A single copper coin, worth almost nothing on its own, built the elegant hexagonal structure floating on the waters of Black Dragon Pool. This is the Yiwen Pavilion, a historic wooden sanctuary at the foot of Elephant Mountain, protected as part of the UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Town of Lijiang.

Its history is shaped by individual human resolve. Local Naxi folklore tells of a poor, elderly woman who stood at a crossroads through winter winds and summer heat, asking travelers for exactly one copper coin, a single wen, to fund a shelter. Another story attributes the construction to He Heling, a local man who survived past his predicted death ages of thirty-six and forty-nine. To celebrate his survival and warn others against fatalism, he gathered single coins to build this monument.

Elevated on a stone platform rising 1.64 meters above the water, the pavilion is compact, measuring 3.04 meters from north to south and 2.60 meters from east to west. Six sweeping, flying eaves reach toward the sky, while weathered grey roof tiles and smooth red wooden pillars frame the open air. Protective wooden railings surround the edge, allowing visitors to look down into the cool, clear spring water.

In 1964, workers carefully dismantled the pavilion from its original site near the Mu Family Mansion and rebuilt it in its current lakeside home to protect it from rising waters. Today, the pavilion stands as a national cultural relic. It resembles a floating lotus flower, reminding visitors that monumental achievements often begin with the smallest, most persistent human efforts.