The Flooding of Jinshan Temple by the White Lady

Jinshan Mountain is proverbially known by the Chinese people. This is where the Flooding of the Jinshan Temple took place in the Legend of the White Snake when Bai Suzhen tried to rescue her husband. Legend has it that a white snake transformed into a kind and beautiful woman called Bai Suzhen through years of practice, she married a young man named Xu Xian and the two lived happily together. When the abbot of the Jinshan Temple, Fa Hai, heard of this marriage, he talked Xu Xian into leaving home and hid him in his temple. Bai Suzhen and Xiao Qing, threw their shoes into the river and cast a spell to turn them into boats, and diverted water from the Donghai Sea. All of a sudden, the outpouring water swept away all the way to the Jinshan Mountain which was then surrounded by shrimp soldiers and crab generals. Fa Hai took off his cassock and turned it into a long-stretching dam to hold back the roaring seawater. Losing the fight, Bai Suzhen and her maid, Xiao Qing, had to retreat. They continued their practice as they waited for a chance to take revenge. When Xu Xian escaped from the temple later, Fa Hai cast a spell to imprison Bai Suzhen beneath the Leifeng Tower by the West Lake. However, Xiao Qing managed to crush the Tower to save Bai Suzhen. Together, they fought Fa Hai who eventually had to retreat to a crab belly. Bai Suzhen and Xu Xian were reunited and lived together happily ever after. This tale has made “Flooding of the Jinshan Temple” a proverb spreading through the ages, known by every Chinese family, even by children. The Jinshan Mountain has since gone down in history.

Jinshan Mountain is located in the northwest of Zhenjiang, only 3 kilometers from downtown. It is 44 meters high and 520 meters in circumference. A temple named after Jinshan Mountain sits on the mountain. Originally built in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, the temple looks as if it is carved on the hill. The temple consists of Hall of Heavenly Kings, Main Shrine Hall, Guanyin Pavilion, Depository of Buddhist Sutras, etc. Historical sites include Cishou Tower, Fa Hai’s Cave, Miaogao Terrace, Lengqie Terrace, and Liuyun Pavilion.