The City of Springs

I went to Jinan as an English teacher at the end of August 2008. I intended to stay there for a year, but it was shortened to be a month. Nevertheless I managed to discover some of its interesting historical and cultural background.

I had never heard the name of the city until I got this job. The survey I did said that Jinan is the capital of Shandong province in north-eastern China. It's located in the western part of the province and borders Liaocheng to the southwest, Dezhou to the northwest, Binzhou to the northeast, Zibo to the east, Laiwu to the southeast, and Tai'an to the south.
Because of its location, Jinan falls within the warm temperate continental monsoon and therefore has four seasons. It's dry and rainless in spring, hot and rainy in summer, crisp in autumn, then dry and cold in winter. I arrived in Jinan at the end of August when the weather was still hot with little bit of rain. I left the city when it has started to get cold at the end of September and before I had a chance to explore all of its districts.

The city has five districts (Lixia, Licheng, Shizhong, Tianqiao, and Huayin). It is 8.227 square kilometers in size and has a population of 5.49 million people including 2.54 million urbans. I lived and worked in an English school in Licheng district. I felt that it wasn't a very nice place to live. It's alright execpt for some garbage piling up on the street, unpleasent smells that sometimes came to my nose, and the high level of dust. The only things I liked about Jinan were the friendly and honest local people, tourist attractions that were worth visiting, and its interesting historical background.

Jinan is an old city which has been inhabited since more than 4000 years ago. It's also considered as the cradle of the Longshan culture, which was first discovered in 1928. This culture is famous for its pottery making. Some black pottery relics that was found was as thins as eggshells.
The city was split between two states during the Spring and Autumn period (722 BC-481 BC) and Warring States period (475 BC-221BC): the states of Lu in the west and Qi in the east. The Qi state started o build the Great Wall of Qi (Qi Changcheng) accross the Changqing county, which still exists today and opens to tourists. Unfortunately, I didn't have a chance to go there. The Qi Great Wall isn't the only thing that makes this city special. Some notable people in Chinese history and cultufe came from the spring city
First, there's the earliest doctor appeared in the Chinese historical documents and the famous one at that time : Zou Yan (305-204 BC). He was the one who developed the concepts of Yin Yang and the Five Elements (water, fire, wood, earth, wind) in the traditional Chinese medicine. Another famous figure is Li Qingzhao, the most famous female poet in Chinese literature. She was born in Shandong province and lived in Jinan for sometime. We will talk about her further when discussing about Baotu Spring (Baotu Quan). I'm sure there are still others, but I don't have all of their names.

The Jet Spring
Jinan is nicknamed 'the spring city', due to the large number of springs located within the city. Known historically as the 72 Famous Springs (qi shi er ming quan), they are concentrated in the downtown district and flow north to converge in Daming Lake. The number one spring, the must see, and I think the most beautiful is the Baotu Spring (Baotu Quan). 'Baotu' means 'jumping' or 'leaping'. That's why it's also nicknamed the 'Jet Spring'. I think it came from the water which can be seen gushing as if it was boiling. This is because the spring pool is fed by an underwater limestone through three outlets. The water jets are said to have reached up to 26 meters. The water temperature remains stable at 18 degrees celcius throughout the year. My friend Jackie said that the water level is measured everyday and announced on radio and television. That shows how important the spring is to Jinanese today. Actually it has always been from the ancient time.

The Jet Spring has existed since 3500 years ago, dated back to the Shang dynasty (about 1600-1028 BC). It is mentioned in the Spring and Autumn Annals (the official chronicles of the State of Lu) and one of the Five Classics of the Chinese literature, also in the Suijing Zhu (Commentary on the Waterways Classic) compiled by the noted geographer Li Daoyuan during the Northern Wei dynasty (386-534). During his time, the Jet Spring and the adjecent springs formed the source to the ancient Luo River. Today, they are protected by a park, Baotu Quan Kung Yuan. It was created in 1956 and covers an area of 10.5 hectares.
The main spring pool is located at the center of the park. To it's right is a tablet written by the Qing emperor Qianlong (1735-1796) that declares the spring as 'The First Spring Under Heaven (Tian Xia Di Yi Quan). He and his grandfather, emperor Kangxi (1661-1722) visited the spring and left their inscriptions on a big stone.
Other than the stone, the spring is also surrounded by some historical buildings such as the Leyuan Hall from the Song dynasty (960-1125), the Guanlan Pavilion from the Ming dynasty (1368-1644), and the Laihe Bridge (built during the reign of emperor Wanli of the Ming dynasty). On the shore of the main spring stands the Wangheting Teahouse. It is said that emperors used to come and drink tea here during their visits.

The spring has also been a recurring subjects of classic Chinese literature. It has been written by authors such as Zhao Mengfu and Pu Songling. It also houses memorials to the local painter Li Kuchan (1898-1983) and Wang Xuetao (1903-1982) as well as the most notable female poet in Chinese literature, Li Qingzhao (1084-1151). Born in Licheng district in Jinan, she had been interested in literature at young age. Her father was a friend of Su Shi, or known as Su Dongpo, a prominent Song poet. Her poetry later became well-known among Chinese elite society. In 1101 she married Zhao Mingcheng, with whom she shared interests in art collection and epigraphy. They loved poetry and often wrote poems to each other. Her husband then got a job as a government official and they couldn't be togather for awhile. This situation inspired many of her love poems. They also wrote about bronze artefects of the Shang and Zhou dynasties.
When the Northern Song capital, Kaifeng, fell in 1126 to the Jurchen army, Li's house was burned down, so she and her husband had to move to Nanjing. They live there for a year. Zhao died in 1129, and this made Li Qingzhao very sad. She was never recovered. This also changed her poetry style. Her earlier works portrayed her as a woman of high society who was full of life and vitality. After she lost her husband, they changed to be more solemn and depicted her as a grieving woman who was even 'too lazy to comb her hair'. A section in the Baotu Spring Park is dedicated to her. Inside, I saw some statues depicting the female poet from the young age until her death. Too bad I didn't stay long enough to be able to find out more about her.

Daming Lake
Located in the north-eastern part of the ancient city, this lake was formerly known as the 'Lotus Seed Lake' and the 'West Lake' (not to be confused with the famous West Lake in Hangzhou). It covers an area of 46 hectares, surrounded by temples and teahouses. The name 'Daming Hu' was given during the Jin dynasty (265-420). However, it was not until the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) that the lake took the shape as we see today.
Water from many springs including the Pearl Spring (Zhengzhuquan), the Washing Ying Spring, and the Prince's Residence Pool converges to this lake. It neither rises during the rainy days nor dries out during the drought. Walking along the river banks, I enjoyed the clear water and the beautiful surroundings; pretty flowers combined with artistic rock formations and willow trees. A tourist boat was seen from the distance. I didn't get on it, as I didn't want a boat ride on a chilly day, so I kept on walking.
On the north western bank, I found a temple called the Tie Xuan Temple (Tie Gong). It was built in 1792 as a memorial to Tie Xuan (1366-1402), a military officer in the Ming dynasty era. He was famous for his loyalty to Jianwen, the second Ming dynasty emperor. Tie became an officer responsible for the logistics in Shandong province at the beginning of Jianwen's reign. In 1399, Zhu Di, the emperor's uncle, started a rebellion in Beiping (now Beijing), an event known in history as the Jingnan Incident. The year after, Jinan was surrounded by Zhu Di's army. Tie Xuan and his men tried to defend the city for three months, before he was caught by Zhu Di, who had become the emperor after Jianwen's death. Tie Xuan was brought before the emperor. The brave officer refused to look at the Son of Heaven and stood with his back to the emperor's face. This made Zhu Di really angry and ordered Tie's ears and nose to be cut and boiled, then stucked into the officer's mouth. Because Tie kept on cursing, the emperor had the officer's body cut into pieces and boiled as well. Tie's wife, Mrs. Yang, and his two daughters were sold as prostitutes. His two sons were made into slaves.
A prince from the Ming dynasty, Prince Fu (Zhu Yousong) was impressed by Tie Xuan's loyalty that he gave the title 'Zhongxiang' which means I don't know. It will be interesting to find out.

Quancheng Square
When I returned to Jakarta, the first thing I missed from Jinan was this square. I used to go here a lot, especially after having bad days at the school. This was also the first place I visited after arriving in the city.

Covering an area of 16.96 hectares, it is now a modern top-grade square where ancient and modern culture are mixed togather. At the main entrance, I saw a Chinese flag flowing in the air and a big tablet that says 'Quancheng Guangchang' (Quancheng Square).
The square is located in the city center and this is where the Jinanese hang out. It's always full of people, especially at night. They come here and do lots of activities. I saw a group of children learning in-line skating, some elderly people doing qigong, some others were learning ballroom dancing. Most of the people were just walking around to get some fresh air. It has some interesting features too.

The first thing that caught my attention was a tall big blue monument which is shaped like a woman's body. In the middle there's a large crystal ball, which is called 'the eye of Jinan'. It is considered as the symbol of the spring city. In the center of the square I saw some flower-shaped fountains; one big flower surrounded by eight small ones. At exactly 8 o'clock in the evening, music plays and they spray colorful water that dances with the tunes. It's very beautiful and never fails to attract the crowd.
I was attracted as well, but I may not have a chance to go there again. Quancheng Square was where it all began and ended. This was where I took my first and last walk in Jinan.