Arrive at Huoquan Park 🌳

Upon entering the west gate of Dahuquan Park, the first sight that greets the eye is an enormous stone with a reclining ox, its head slightly raised, resting peacefully. Xingtai is also known as the "City of the Reclining Ox," and the spirit of the hardworking and beneficial ox has been integrated into the bloodline of the people of Xing since ancient times, passed down from generation to generation. 🐂 The story of Dahuquan Park cannot be told without mentioning two people: Fotucheng and Guo Shoujing. Fotucheng (AD 232-348) was a Kucha native from the Western Regions. In AD 310, at the age of 79, he arrived in Luoyang to spread Buddhism. However, due to the chaos of the Yongjia period, the imperial capital was in turmoil, forcing him to temporarily hide in the wilderness. In AD 312, he arrived in Xiangguo (Xingtai) and, with the recommendation of General Guo Heilue, met with Shi Le, who held the imperial scepter, and assisted him in establishing the Later Zhao dynasty. Emperors Shi Le and Shi Hu of the two generations treated Fotucheng with great respect. The 323rd cave of the Mogao Grottoes depicts many of Fotucheng's miracles in the form of murals, some of which are related to Shi Le and Shi Hu. Among them, the "Dragon Ridge Spell Water" tells the story of the Tuanwan Spring in Xiangguo drying up. Shi Le asked Fotucheng if he could make the spring water gush forth, so the great monk led his disciples to burn incense and pray in front of the spring. Three days later, the spring water slowly flowed out, and a small dragon, 156 inches long, emerged with the water, soared into the sky, and disappeared. Afterward, the water's momentum increased, filling the ditches. Due to the intermittent flow of the Tuanwan Spring, it was renamed "Dahu" in Fotucheng's native language of the Western Regions. This year, Dahuquan has re-emerged after being dormant for decades, truly living up to its name as the "Spring City of Taihang." It is said that Fotucheng established 893 Buddhist temples in his lifetime, including the Pure Land Temple in Xingtai. He had a disciple named Dao'an, who advocated for monks to adopt the surname "Shi." 🙏 In AD 1000, during the Northern Song Dynasty, Xingzhou Governor Liu Kai planted willows and built pavilions north of Dahuquan, making it a famous scenic spot in the region. 🌳 #SceneryOnTheRoad #UrbanHumanitiesNotes #HiddenGemSociety #RomanticDomesticTravelDestinations #CapturingUrbanHumanities