Description
Black and white photograph showing cultivated rice fields in springtime viewed from a high vantage point. A large tree stands in the foreground and more trees can be seen in the middle ground, with a few small farm buildings dotted among them.

Significance statement
This photograph was taken from a hillock at the Black Dragon Pool ('Hei longtan') giving a striking view of the flat arable plains below. The Black Dragon Pool is in the Western Hills of Peking beyond the old Summer Palace ('Yuan Ming Yuan') and the Jade Fountain ('Yuquanshan'). The Temple of the Black Dragon's spirit ('Hei long tan shenmiao') lies close by. The hillock is famous for its large pool of clear water and the temple to the Dragon King which was first built in 1486 during the Chenghua reign of the Ming Dynasty. It is where a number of the Qing emperors prayed for rain.

Production notes
This is one of a large number of photographs documenting sites on the outskirts of Peking that were taken by Hedda Morrison (1908-1991) during her years of residence in Peking (Beijing), China 1933-1946.

History notes
Exhibited in 'An Asian experience: 1933-67', organised by the Asian Studies Association of Australia, Fisher Library Foyer, University of Sydney, 12-30 May 1986. Reproduced in Hedda Morrison, 'A photographer in Old Peking', Hong Kong, Oxford and New York: Oxford University Press, 1985, p. 232, with the caption: 'The pattern on fields in spring can be seen from the hillock of the Black Dragon Pool'.

Credit line
Gift of Mr Alastair Morrison, 1992

Registration number
92/1414-313