The islet of Three Pools Mirroring the Moon is also known as Lesser Yingzhou. The islet of Three Pools Mirroring the Moon together with Mid-Lake Pavilion and Ruan Gong Islet is known as three islets on the lake. The total area of the islet including water surface is about seven hectares. It is connected from south to north with a curved bridge and from east to west with an earth dike. The bridge embankments cross with each other in the form of “+”. Water surface on the islet is divided into four parts, and an annular dam is located beyond the water surface. Overlooked in the air, the islet presents a shape of “田”. The islet features “a lake within an island and an island within a lake”. Owing to the unique water scenery, it is quite special in the top ten views of the West Lake. Meanwhile, it is a classic work of gardens built on water in Jiangnan of China. During the period of Emperor Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (1606), Qiantang County asked Nie Xintang to build a dam around the islet by taking mud from the lake. Thus a lake within a lake was preliminarily formed as a place to free captive animals. Later, people built three bottle-shaped stone pagodas in the lake to the south of the islet. They are called “three pools”. In the Early Qing Dynasty, curved bridge and hall were built in the islet, and cottonrose hibiscus was grown in the inner lake. Then Peng Yulin (a general that retired during Guang Xu Period of the Qing Dynasty) constructed a villa here, and Lesser Yingzhou began to show its style and features.