The ancient name of Yijiahe was “Wentangyuan.” Legend has it that more than 1,200 years ago, during a bitterly cold winter marked by the mingling of ice and snow, a poor woodcutter was returning home from the mountains after gathering firewood. As he passed by this spot, overcome by hunger and cold, he suddenly collapsed beside a tiny puddle and fell into a deep sleep. After a while, the woodcutter felt a warm breeze spreading throughout his body. When he opened his eyes, he saw mist-like steam rising from the puddle. Quickly scooping up some of the warm water with both hands, he began to drink it eagerly, trying to stave off the cold. All the while, he kept murmuring to himself, “Heaven is kind—it has blessed me with this warm spring!” Upon returning home, he told everyone he’d stumbled upon a magical, heavenly paradise. Within days, he had moved his family closer to the puddle. Word of this place spread quickly, and soon people from outside the mountains began moving in as well. The woodcutter then led everyone in expanding the small puddle into a full-fledged pond, which they named “Wentangyuan.”

By the Southern Song Dynasty, Wen Tang Yuan had become a village predominantly inhabited by the Yi family. Among the villagers was a young man named Yi Jiahe, who lived in what is now the Yi Jiahe Village’s Paihang Group. From an early age, he displayed extraordinary intelligence. After several years of private tutoring, he became well-versed in both ancient and modern knowledge. His integrity and chivalry earned him the admiration of the local people. Xiong Tianrui, the chief examiner from the capital (who later rose to the rank of third grade official), settled in Yijia Mountain in his old age. Recognizing Yi Jiahe’s talents, Xiong took him as his adopted son and even betrothed his beloved daughter to Yi Jiahe as his wife.

Yijia Mountain is a site known as the "Seven Stars Accompanying the Moon." Unfortunately, the stream in front of the mountain is too narrow. If only the riverbed could be widened, the feng shui would be even better. Xiong Tianrui immediately submitted a request to the county government for the riverbed’s renovation. After receiving approval, he promptly mobilized over a thousand strong laborers and, within a single night, successfully completed the riverbed’s reconstruction. Xiong Tianrui truly became a local tyrant, enjoying every form of wealth and honor.

One Mid-Autumn Festival evening, the father-in-law invited his son-in-law, Yi Jiahe (who lived in what is now the Yi Jiahe Village’s Paihang Group, about a kilometer from his father-in-law’s home), to his house to enjoy the moon and chat heart-to-heart. The two—father-in-law and son-in-law—talked freely about both ancient times and the present. Suddenly, Xiong Tianrui sighed upward toward the sky and said, “I’m so powerful and influential; inevitably, there are some things I do that don’t win everyone’s approval. People dare to be angry but don’t dare to speak out. Who in the court could ever do anything about me!” He went on to boast that many of the court officials—both civil and military—and local officials were his disciples, saying proudly, “My students are scattered all over the land.” Then he made a bold claim: “If anyone dares to accuse me, I’ll willingly provide a piece of dragon-and-phoenix inkstick seven inches long, a dozen writing brushes, and a stack of bamboo paper as tools for the accusation.” Hearing this, the son-in-law replied, “You shouldn’t make such grandiose claims. There’s always someone greater out there, and there’s always someone more powerful than you.” What the speaker said was unintentional, but the listener took it to heart. Yi Jiahe, secretly resentful, got up and took his leave from his father-in-law. The father-in-law asked, “Why are you leaving so soon?” The son-in-law answered, “On this special Mid-Autumn Festival night, your daughter is alone at home, feeling lonely. I can’t just think only of my own happiness—I must spend this beautiful evening with her.” His words made perfect sense. After obtaining his father-in-law’s consent, the son-in-law returned home and told his wife, “Please prepare some silver coins and a traveling bag for me. I’m going to the county government office to file a complaint against your father.” His wife asked, “Why would you do such a thing?” He replied, “You’ll find out soon enough.” After her husband left, she stayed up late into the night, carefully sewing a pair of embroidered shoes for him. She even sewed an embroidered needle into the sole of each shoe, secretly placing a letter inside. At dawn, she sent a maid to deliver the shoes directly to her father. When her father tried them on, he felt a sharp prick in his foot. Upon discovering the needle hidden in the sole along with a secret letter, he didn’t get angry at all—he burst into laughter instead and praised his daughter, saying, “My daughter has chosen well! She’s truly ambitious and determined. If she ever needs tools for filing a complaint, rest assured, I’ll never go back on my word—I’ll provide them without hesitation.” As for why the daughter acted so mysteriously, it was because, under the influence of the feudal society, a wife couldn’t defy her husband’s wishes. If her husband found out, he’d immediately hand her a divorce notice and throw her out of the house—so she had no choice but to proceed this way.

Moreover, Yi Jiahe went straight to the county magistrate’s office and laid out in detail his grievances against his father-in-law: that the latter had secretly set up a factory to manufacture weapons, gathered local ruffians to practice martial arts, and engaged in other illegal activities. Upon hearing that Xiong Tianrui was being accused, the magistrate couldn’t help but feel uneasy. First, Xiong Tianrui was his own mentor; second, it was extremely rare for a son-in-law to accuse his father-in-law—such an accusation must have sinister motives. Without even bothering to investigate further, the magistrate immediately ordered Yi Jiahe to be flogged 40 times and thrown into prison for three years. After serving his sentence, Yi Jiahe appealed again to the Nankang Prefecture (modern-day Nanchang). To his dismay, the chief official in charge of the provincial government turned out to be another former student of Xiong Tianrui. Without giving him any chance to explain himself, Yi Jiahe was once more beaten and imprisoned for another three years. When he finally came out of prison, Yi Jiahe remained undaunted and persistent. He took his case all the way to the Ministry of Justice in the capital—and once again, he was sentenced to three years in prison. The repeated imprisonment left Yi Jiahe utterly exhausted and with no way out. Determined as ever to bring down Xiong Tianrui, he decided to take one last desperate gamble. One day, when he heard that the emperor was going on an outing outside the city, Yi Jiahe positioned himself at the city gate, kneeling on the road and loudly crying out for justice. The emperor stepped down from his carriage, and Yi Jiahe seized the opportunity to inform him that Xiong Tianrui harbored rebellious intentions toward the court: he had been recruiting soldiers and buying horses at Maoshan in Wentangyuan, and had been secretly manufacturing weapons there for three years. The emperor asked, “How do you know this?” Yi Jiahe replied, “Because he is my father-in-law.” The emperor then said, “Why didn’t you report this matter to the local authorities for investigation?” Yi Jiahe answered, “I had no choice—I was his disciple. Not only did they fail to pursue the matter, but from the county level all the way up to the provincial and then the Ministry of Justice, I was subjected to punishment and spent a full nine years behind bars.” Hearing this, the emperor flew into a rage. He immediately dispatched an imperial commissioner to investigate the case thoroughly. As it turned out, the allegations were indeed true. Consequently, the emperor sentenced Yi Jiahe to death, ordering the execution of his entire family line. At the same time, Yi Jiahe was appointed as a Vice Minister of Justice—a fourth-rank official. After Xiong Tianrui’s death, his remains were buried in the Baitian group of Yi Jiahe Village, Yongxiu County. In 1959, during the construction of the Likeng Reservoir, the purple stones from his tomb were used in the reservoir’s construction, leaving behind only traces of the grave site.

Later, in memory of Yi Jiahe—a man known for his impartiality and willingness to sacrifice family ties for the greater good—people renamed the hot spring’s original name to Yi Jiahe.