The Sagas of Qinghai Lake
The
legend of Qinghai Lake I
Qinghai Lake was originally a divine spring. Long ago, Monkey
King stole peaches from the God, which irritated him much. Then
the Erlang Immortal was sent to catch the monkey. After fighting
with Monkey King for a period, the Erlang Immortal had a rest at
the side of that spring. He put a pot on three white stones to cook
meal. However, he forgot to put the cover on the top of the holy
spring after bringing out some water. Suddenly, the spring burst
into a sea. At that moment, he located a hill on the top of the
spring, which became the Haixin Mount Island in the center of Qinghai
Lake. The three white stones also turned into the islands
in the lake. The lake was salty due to the salt in the meal.
The legend of Qinghai Lake II
Qinghai Lake is located at the boundaries of Gangcha, Haiyan,
Gonghe, and Tianjun County, Qinghai Province. The altitude is 3196m
and the whole area is 4583sq km. It is the largest endorheic lake
and salt-water lake in China. Its voluminous and misty scenery likes
a tear on the surface of the earth. Long ago, it was said to be
grassland rather than a lake. There was a spring with a stone board
cover on the top. One day, a woman forgot to put the board back
after getting out water from
the spring. Immediately, the water was pumping out and the grassland
soon changed into sea.
What was surprising, a Buddha and sacred ibis appeared to beat
waves on the water surface. Once they beaten, one floor of waves
retreated. After a while, the water was stopped. The reason was
that the Buddha put a hill on the top of the well. In fact, the
well was a hole connected with sea. From then on, it became a vast
of ocean. It’s said that a wicked fairy was unhappy and threw three
huge stones to the hill, which formed the famous travel spot “Three
Stones”.
Tibetans believe that Qinghai Lake is holy lake, so people always
bless their fortune and happiness there in Tibetan festivals.
The legend of Daotang River
Daotang River, originates from Riyue Mount in the east, flows
more than 40km westward Qinghai Lake. At 638AD, Songtsen Gampo,
the king of Tubo, proposed intermarriage with Tang Dynasty. At that
time, the emperor promised Wencheng Princess to be his wife. In
Jan, 641AD, the princess and followers started the journey for Lhasa
. On the way, the princess missed her hometown very much and her
tears fell down forming Daotang River. Another is that the king
dragon required his four daughters to construct four seas. When
building west sea, the youngest  daughter
needed water from 108 rivers, however, only 107 rivers were available.
As a result, she pulled a water reversely from Riyue Mount,which
formed Daotang River.
The legend of Riyue Mount
Riyue Mountain, named Chiling in the Tang Dynasty, is located
on the southeast of Qinghai Lake. With 3520m altitude, it is called
“the barrier of Qinghai Lake” as it is the only access to enter
Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.  In
Tang Dynasty, the princess Wencheng passed Riyue Mountain and went
for Tibet. In order to enforce determination of entering Tibet,
the princess threw away the divine Riyue Mirrow. From then on, that
place(Chiling) was renamed Riyue Mount.
The legend of Yaochi
Qinghai Lake was Hsi Wang Mu’ s (a Chinese goddess) swimming pool
on Kunlun Mountain, where King Zhou Mu met her for the first time.
The king brought silk and other gifts for the beautiful goddess,
whose beauty and
enthusiasm attracted him very much. Li Shang-yin(a famous poet in
Tang Dynasty) created a poet to memorize this event. The meeting
at Yaochi became a vivid and beautiful legend for thousands of years.
Divine pillar
 On
the west of Qinghai Lake, there is Nianqin Xiageri Mount. It’s said
that Hsi Wang Mu cultivated herself in the grotto of the mount,
where a 3-meter high stone pillar in the middle. It’s the divine
pillar used to support sky. Every summer and autumn, many Tibetans
came to circle Ha’da on the pillar to bless fortune and happiness
in the next year.
Er’lang Grotto
In Tianjun County, there is a stone grotto called “Er’ lang Grotto.
It’s said that the Erlang Immortal was sent by God to catch the
Monkey King and took a rest inside the gotto after fighting with
the monkey for a period.
Proposal of marriage
In Tang Dynasty, Songzan Ganbu sent his prime minister-Lu Dongzan
to propose marriage with Princess Wencheng. At that time, many commissioners
from different nations came for the same proposal. It was a hard
decision for the emperor to choose who would be the husband of his
beautiful and smart daughter. The emperor designed a problem for
the commissioners to solve: the one who could make thread through
tiny holes of walnut-like  wooden
ball would be the successor. The ball was special made with many
curved holes inside. On the second day, some commissioner tried
to blow the thread through hole but failed. Lu Dongzan firstly tied
the thread on the leg of an ant, and then put the ant in the ball.
With the attraction of food outside the ball, the ant walked out
the ball successfully with thread behind. Finally, the emperor decided
to let the Princess Wencheng marry Tibetan King- Songzan Ganbu.
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