave him a bead and asked his wife to put it into her mouth. But, his wife dropped the bead on the ground by accident. At that time, the bead changed into a beautiful tree. The flower on the tree was as big as a water lily, and the aroma could be smelt as far away as ten kilometres. This news was heard by the emperor. He wanted to take the tree as his own. So, he then sent his solders there and forced the couple to hand over the tree. The couple could barely stand the oppression from the bureaucracy. They eventually cut down this tree with great sorrow. This flower was later confirmed as the Michelia floribunda.

The snow on Mt. Cāngshān

No matter how hot it is, the snow covering on the top of the Mt. Cangshan never melts away. The white and bright snow is often considered as the top of the four famous scenes. Legend has it that in ancient times, an influx of plague devils crashed into a village and spread diseases. The locals were entangled with their miserable lives. To save the villagers from the devils, a brother and sister went to learn the magic skills from Guānyīn. When they got back, they ousted the plague devils from the village and cooped them up at the top of Mt. Cāngshān. The plague devils were frozen to death. The sister became the Goddess of snow later and stayed there to keep the plague devils from returning.

The moon over Ĕrhăi Lake

It is charming to go boating on Erhai Lake on a clear night. People can greedily enjoy the moon and stars mirrored on the lake. As for the moon, the locals said that a princess living in the heaven palace was attracted by the people’s life on the ground and therefore she came down to a village and tied the knot with a fisherman. So that the locals could be well-fed and well-clothed, she placed her magic mirror at the bottom of Ĕrhăi Lake. The bright light reflected the shoals of fish so fishermen could easily catch them with their nets. Later, the mirror turned into the golden moon on the lake.