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The Ancient Ferry for Giving Farewell Song and Dance (踏歌古岸)
The Ancient Ferry for Giving Farewell Song and Dance is composed of two tourist attractions: the Pavilion on the Bank of Farewell Song and Dance and the East Courtyard Ferry, where Wang Lun, the local magistrate, along with the villagers, waved goodbye to the great poet Li Bai (701-762, one of the greatest poets in the Tang Dynasty).
It is said that during the reign of Emperor Tangxuanzong (712-756) of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Lun, a local squire in Jingxian county, had long been an admirer of Li Bai. On hearing that Li Bai was going to travel around southern China, he was so excited as to write a letter to the poet, saying “Are you fond of beautiful scenery, mister, because we have ten miles of peach blossoms. And are you fond of drinking, mister, because we have ten thousand pubs" (先生好游乎？此地有十里桃花；先生好酒乎？這里有萬家酒店). Li Bai was so pleased that he came to Jingxian county, but only to find neither peach blossoms nor pubs. Wang Lun told him the truth: the “ten miles of peach blossoms” referred to the ferry called “Ferry of Peach Blossom” (十里桃花者，桃花渡也), and the “ten thousand pubs” was actually only one pub whose owner’s first name was “Wan” (In Chinese, “wan” shares the same pronunciation with “ten thousand”) (萬家酒店者，乃店主姓萬). Amused and touched by Wang Lun’s humor, the villagers’ hospitality and the natural beauty of the Peach Blossom Pool, Li Bai established a deep friendship with Wang Lun. After a few days, when Li Bai had to leave, Wang Lun and all the villagers walked him to the ferry, singing and dancing. Li Bai was so moved that he wrote the famous poem “To Wang Lun”: "I’m on board, and we’re about to sail off, when there’s dancing and singing on the shore. Peach Blossom Pool is a thousand fathoms deep, yet not as deep as Wang Lun’s love for me.”
In memory of the firm friendship between Li Bai and Wang Lun, people named the ferry as the Ancient Ferry for Farewell Song and Dance, and in Ming Dynasty, locals built the Pavilion on the Bank of Farewell Song and Dance by the ferry. The Peach Blossom Pool, along with the story and the poem, earns its reputation around the world as the pool of friendship and affinity.
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