Qīngyuàn

Qingyuan was the county seat of Baoding, an important city on the plain southwest of Beijing. Within its walls lay the Lotus Pond, a garden of water and pavilions begun in the thirteenth century. Rebuilt under the Ming after earthquake damage, it offered a place of quiet amid the offices and barracks of the city.

Baoding became the seat of a Ming prefecture in 1368 and later the provincial capital of Zhili under the Qing. The governor-general's offices and troops gave the city an important administrative and military role. In 1733 Governor-General Li Wei founded the Lotus Pond Academy, where scholars studied beside the garden. The academy became a leading institution of learning in Zhili, adding to a city already home to prefectural and county schools.