Two kilometers south from Hanjiang to Huangshi, there is a large white pond on the east side of the highway, which is Baitang. Baitang is located between Yangwei, Shangwu and Zhenqian villages, spreading like a huge silver triangle on the beautiful and rich Beiyang Plain. The water area reaches more than 300 acres. "Autumn Moon over Baitang" is one of the twenty-four scenic spots in Putian.
Baitang is the abbreviation of "Baishui Pond" and "Baitanggou". This place was originally a tidal flat. Since the Tang and Song Dynasties, land reclamation from the sea has been used to build fields. Mulan, Sihua, and Shipan waters have been diverted to gather here, gradually turning salty water into light water. This not only benefits from irrigation, but also provides a pleasant sight. As early as the Song Dynasty, Li Fu, a famous scholar who lived in Dongdun, Yangwei, and Li Fu's third son, who lived in Xidun, successively built bridges, pavilions, pavilions and pavilions in the middle of the pond and on the bank, and planted exotic flowers and plants to make Baiyun beautiful. The pond becomes a water park.
Baitang is also known as "Zhuyue Pond". It is close to the water and is suitable for all seasons, but the Mid-Autumn Festival is the best. At that time, the villages along the pond were decorated with lanterns and colorful decorations, ten tones were played in unison, and there were many performances. People visiting the pond came from all directions. There are many tourists on the shore, and the flutes and drums are noisy; in the water, colorful boats shuttle, and the pond is filled with music and songs. As the saying goes: Clouds cover the Mid-Autumn Moon. It is often cloudy in the first half of the night, and towards midnight, the floating clouds in the sky gradually disperse, and the moon turns from the east to the zenith, filling the mirror-like water with its bright silver light. At this time, the Puxian Opera has ended, most people gradually left, and the pond returned to tranquility. This is the best time to appreciate the moon.
Appreciating the moon on the shore is not as good as going on a boat, but the most recognized place for appreciating the moon is the small island in the pond - Fuyu. The floating island is also called "Duck Mother's Cave". When viewed from the shore, it looks like a duck floating on the water. It is said that when you are on Fuyu Island at midnight, with the bright moon in the blue sky above your head, and looking around Yujian Qiongtian, you can sometimes see Hugong Mountain, Jiuhua Mountain, Nang Mountain and Qingshan Mountain in the distance reflected in the water, shadowing the full moon in the water. This is the "mountains" The spectacle of the arching moon.
There is a stone bridge leading to the shore on the floating island, named "Gonghou Bridge", which was built in the fourth year of Jingding in the Song Dynasty (1263); it is also known as the Tower Bridge, named after the scripture building built at the head of the bridge. Fuyu Palace was founded by Li Fu in the early Southern Song Dynasty and rebuilt in the 46th year of Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1781). There is a legend here:
In his later years, Li Fu reclaimed land in his hometown of Putian, assisted teachers and started schools, and presided over the construction of 34 bridges alone. In the thirty-third year of Shaoxing in the Song Dynasty (1162), Li Fu was ill in bed and asked people returning from the north about the situation of the war between Song and Jin Dynasty with concern. When he heard about the danger ahead, he was filled with grief and anger. He sighed several times and died. Li Fu was considered to be a "unique person for thousands of years", and later generations compared him with Cai Xiang, Chen Junqing, Lin Guangchao, and Chen Mi. Yue Zheng, the prefect of the Ming Dynasty, built the "Five Sages Temple" on the bank of Xiaoxi Lake to commemorate it. There are two Li Fu (making dry) temples in Yangwei Village beside Baitang, one in Dongdun and the other in Lijiao. The Li Fu Temple in Dongdun Natural Village was first built in the Southern Song Dynasty and rebuilt in the 18th year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1505). The plaque was written by Zhang Qi, the prefect of Xinghua. The ancestral hall faces south, has five rooms in width, has two entrances, and is composed of a passing hall and a main hall. Inside the temple is the "Yongsi Tang Stele", written by Lin Jun, Minister of the Ministry of Punishment of the Ming Dynasty, and stamped by Chen Shouzheng. There is also a horizontal plaque of "Baitang Kedi" and inscriptions by Li Gang, Wen Tianxiang, Zheng Yue and others.
In recent years, three antique pavilions have been built on Baitang, named Qiuyue Pavilion, Yingyue Pavilion and Moon Lantern Pavilion respectively.