Tōnghǎi

Tonghai lies beside Qilu Lake, beneath the wooded slopes of Xiushan. Roads converged here from the north and south, making the town a stopping place for merchants crossing Yunnan. The Yuan established Tonghai County, and under the Ming it became part of Lin'an Prefecture. Above the town, temples and pavilions were built among the trees of Xiushan. The highest of these buildings, Yongjin Temple, took its name from the mountain's resemblance to a golden lotus rising from the ground. Founded in the Song period and rebuilt under the Yuan and Ming, it drew Buddhist followers from across central and southern Yunnan. Its halls and the old trees around them gave the hill a religious life overlooking the lakeside town.