Verdant Rock

A panorama view of Verdant Rock in Prince Kung's Palace

There is a rockery, known as Verdant Rock, to the north of Anshan Hall in the garden of Prince Kung's Palace. The Cave of Secret Cloud, which contains a stele of the Chinese character "Fu" inscribed by Emperor Kangxi (r. 1662-1722) of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), is right in its center. A building, entitled "the Pavilion of Greenness", is situated on the top of Verdant Rock, the highest point in the garden. The structure of Moon Appreciation Terrace, which is located in front of Verdant Rock, is the garden's best spot for people to watch the moon.

Verdant Rock in Prince Kung's Palace

Verdant Rock is made of rocks excavated from the Taihu Lake area in East China. There is a path on each of its sides leading to its top. Servants in the mansion of Prince Kung used to place a water jar with multiple holes at each end of the two paths to ensure that the rock's surface, exposed in summer and autumn to high temperature and wet weather, was covered with lichens.

Verdant Rock gets its name because the green color of the lichens and yellow color of the stone surface form a sharp contrast.

There are three groups of stones, which symbolize the three immortal isles of Penglai, Fangzhang, and Yingzhou in traditional Chinese legend, in a rectangular pond below Verdant Rock.