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in the capital city in north China.Apart fromthose imitations of the West Lake,there arequite a few buildings and sceneries createdby imitating famous attractions across thecountry.The Clear Ripple Garden is really aselected collection of picturesque views withprofound symbolic purports(Fig.5-01).
Close to the bank on the southeast ofKunming Lake there is a small islet calledthe Phoenix Mound.There stands a PhoenixTower.Emperor Qianlong has a poem,whichreads,"These rocks are imitations of theYellow Mound/on which stands PhoenixTower./Alternating seasons have beenreplaced by long long autumn./Reflectingthe landscape the lake is a mirror".Thispoem proves that the islet is an imitation of theYellow Mound.The Yellow Mound(Fig.5-02)is also an islet.It is small and round,located inthe Grand Canal at the foot of Huishan Hill ofWuxi in Jiangsu Province.There stand templebuildings on the islet from which visitorscould see Huishan Hill,Xisfian Hill andLongguang Pagoda on the top.The PhoenixMound of the Clear Ripple Garden is smalland round in shape and has a pavilion on it.Looking westward across the water visitorscould see the Jade Spring Hill,West Hill andthe Jade Peak Pagoda on its top.The PhoenixMound is highly similar to the YellowMound of Wuxi in terms of shape,locationand environment.
It is clear that the south section ofthe West Causeway has been widenedas if a rectangular island joined the longcauseway here.There used to stand theTower of Clear View.According to EmperorQianlong's poem this tower is a copy ofthe Yueyang Tower at the Dongting Lakeof Hunan Province(Fig.5-03).The name"Clear View" comes directly from a famousarticle titled On The Yueyang Tower byFan Zhongyan of Song Dynasty.
