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Mouchou Hu (Mouchou Lake)This lake is named after Lu Mochou, a woman of the Southern Qi Kingdom (479-502), who is supposed to have lived here. It is just outside the line of the western wall of the old city and has been a famous scenic spot at least since the Song. It is said that the first Ming emperor played chess here with his general Xu Da in the Winning Chess Hall, though presumably the present building of the name must do no more than commemorate the alleged event.
After 1949 the area was rejuvenated and is said to have become the city's most admired park, though it may not be everyone's cup of tea. Various buildings are grouped along the southern shore of the lake, rockeries have been constructed, and a statue of Lu Mochou now stands in the middle of a pond in one of the courtyards (fig. 5.75). A wide range of traditional Chinese garden plants has been established, including bananas, lotuses, snowball trees, Paulownia fortunei, various crabapples, Wisteria sinensis and flowering peaches.
Owing to its popularity this park exhibits the well-worn look which is so often the lot of such places. And from time to time it falls victim to the vagaries of taste. When I visited it, a subsidiary lake, with water so enriched that it was completely covered by floating weeds, had clusters of red and yellow umbrellas distributed over its entire surface. I suspect that, with its auspicious colours, this expression of creativity received much approval.
Photo above: Umbrellas arranged on the weed-covered surface of a pond, Mouchou Lake, Nanjing.