Sanya is seaside city at the southern tip of china where lies Mt Nanshan adjoining the south China sea .According to a legend ,the mountain was transformed from a giant turtle in habinting in the sea ,The giant turtle was one of the offspring of the Dragon that was able to calm down the raging sea and subdue the turbulent waves and was inclined to carry heavy load on its back .This is why Mt Nanshan is also called Mt Turtle to justify a close affinity existing between the mountain and the sea .The Dragon King of the south Sea had been worshiped through generations by aborigines ,Today in Dongtian Park ,on basis of the cultural heritage and the geographical Conditions ,a Temporary Palace for the Dragon King of the South Sea have been established enshrining a copper statue of the spirit .

The Dragon King of the south sea orininated from dragon-worship in ancient china .According to the archarological finding and historical record ,worship of dragon started in New Stone Era about eight thousand years ago .out of frar of matural power and mystery ,ancient people crecient people created the deity with a bope of being protected .

It is said that the creator of the dragon-Fuxi was born in Chengxi (the present Tianshui in Gansu province )who excelled at both physical power and wisdom and had conquered most of the tribes in the central plain .He combined several animals those tribes revered to create the idol ,giving it the head of a horse ,a body of a snake and claws of a cock ,He styled himself 'Dragom Master'. Since then ,dragon has developed into the symbol of Chinese nation while its people has been referred to as descendents of the dragon.

Dragon has a natural inclination for water and stays there for most of the time .When the sea is teanquil ,it may surge billow as high as the sky with torrential rain and high wind into the bargain ,Due to this unpredictable nature of the sea ,the ancients thought of invoking a deity to control over it ,Later on .the dragon king was born with a function to control weather and water .

In the geographical opinion of ancient people ,the sky was round and the earth square which was surrounded by the fou seas with each corresponding to one of the four directions ,They considered the sea as boundless therefore they stood in great awe of it .According to the Book of Rites,the emperor in Zhou dynasty issued an oeden that sacrifices be offered to the four seas ,rivers mlakes mspring and even well water in the world ,This is the earliest documentary record about the worship of the four seas .

According to the Han's Book · Records of offering sacrifices ,in the first year of shenjue ,Emperor Xuan was very much impressed by the extensiveness of the sea and Thus he started the history of worshiping sea deity by imperial emperors though the shrine was located far from the sea .

In the fourteenth year of the firs emperor's reign in sui dynasty ( 594A .D.),some official in high position made a proposal to the emperor that the shrine should be built close to the sea in order to make a better show of the emperor that the shrine should be built close to the sea in order to make to make a better show of the reverence of the imperial emperor in dusty world toward sea deity .so emperor wen issued an imperial decree to offer sacrifices to the four seas .

Since the emperor wen established a shrine at the shore of the south china sea ,later emperors of different dynasties attasties attached great importance to the worship of sea deity ,sending officials in high position to the place to pay respect to the Dragon king of the south sea .Thus the Dragon king of the south sra became more and more popular throughout china and the shrine of the south sea was ranked as one of the most important .From Tang dynasty on ,the ranks of kings and nobility were conferred upon the deity of the four seas .In the 10 th year of Tianbao period ,emperor Xuanzong conferred the title of 'king of Extensive Benevolencr'on the Dragon king of the south sea , 'king of kind beneficence'on the dragon king of the East sea , 'king of Trustful Correspondencr'on the Dragon king of the North sea .A grand crowning ceremony was given with officials Holding the title title edicts in golden in both hands standing in attendance.

In the sixth year of kaibao period is song dynasty ,officials were sent to give a facelift to the shrine of the south sea in a hope to gain the protection of the Drag on king of the south sea ,In the first year of kangding in song dynasty ( 1040A .D.),emperor Renzong again conferred the four deities of the seas the title as king Honorable titles the Dragon king of the south sea received were much more than the other three .Throughout song dynasty ,worship of dragon kings ,were brought to its highlight both officially or among populace.

Stories about the Dragon king of the south sea became very popular after song dynasty ,According to the New stories abut Guangdong by Qu Dajun ,a custom had been developed that locals would pray for sea deities for savation by disheveling their hair and throwing coins or grain into the sea whenever an accident occurred on the sea .According to a legend ,in the period of Jiaqing ,a group of people ,when sailed on the south sea ,saw a sea deity standing on water ,who had a size of about 3 meters high ,red hair disheveled ,holding a sword in his hand .Disconcerted ,men on the ship fell on their knees to kowtow .The sea deity slowly passed by the ship and steong light was shining for quite a while before dying out ,with the popularity of those legends ,a conviction has thus formed that the king of Extensive Benevolence of the south sea was a deity of power and prestige who defended the country and saved people in distress on the sea .

During Yuan ,Ming and Qing dynasties ,all imperial emperors attached great importance to worshiping the Draon king of the south sea ,especially emperor kangxi in Qing dynasty ,who stressed much on offering sacrifice to the sea .He sent his officials in importance to worship the Dragon king of the south sea for 11 times .In the 42 nd year of kangxi period ( 1703A .D.),he wrote im his own handwriting 'The Boundless Expanse of Clear water'which was engraved on a placard and sent to the shrine of the south sea .In the third year of Younzhong period ,emperor Yinzhen conferred the title of Zhaoming as the title of the reign of the Dragon king over the south sea .This is the last time for an imperial emperor to confer titles on the dragon kings .

The great cultural heritage necessitates Dongtian park to build the Palace of The Dragon king of the south sea for a purpose of further exploring Taoist culture and making the Dragon king of the south sea ,who is believed to bring benevolence to the populace ,known to the world ,It offers a venue for people in the country to worship the deity and for foreign tourists to know more about Chinese folk culture.