These four characters was written by Yan Zhenqing, a famous calligrapher in the Tang Dynasty (618?907) who had created the Yan-style calligraphy. Characters in this style with the shape like silkworm head and swallow tail need high accomplishments in calligraphy. The character “?(means sword)” was actually written by Yan and “?(means pool)” is fake according to research. So it has the name of “Real sword and fake pool”. And the name also has another meaning, implying the secret of He Lv Tomb, because the east and west cliff of the Sword Pool is shaped by nature, and the behind hill of Huqiu is formed manually in order to cover up the entrance of the tomb.

    This is not a tale but a true story. Mother Zhen was an alias and her real surname was Hu and given name Ruizhen, born in the north China. She was adopted by her relatives when she was very young after her parents died. Escaped from her hometown during the war of An Lushan Rebelling in the Tang Dynasty (618?907), she ran to Suzhou, unfortunately falling into a brothel, called Clouds Gathering House, outside of Chang Men of Suzhou. As a geisha girl, she refused any other requests from the customers more than the accomplishment of dancing and singing. Moreover she was known for her beauty. At that time, there was a rich man named Wang Yinxiang, who bribed the pander with a big number of money and wished to stay a night with Zhen. Knowing she had no way to escape, she committed suicide by hanging herself. The rich man was shocked by the event and vowed not to marry in his latter life and built a tomb for the girl. Since then?this true story caused much sympathy of the man of letters. They wrote a number of verses on the tomb. As one of the two well-known prostitutes in the history?her name is paralleled with Su Xiaoxiao, people gave her a honor title, the Class-one-sweet Girl.

    It is said, in the Jin Dynasty (265?420) there was a well-known high-rank monk called as Sheng who usually sat on the stone reading and reciting sutra. When tired, he slept on the stone. Gradually, the stone obtained his intelligence and became a miraculous stone worshiped by ancient scholars in Suzhou. Before these ancient scholars set out for an imperial examination, they would like to come to Pillow Stone, throwing little stones on it, on which it was stuck, meaning he would be lucky in the examination. Aside, the stone is also known as the Ephemera Stone for a similar shape. Long before, on the surface of the stone there was a kind of sticky substance that might stick the small stones someone threw on it.

    The honorable man Sheng was a high-rank monk in the Jin Dynasty (265?420)?he was focused on the propagation to the Na Nyen Le Depa Do. In his opinion?“the bitter sea of life has no end but you may be saved and become a Buddha if you repent, put down your weapons” and “every living creature may have become a Buddha.” His opinion went beyond much over the common and the tradition, and he suffered with a big imputation from the others?so he was compelled to leave the Capital toward south China. He finally came to Huqiu and stayed here to expound sutra. His speech was so splendid that crowds of people used to gather around the platform. It is said?while he said that any wicked person may also become a Buddha, one of the stones suddenly kept nodding toward him as if it understand it and was enlightened, which is the nodding stone traveler see in the pool now. That was a severe winter when Sheng preached Buddhism here, yet, all white lotus flowers in the pool blossomed out and water was full. Thus there were idioms popular among folks: water’s full in the pool, because honorable man Sheng arrives; and while honorable man Sheng peaching, stone is nodding and flowers are blossoming.”

    Huqiu Pagoda is the first leaning tower in China, just second to the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. It was a symbol of the ancient city of Suzhou and also called Yun Yan Temple Tower. It was taken as the key protected relics of the country by State Department on March 4, 1961. It was built in 959, the sixth year of age of emperor Xiande reign in Late Zhou Dynasty (951?960), and finished in 961, the second year of the emperor Jianlong reign. Until now, it has experienced over a thousand years. This tower has seven stories and eight facades at the height of 47.7 meters, and with the largest dip angle of 3.95 toward northeast, 2.34 meters of departure from top the center. This is the earliest, most large-sized and excellent pagoda in south China. It has been leaning for almost a thousand years, but not yet fall down, so it has precious value in architecture, art, design, and history research. Huqiu and the tower have been witnessing great changes of Suzhou for over 2500 years.