Source background of Weiming Lake:
Qian Mu, a master of Chinese studies, came to teach at Yenching University in 1930. He was very dissatisfied with the naming of the buildings at Yenching University as "M" and "S" buildings. He believes that such a name has no Chinese flavor at all and should be changed to a Chinese name.
At that time, Yanda held a school meeting specifically for this purpose, so the "M" building was changed to the "Mu" building, the "S" building was renamed the "Shi" building, and the "Beigong" building was renamed the "Office" building. Building and other buildings shall be given Chinese names.
There is also a lake in Yanyuan with beautiful scenery, but it has no name yet. At that time, we decided to give it a name together. But I tried a lot of different names, but I always felt they didn’t fit. In the end, we simply called it "Weiming Lake". This is the origin of today's Weiming Lake in Peking University.
Historical background:
Weiming Lake used to be supplied with water by Wanquan River. The area around Weiming Lake was part of Shuchun Garden in the Qing Dynasty. Qianlong gave the garden to his favorite He Shen. There was a lot of construction here, including 64 pavilions, 357 verandahs and pavilions, and thousands of houses built in one day, which was extremely luxurious. After Heshen was later confiscated, Shuchun Garden changed its owners several times. In the Qing Dynasty, it was an artificial lake in the Shuchun Garden of the Heshen Garden attached to the Old Summer Palace.
In the 1920s, it became part of Yanjing University. The school asked designer Henry Murphy to plan the campus layout. The lake was named Weiming Lake by Qian Mu.
In 1952, Yenching University was administratively abolished, and Peking University moved from the city center to the former site of Yenching University. Since then, Weiming Lake has become part of the Peking University campus.
Extended information:
Characteristics of Weiming Lake:
When people enter from the west gate of Peking University guarded by stone lions, they can see a pair of beautiful scenery not far away The Chinese watch stands in the semi-open space enclosed by the office building and the verandah. Continuing to stroll eastward, no matter which way you enter the garden space with Weiming Lake as the main body, you will feel a sudden sense of openness.
In the entire Yan Garden, Weiming Lake is more like a vast ocean. Under the action of light, the lake surface seems to be anchored with thousands of stars, emitting ever-changing light. From the Weiming Lake, you can see the east You can see the shadow of the lake light tower; you can see the sunset at the Bell Pavilion in the west; you can see the lake and mountains and trees in the south; you can see the shadow of the building in the north. Everything is full of poetry and painting.
Reference: Baidu Encyclopedia - Weiming Lake