The Reproduction of the Prosperous Scene of Suzhou

In the long river of Chinese history, many famous paintings have emerged in different dynasties. Among them, the most famous include Gu Kaizhi's "Nymph of the Luo River" from the Jin Dynasty, Yan Liben's "The Procession of the Emperor" from the Tang Dynasty, Wang Ximeng's "A Thousand Li of Rivers and Mountains" from the Song Dynasty, Zhang Zhe Rui's "Along the River During the Qingming Festival" from the Song Dynasty, Huang Gongwang's "Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains" from the Yuan Dynasty, and the "Prosperity of Suzhou" from the Qing Dynasty. The "Prosperity of Suzhou" depicts the prosperity of Suzhou during the Qing Dynasty and is now a national first-class cultural relic, preserved in the Liaoning Provincial Museum.

"Prosperity of Suzhou", originally named "The Flourishing Age", is a large painting by the Qing Dynasty court painter Xu Yang, depicting the scenery of Suzhou. Xu Yang, courtesy name Yunting, was from Suzhou, residing in Changmen Zhuanzhu Alley. He was originally a student and was skilled in painting landscapes and plum blossoms. In the sixteenth year of the Qianlong reign (1751), Emperor Qianlong visited Suzhou, and Xu Yang and his fellow townsman Zhang Zongcang presented their paintings, gaining favor. The two were appointed as "court painters". In June of that year, Xu Yang received an imperial decree to come to the capital, and in the eighteenth year of Qianlong (1753), he was granted the title of juren and appointed as a secretary in the cabinet.

The entire painting starts from Lingyan Mountain, moving east from Mudu Town, passing through Hengshan, crossing Shihu Lake, going through Shangfang Mountain, between Jieshi and Heliang Mountains, to Suzhou city, through Panmen, Xu, and Changmen, passing Shantang Street, and ending at Tiger Hill. The author moves from west to east, entering the city from the countryside, focusing on depicting a village (in front of the mountain), a town (Suzhou), and a street (Shantang). The scenery captured by the brush vividly presents the lakes, mountains, rural landscapes, towns, and social customs within dozens of miles, fully reflecting the majestic ancient city of Suzhou and its bustling atmosphere, serving as valuable historical material for studying the "Qianlong Prosperity" 250 years ago. According to experts from the World Heritage Conference, the Grand Canal and the Panmen and Shantang along its route will pass the review this June to be included in the World Heritage List. Today, I recommend the section from Panmen through Xu Men, Changmen to Shantang Street in the "Prosperity of Suzhou", which is also the most exquisite part.

The Panmen Scenic Area Night Garden breaks the traditional daytime visiting model, connecting various scenic spots along the route through boat tours, forming a unique local characteristic of Suzhou, fully expressing the concept of the "Eastern Venice".

We will enter from the east gate of the Panmen Scenic Area and successively visit the thousand-year-old treasure tower—Ruiguang Tower, the central courtyard, and the ancient city gate of Panmen (explanatory text omitted, the tour guide will elaborate). In the Panmen Scenic Area Night Garden, you can experience the real scene of the tower emitting auspicious light and enjoy local Suzhou specialties such as Kunqu opera, guqin, and guzheng, which can be visited for about 1 hour. Then, we will cross the Wengcheng of Panmen and walk about 100 meters to the riverside to take a boat to enjoy the night view of the Grand Canal and the surrounding river. The boat will first head to the People's Bridge, allowing visitors to feel the prosperity of Suzhou's main road—Renmin Road. The bridge deck is 45 meters wide, with a long corridor resembling an ancient style, dark blue tiles, light eaves, and exquisite structure, exuding a light and elegant "Wu" cultural atmosphere. In the arch of the "People's Bridge", there are 16 stone reliefs, each with a name, vividly telling touching cultural stories that have occurred in Suzhou over the past 2500 years: "Casting swords in Jiangnan, building cities for supremacy, Jiangdong metropolis, the rise of gardens, the charm of Shantang, the flourishing of learning, the misty rain of Jiangnan, competition of arts, gathering of culture, Wu Gate painting academy, governance by Ming officials, skilled craftsmen, the charm of the market, the grandeur of the southern tour, benevolent scholars, and keeping pace with the times". This group of historical reliefs of Suzhou encompasses various aspects such as Suzhou's garden art, cultural education, historical origins, natural climate, and current development. Each relief has an endless story, condensing Suzhou's more than 2500 years of history. These reliefs were designed and completed by the famous sculptor Ms. Liang Junmei and her disciples, but today we can only see eight reliefs in the waterway, four on the left and four on the right, which are: Casting swords in Jiangnan, building cities for supremacy, Jiangdong metropolis, the rise of gardens, Wu Gate painting academy, governance by Ming officials, skilled craftsmen, and gathering of culture. Interestingly, the Venetian merchant Marco Polo also appears in the reliefs, as it is said that the phrase "Above there is heaven, below there are Suzhou and Hangzhou" comes from his book "The Travels of Marco Polo".

Next, we will pass the "Panlong Bridge", which was built using materials from the old bridge "Zaoshi Bridge" that was dismantled on the Xujing River. However, this section of the river is wider than the Xujing River, and the old "Zaoshi Bridge" had a smaller stone arch, which was not entirely suitable. Therefore, its bridge type was imitated, enlarged, and a new cement bridge was constructed, with some parts of the bridge deck paved with stones from the old "Zaoshi Bridge". This revived and enlarged "Zaoshi Bridge" is now named "Panlong Bridge". "Panlong Bridge" is a typical example of "restoring the old as the old to preserve its truth".

Next, we will arrive at the dock where everyone just boarded the boat, as well as the Panmen city wall and city tower. The bridge in front of us is the most famous Wu Gate Bridge on the surrounding river. As the name suggests, it means the gateway to Wu, spanning the ancient canal and serving as the essential route for land access to "Panmen". It is the highest single-arch stone bridge preserved in Suzhou, built in the seventh year of the Northern Song Dynasty (1084). In ancient times, it was called the New Bridge, and it can already be seen on the Song Dynasty engraving "Pingjiang Map". What we see now is a reconstruction from the eleventh year of the Qing Tongzhi reign (1872), and it is a single-arch stone bridge. The total length of the bridge is 66.6 meters, the width at the bottom is 5.8 meters, the middle width is 4.8 meters, the arch span is 16 meters, and the arch top is more than 9 meters above the normal water level, which is greater than the radius, making it the highest arch bridge among ancient bridges in Suzhou. The north and south slopes of the bridge are each paved with 50 granite steps, allowing people to ascend the bridge for a view. At the north end of the bridge, the Vajra wall has two wings on the left and right, with a 0.6-meter-wide path for ancient boatmen to pull boats over the bridge, which is rare among stone-built ancient bridges. The entire bridge has a solemn and elegant shape, typical of the large arch bridges characteristic of the Jiangnan water town.

The bridge we just passed is called the New City Bridge. After crossing the bridge, on the right side is the ancient Xu Men, originally called "West Gate", also known as "Guxu Men", named because King Helu of Wu exited from this gate to ascend "Gusu Terrace"; another explanation is that the great general Wu Zixu of Wu lived here, and after his death, the people of Suzhou renamed "West Gate" to "Xu Men" in his memory.

The river on the left is called "Xu River," which extends westward. "Xu River" connects to Taihu Lake and the Grand Canal to the west, and the entrance to Taihu Lake is called Xukou. "Xu River" brings the clear waters of Taihu Lake into Suzhou, making the river surface outside "Xu Gate" the widest and the clearest. In ancient times, Suzhou people primarily traveled by water, and to reach places like Mudu, Dongting East, Xishan, and even Shanghai and Hangzhou, they would generally take boats from the water terminal at "Xu Gate," which was one of the main channels for external communication for Suzhou. Because of this, "Xu River" became the main route for officials and merchants entering and exiting Suzhou. To facilitate the entry and exit of officials and merchants, the "Gusu Pavilion," which was known for its grandeur, was built at "Xu Gate" in the early Southern Song Dynasty to receive officials and foreign envoys, along with the exquisite garden "Baihua Island." The "Gusu Pavilion" was the largest and most luxurious post station in the country at that time. During the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty, various provincial and county offices were concentrated in the area around "Xu Gate," and the reception hall at "Xu Gate" welcomed officials almost every day, with official boats lined up, which was quite extraordinary. Moreover, during the southern tours of Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong, a special imperial dock was set up here for the dragon boats to land, which was solemn and magnificent, creating an unprecedented spectacle, hence it was called the "Reception Hall." Now we can see three stone tablets standing on the west bank of the river, known as "Huangting Street." In 1684, Emperor Kangxi visited Suzhou and advised local officials to "love the people, serve the public, uphold the law, and empathize with the people's hardships." At that time, the provincial governor Tang Bin inscribed the emperor's itinerary and edict on stone here and built a "Wanshou Pavilion" for the tablet, which the locals habitually called "Huangting," thus this street was named "Huangting Street."

The bridge ahead is called "Wannian Bridge," which was once known as the "First Bridge of Sanwu." 450 years ago, this ancient bridge "disappeared" once; at that time, the bridge was 10 meters wide and about 100 meters long, with five large circular holes facing the river, all built with the best Taihu stones. The bridge was seamlessly constructed, smooth and flat, with exquisitely crafted stone railings on both sides, featuring 100 stone lions in various poses, strong and majestic, truly deserving the title of the "Champion of Bridges!" It was greatly favored by the notorious Ming Dynasty official Yan Song. It was once given as a bribe by the Suzhou governor to Yan Song's hometown in Yuanzhou, Jiangxi Province, and the "Wannian Bridge" was broken for two hundred years. The current three-arch "Wannian Bridge" has been rebuilt.

After passing Gu Xu Bridge, Gan Jiang Bridge, and Jing De Bridge, on the left side ahead, you can see the "Wanren Dock," originally named "Criminal Dock." In the Qing Dynasty, regardless of whether it was from the north or south of the Yangtze River, all major criminal cases from Jiangsu's counties, as well as criminals sentenced to "death awaiting trial," had to be sent to Suzhou for review and were detained in Suzhou's prisons awaiting processing. This dock was specifically used for transporting criminals to Suzhou by water, hence it was called "Criminal Dock." Later, with the development of transportation, the transport of criminals changed from water to land, and the dock no longer had criminals coming and going. However, the local residents felt that calling it "Criminal Dock" was inappropriate, so it was renamed "Wanren Dock."

"Nan Hao Street" is a cultural and commercial street, currently featuring eighteen scenic spots. The thousand-year-old "Immortal Temple" has been relocated to this street, where the annual "Zha Shenxian" temple fair is held. According to legend, on the fourteenth day of the fourth lunar month, one of the Eight Immortals, Lü Dongbin, transformed into a ragged beggar to enlighten the world. At this time, people from inside and outside the city rush to the Lü Ancestor Temple on Changmen Xiaotang Street, jostling and pushing each other, hoping to gain some immortal aura and find a chance for happiness. The story told in Suzhou's Pingtan "Yu Qingting," which is about "Recognizing Mother in the Temple," also takes place on this street.

What you see ahead is the "Suspension Bridge," also known as "Rainbow Bridge," which was first built in the Song Dynasty as a wooden bridge. Since this area is where five rivers converge, the wooden bridge was washed away by floods, and during the Yuan Dynasty's Taiding period, it was rebuilt as a stone bridge. The current classical and simple covered bridge is newly constructed, meeting modern traffic needs while harmonizing with the overall style of Changmen.

On the right is "Changmen," one of the eight city gates of Suzhou. It was designed and built as the widest and tallest city gate when Suzhou was established, located slightly to the north of the west city. In the Eight Trigrams of the "I Ching," it is referred to as the (Dui) direction. The ancients divided the fields into eight directions, each corresponding to one of the eight heavenly winds, which are the most important and called "Changhe Wind." Because the Changhe Wind can receive the blessings of the heavenly gods, it was named "Changmen." Moreover, the strategic goal of the Wu Kingdom was to compete with the Chu Kingdom, so "Changmen" also had another historical name, "Po Chu Gate." The most prosperous era for "Changmen" was during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. At that time, from the Yueliang Pass along the Grand Canal to the "Suspension Bridge," it was one of the largest commercial and trade distribution centers in the country, with grain shops lining the streets, and along the "Shangtang River," there were three tax stations: Tieling Pass, Baihu Pass, and Jinchang Pass. Countless boats competed, and the total population reached nearly a million. Various shops, tea houses, taverns, restaurants, and stalls were everywhere. In addition to selling agricultural and sideline products and handicrafts from all over the country, there were also Japanese furniture, lacquerware, Korean folding fans, and Southeast Asian tortoiseshell and jewelry. The entire "Changmen" area was bustling with traffic and crowds, truly a "place of wealth and elegance in the mortal world!"

On the left is the famous Shantang Old Street, known as Qili Shantang. Please prepare your luggage and follow me to experience the prosperity of Shantang.