The main part of Jinzhong Fuyinyuan Shanmen Memorial Archway is carved from granite and the archway is designed of four columns and three-door type. From far away, the archway is magnificent; at a closer look, it is exquisite. Four carved dragon posts rise straight from the ground, with carved auspicious clouds, mythical creatures and painting of flowers and birds true to life. The centered horizontal inscribed board—“Jinzhong Fuyinyuan” was wrote by the famous calligrapher Lian Deng, with implied meaning of blessing offsprings and flourishing and invigorating. The inscriptions of “feeling thankful” and “paying a debt of gratitude” flank the horizontal inscribed board, making the monolithic architecture look gorgeous and majestic. The whole memorial archway, magnificent and beautiful, is a perfect combination of filial piety.
Shinto, approximately one kilometer in length, was a pathway to communicate with deity in ancient time. As the main road of the royal garden, traditional ceremonial guards such as civil and military officers, statues and stone horses are placed in both sides. With an addition of Four Heavenly Kings and eighteen arhats, the Shinto is powerful and solemn, perfectly integrating with the natural landscape.
Arhat is a saint, who can eliminate all annoyances to reach a nibbanic state, with satisfactory practice and virtue to guide all living creatures to do good turns. According to legend, the Buddha told sixteen arhats to stay in the world, promote Buddhism through the country and benefit all beings to hand down the Buddhist doctrine to generations after the Buddha entered the realm of nirvana.
These collected stories, catalogued by Guo Jujing of Ming dynasty, depicting the practice of filial piety by 24 dutiful sons in past dynasties from different angles, different environments and different experiences, are popular books advocating Confucianism and filial piety in ancient China. The 24 rules of filial piety contain 24 stories: first, conducts of filial piety moving the King of Heaven; second, entertaining the parents with performances; third, feeding parents with deer’s milk; fourth, carrying rice for more than one hundred Li; fifth, heart pained when his mother bit her finger; sixth, obedient to mother with flimsy clothes; seventh, the Emperor sampling the mixture himself to make sure it was neither too hot nor too weak for his mother; eighth, picking up different apparatus; ninth, buring son to support his mother; tenth, selling oneself for burial of father; eleventh, carving wood for worshipping parents; twelfth, spurting spring and jumping carps; thirteenth, taking orange for parents; fourteenth, fan mattress and warm quilt; fifteenth, working as laborer to support mother; sixteenth, crying by the grave when thunder rolled; seventeenth, crying bamboo to produce raw bamboos; eighteenth, lying down on the ice to fetch carp for his stepmother; nineteenth, conjugating tiger to save his father; twentieth, attracting mosquitoes to drink his blood; twenty-first, tasting the dung and worried; twenty-second, never tired of feeding her mother-in-law milk; twenty-third, personally scrubbing his mother's chamber-pot; twenty-fourth, abandoning the officer post to find the mother. Being equipped with art sculpture of “conducts of filial piety moving the King of Heaven”, “lying down on the ice to fetch carp for his stepmother” and “lying down on the ice to fetch carp for his stepmother”, Jinzhong Fuyinyuan allows tourists to attain traditional education of filial piety culture to wash the brain in addition to enjoying a landscape of lakes and mountains.
Jinzhong Lake, formerly named Jinzhong Reservoir, is about 165,000 sq m for the surface area, with the deepest depth of the water 10 meters approximately. The lake consists of three parts and gained the name because of its similarity in form when overlooked. The lake water, converged by surface water and spring water, is clean and sweet, rich in microelement. With mountains surrounding the lake, greeneries green and fresh and the water surface glinting, the whole Jinzhong Reservoir is like an elegant landscape painting.
Legend has it that during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period, a Buddhist temple was invaded. Master Hui Wen fled with other monks by sea to Jiankang. Unfortunately, they encountered a huge storm along the way. The barge pole broke and the boat sank. A giant tortoise suddenly emerged, saved drowning monks from the water, and carried them to Jiankang in no time. Hearing monks whispering Namo Amitabha, the turtle said: "I don't know if masters still remember, I am the turtle you set free in the Admiralty Pond." The establishment of the pond reflects the fundamental principle of Buddhist "charity for all, all flesh are equal", symbolizing the "auspice gathering, wande solemn. " Setting lives free is a high path. With a sincere heart and a strong faith, people will receive rewards for ones' virtuous deeds.
Kwan-yin bodhisattva is a symbol of compassion and wisdom in Buddhism. It possesses a very important position both in Mahayana Buddhism and folk tales. Led by the Kwan-yin bodhisattva, the spirit of compassion is seen as fundamental to Mahayana Buddhism. Equality and selflessness is the ultimate goal of Kwan-yin bodhisattva. When beings encountered any predicaments and pains, if beings extol Kwan-yin bodhisattva with sincerity, bodhisattva will come to rescue.
Ksitigarbha is also known as Dizang Bodhisattva . According to "地藏十輪經", Ksitigarbha is "still as earth, and calm as a deeply buried treasure", therefore Ksitigarbha is also given the name "earth treasure". Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva once received Sakyamuni Buddha 's instruction to stay on earth after Sakyamuni's Nirvana and before Maitreya's birth. Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva was directed to civilize beings who were doomed to sink into hell, including hungry ghosts, animals, asuras , man, and all the other living creatures. And he vowed "I am no Buddha unless the hell is vacant." Sentient beings who extol his name and worship his statue will receive infinite merits of relief.
Herons primarily inhabit at the vicinity of wetlands and neighbor woodlands. They feed on fish, amphibians, insects, and crustaceans. April and November is the seasonal migration period of Herons. During May and July, Herons start breeding. Flocks of herons gather together and build nests. Herons are good at flying. They shrink their necks between shoulders. With a hump-shaped body , feet stretching backwards, herons move with unruffled calm and extraordinary elegance. Ancient Chinese poem Mao Shi Zhou Song describe heron as "fly in air, rest on water" to portray the extraordinary momentum when it flies. Tinged by the blue mountain and green water, herons flutter around in the sky, creating an amazing spectacle
The fountain is located at the center of Admiralty Fuyin Square. It is 22 meters in diameter. 12 vivid statues form a circle around the fountain. 2 statues form a pair: dragon with tiger, pig with snake, and rat with horse . The middle part is a triple-tier lotus-shaped tenement with water spouting out from the stone bead located at the top. Water drops fall upon lotus-shaped tenement, accumulates on the plat. The sound of water drops floats around ears, which augurs good luck and nonstop incoming of wealth.
Maitreya Buddha, also known as future Buddha ---" Jampa " in Tibetan. According to Ji Xianlin's research, " Maitreya " is an abbreviation translated from Tocharian. Its origin can be traced back to Sanskrit. Maitreya Buddha shows off his big round belly and leisurely lies there, barefoot and topless. 5 naughty kids climb up his body, scratch his belly, tickle his feet, and pull his ears. They treat Maitreya as a toy and wantonly horse around with Maitreya . Maitreya Buddha just smiles, free and merry, yet elegant.
12、水杉映彩（The Reflection of Metasequoia ）
水杉（學名：Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & W. C. Cheng）：裸子植物杉科。落葉喬木，小枝對生，下垂。水杉是世界上珍稀的孑遺植物。遠在中生代白堊紀，地球上已出現水杉類植物，並廣泛分布於北半球。冰期以後，這類植物幾乎全部絕跡。水杉有“活化石”之稱。它對於古植物、古氣候、古地理和地質學，以及裸子植物系統發育的研究均有重要的意義。湖心水衫已經有60多年歷史，群生於湖中，與湖中倒影相映成趣，是為難得一見的美景。
Metasequoia (scientific name: Metasequoia glyptostroboides Hu & W. C. Cheng ) belongs to Taxodiaceae Gymnosperms. It is a type of deciduous arbors. Twigs grow in pairs and dangles around. The relict plant Metasequoia is very rare on a global level. Early as Cretaceous period of the Mesozoic era, Metasequoia has already emerged on Earth and widely distributed in the northern hemisphere. After the glacial age, these plants were almost entirely extinct, therefore Metasequoia has a reputation as a "living fossil". It has a significant value in studying ancient plant, climate, geography, and geology, as well as the phylogeny of Gymnosperms. Metasequoia growing in the center of the lake has a history over 60 years. The entire Metasequoia group was born in the lake. Their reflections on the water exist side by side, producing a rare spectacle.
Ardeidae is also known as egret. People categorize them based on their colors into white egret, green egret, grey egret, and grey egret. It belongs to a specific family in ciconiiformes order of aves class, and it is a general term for Ardeidae. Ardeidae are mainly large and medium wading birds, which feed on fingerlings , shrimps, and other aquatic creatures. Egrets are one of the most important species in wetland ecosystem, and also indicators representing the environment quality . Although egrets are no cranes, they possess the similar elegance as cranes. With their graceful movement and docile temper, egrets are widely adorned by beings. Thus egret is a frequent subject of Chinese poem and verse. Almost every dynasties have representative works of it. Poet Du Fu once wrote in his poetry "line of egrets on the sky", which was ranked as a masterpiece throughout ages.
In the Exotic Arboretum grows camphor, Chinese yew, rosewood and other rare and exotic plants. Camphor tree has a special odor, which can be used to expel pest, so it is almost unnecessary to spray insecticide in the arboretum. Camphor tree seeds are rich in oil, and contains over 40% decanoic acid, which is a kind of short carbon bethanath fatty acid with specific functions in medical and nutritional use. Moreover, new oil products made with camphor tree seeds are under research. Chinese yew is the legacy of ancient relic species after the quaternary glacier, and it has a history of 2.5 million years on earth . Chinese yew was designated as rare and endangered plant in China in 1994 , meanwhile it was also considered as "national treasure" by other 42 countries all around the world. The United Nations has expressly prohibited logging of Chinese yew on a global level. The extreme scarcity of Chinese yew almost matches the scarcity panda. The scientific name of Chrysanthemum pear is Dalbergiae rosewood, along with red sandal wood, rosewood , and nagkassar is deemed as four kinds of China's most famous wood. It has long been ranked as one of the five most famous kinds of wood , and it is now national second class protected plant.
Confucius statue which is carved by granite is located on the top of the mountain, and it is18 meters high. Surrounded by trees ,the Confucius has kindly face and fluttering bearded.Hands palms pressed the back of hand, and cross shaped in his chest, which show the feeling of "there is companion come from afar".The core of Confucius thought is "the ritual" and "benevolence", and pays attention to filial piety, and he had put forward "filial piety, MinZiQian’’.People don't have any objection about that his parents and brothers praise him.Father is in, and view the aspiration. Father is out ,and view the behavior. There is no change in the way of the parent in there years,and he is filial piety. "and so on filial piety concept.
Admiralty Fuyin scenic area possess a total area of 4 million square meters It is surrounded by mountains and waters. A place endowed with the fine siprits of the nature, it is equipped with green mountains and clear waters all year round. With birds singing and flowers blossoming, it is mild in weather and pleasant to walk in. The area is covered by primary forest vegetation, with all kinds of trees, such as Omatsu, China fir, Pinus latteri Mason, fokienia hodginsii, Cratoxylum cochinchinense and Ilex rotunda Thunb.There are also all kinds of animals living in it: egrets, grey heron, osprey, owls, pheasant, sparrow, partridge, Phasianus colchicus etc.The scenic area is also rich in cultural atmophere. The statue of Confucius and the 18 arhats stand in it and the 24 Stories of Filial Piety is broadcasted and fountrains are spraying water in the fountain well. The scenic area has a sightseeing path as long as 4km. You can watch the birds, admire the sceneries, shoot photos and walk freely. A mountain-climbing path is also developed on one of the mountains. There are all kinds of plants in the area, giving it enough oxygen and a negative ion concentration of 1800 ions per cubic centimeter, making it the best place for exercise.
金鐘福蔭園
