Baoding's ancient lotus pond is located on Yuhua Road in the city center. According to the records, the ancient lotus pond was built in the Yuan Dynasty and has a history of 800 years. I grew up in Baoding and am no stranger to the ancient lotus pond. Before the Cultural Revolution, the teacher took us to the lotus pond. I remember that at that time, the Children's Palace in Baoding was in the direct library of the lotus pond, and many students came to the Children's Palace every afternoon after school. The teacher said that the Children's Palace should organize a summer camp every summer vacation, and select students with excellent character and learning to participate. I hope you study hard and strive to participate in summer camp. At that time, the summer camp was completely free, and the students were together, carrying out various scientific experiment activities during the day and participating in the bonfire party in the evening, which was the envy of many children. Unfortunately, it didn't take long for the Cultural Revolution to begin, and our dreams of attending summer camps were shattered.
What impressed me was that in addition to the Children's Palace, that is, the Direct Library, there was a row of houses on the west side, and I didn't know what it was called. What I mean by "impressed" is that during the Cultural Revolution, there was a long-term "rent collection" clay sculpture exhibition held there, mainly to expose how liu Wencai, a large landlord, used rent collection to exploit the peasants. Now, some people are upset with Liu Wencai, saying that Liu Wencai is a great benevolent person, and there is no water prison or the Joy Building for playing with women. The "rent collection institute" may be exaggerated, but Liu Wencai is by no means a great benevolent person. Liu Wencai did have his own person, and was the younger brother of the Sichuan warlord Liu Wenhui. The real Liu's Manor is located in Anren Town, Dayi County, Sichuan Province, covering an area of more than 100 acres, with a construction area of up to 21,000 square meters, and more than 180 houses, which shows its scale.
During the Cultural Revolution, the ancient lotus pond had no one to open the door, and of course there were no tickets. Every time we went to the lotus pond, we almost always walked along the monument corridor. This monument corridor is very long, from the doorway to the north side of the lotus pond and then to the west, all the way to the exhibition of the rent collection yard. Next to the wall are the stele stones, and on the other side are wooden seat railings, where visitors can sit down and rest at any time. The stele gallery collects more than 140 inscriptions (squares), including calligraphy stele stele, emperor's imperial poetry stele, singing ancient lotus pond and Dezheng stele. At that time, we were young and did not understand the value of these inscriptions. Fortunately, these inscriptions have not been destroyed and have been preserved in basic integrity.
Of course, the most famous of the ancient lotus ponds is the Lotus Pond Academy. On November 22, 1952, Chairman Mao Zedong visited the lotus pond for a new visit. He said: "The reason why Lotus Pond is famous is that Lotus Pond Academy is famous, and Lotus Pond Academy can be called the crown of national colleges in the late Qing Dynasty." Lotus Pond Academy is located on the south side of the ancient Lotus Pond and is a two-story ancient building with a wooden structure. During the Cultural Revolution, the academy was unmanaged, and we often visited this building. Standing in front of the window on the second floor, the lotus pond can be said to have a sweeping view. In the summer, we swim in the lotus pond; in the winter, we skate in the lotus pond.
Speaking of swimming, we are mainly in the northeast corner of the lotus pond, where the water is relatively deep; and the rockery is very close to the water, you can climb to the rockery and jump into the water. My own endurance is poor, and I don't swim far, but I can't compare with children who dive and stab fiercely. In the deep pool of the Baoding City swimming pool, I dared to climb to the jumping platform and jump down. Of course, the water of the lotus pond could not be compared with the pool, but swimming was still OK. After swimming in the lotus pond, there is no place to rinse, so I can only take my wet pants home and wash them again.
It's even more interesting to talk about skating in a lotus pond. Skating, first of all, there are skates, but at that time the family is poor, can not afford to buy skates, we made our own skates. The so-called homemade skates are under two wooden boards about the length and width of the feet, installing two thick iron wires, and then filing several ditches in front of the wires, and tying them to the shoes with ropes when wearing them. At first, we couldn't stand on the ice with those skates tied on, so we could only support each other and walk on the ice little by little. Some bad boys take advantage of the fact that others are not paying attention, and deliberately push the little friend who is supporting them down on the ice. Of course, the one who was pushed down was not willing, and he got up and pushed him down again. It was in this kind of laughter and play that we slowly learned to skate.
The stars and shadows turned, the sun and the moon shuttled, and decades passed in a flash. Today's ancient lotus pond, still with its long history, long culture, charming scenery, gorgeous pictures, affects the feelings of countless literati and tourists at home and abroad, driving them to flock to.