page_title: West Lake
section_title: Ming dynasty
hierarchical_section_title: West Lake / History / Ming dynasty
caption_attribution_description: English: Three Pools Mirroring the Moon in West Lake, Hangzhou, China.
context_page_description: West Lake is a freshwater lake in Hangzhou, China. It is divided into five sections by three causeways. There are numerous temples, pagodas, gardens, and artificial islands within the lake.
  West Lake has influenced poets and painters throughout Chinese history for its natural beauty and historic relics, and it has also been among the most important sources of inspiration for Chinese garden designers. It was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2011, described as having "influenced garden design in the rest of China as well as Japan and Korea over the centuries" and reflecting "an idealized fusion between humans and nature".
context_section_description: In the later Yuan Dynasty and beginning of the Ming Dynasty, people attributed the collapse of the Southern Song Dynasty to the West Lake, because the upper class and emperors indulge themselves into the melody and wine with the sceneries of the lake. Therefore, people and the govern's didn't want to make it clean and thriving in case that this kind of thing happened again. But later in the Ming dynasty, Hangzhou began to restore its prosperity in the Xuande and Zhengtong eras (1426–1449). Then, the local government kept a close watch on West Lake. In the 16th year of the Hongzhi era (one source suggests it was the 3rd year of the Zhengde era) the then governor Yang Mengying (楊孟瑛), with the support of special envoy Ju Liang (車粱), obtained approval to dredge the lake, despite much resistance from local magnates. This project was funded by the Engineering Department. The West Lake Visit Guide (西湖游覽志) recorded, "The work commenced in February... It took 152 days, and 6,700,000 men at a cost of 23,607 silver taels, and the removal of 3,481 acres of illegal fields... Thus, West Lake was restored to its image in the Tang and Song dynasties." The dredging project extended the water surface from west of Su Causeway to Hongchun Bridge and Mao Jia Bu. The excavated silt was used to broaden Su Causeway, and also used to build a long causeway in western Inside Lake, called "Yanggong Causeway" (楊公堤).
  Both in the Ming and Qing dynasties, West Lake was dredged several times. The silt dug up was heaped to form two islands in the lake, "Huxin Island" and "Xiao Ying Zhou".
  In 1607, the governor of Qiantang County, Nie Xintang (聶心湯), constructed a circular causeway from south to west outside the Fangsheng Pond of the island "Xiao Ying Zhou", which resulted in a unique view of "Island in Lake, Lake in Island". In 1611, Yang Wanli subsequently built the outer bank, and the whole plot was realized by 1620. Outside the pond were erect three small stony pagodas, called "Three Ponds (or Pools) Mirroring the Moon" (三潭印月; sān tán yìn yuè), which often give also their name to the Xiao Ying island.
caption: Three Pools Mirroring the Moon in West Lake, Hangzhou, China.
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