Sheshan Mountain in Songjiang is known far and wide. Legend has it that this mountain used to be called Snake Mountain.
A long time ago, in Emeishan Mountain there were two snakes: a green snake and a yellow snake. After a thousand years of cultivation, they ascended to heaven on the same day. However, to become real dragons, they had to drink three mouths of water from the Jade Pool
In August of that year, Queen Mother held an autumn banquet and invited all the immortals. As a result, no immortals guarded the Jade Pool and the two snakes seized this opportunity to drink there.
Immediately after they had their three gulps of the water, their eyes brightened, horns grew from their heads, whiskers came out from their lips and their scales began to shine. They became real dragons. After tasting the water in the Jade Pool, the green dragon and yellow dragon didn't leave. Instead, they continued to drink the water profusely. Finally, they were detected by Queen Mother. She sent divine troops after them and they were beaten with dragon wands and fled to the East China Sea to escape.
On the way to the sea, they quarreled with each other and eventually the quarrel developed into a fight. Their fight stirred the earth and sky and brought about fierce wind and torrential rain.
One day in the heaven is equivalent to one year on the earth. They fought for six hours in the heaven. The people on the earth suffered three months of rainstorms. The whole Songjiang prefecture became a world of water.
After hearing this news, Queen Mother and Jade Emperor were infuriated and ordered them be killed immediately. On the edict, Thunder God went straight to the East China Sea. At that moment, deafening thunders were heard as fire was used to stabe the throats of the two dragons.
Soon after the two dragons showed their original forms as snakes and fell to the ground and died. They became two mountains similar to two snakes with heads facing each other. The green snake lied in the west as West Snake Mountain, while the yellow snake lied in the east as East Snake Mountain. The West Snake Mountain was covered with luxuriant vegetation as it was transformed by the green snake. The East Snake Mountain was barren as it was transformed by the yellow snake.
In the Song Dynasty (AD 960~1279), She Tai Jun lived on the Snake Mountain, so people renamed it as, Sheshan Mountain ("snake" is "she" in Chinese phonetics).
