the Memorial Hall of Su Dongpo

At the south end of Su Causeway, near the small southern lake, there is a small but gorgeous and elegant garden with dignified buildings. The hall has abundance collections of poems, calligraphy and painting, statuary and inscriptions on tablets. The garden was built to monumentalizes Su Dongpo. All displays introduce the distribution to the West Lake and life stories of Su Shi, the worthiest local magistrate in Hangzhou throughout history.

Su Shi (1037-1101), also known as Su Dongpo in the Chinese literary world, was born in Meishan, Sichuan Province. He served as an official of Hangzhou twice in his life. He had the West Lake dredged and a long causeway across the lake built, which was later named after him. His poetic and prosaic writings the charm and beauty of the West Lake best display his profound passion for Hangzhou and great pleasures he felt while appreciating the lake.

Talking about his love of the lake, Su Dongpo went so far as to say that he must have been a Hangzhou native in his previous lives. He spoke highly of the West Lake as “pretty in a gay dress and pretty in a simple gown” and “there is no such great natural beauty back home”. A government official of unique character and a great poet of rare artistic achievements, Su Dongpo left behind him chapters after chapters of poems and prosaic writings as well as inscriptions for tablets, all these being about Hangzhou. In these literary creations, Su Dongpo wrote down his wisdom and foresight based on Hangzhou's natural attractions that he was in deep love with. What he wrote about the enchanting lake and what he contributed to Hangzhou's prosperity created many much-told stories and legends of his political achievements. In the eyes and hearts of later generations of Hangzhou local people, he was a pragmatic achiever as well as a bosom friend of the West Lake and the hero of Hangzhou. Su Dongpo was a model whose achievements and glories governors of Hangzhou later have vied each other to emulate. Besides the Su Causeway, there are many other scenes connected directly with the name of Su Dongpo. For example, the Lake View Pavilion at the foot of Precious Stone Hill, stone with inscriptions on Damai Hill, the Crossing Stream Pavilion in Longjing (Dragon Well) and the poetic stele about meditations on flower in Wu Hill. A great amount of his poems and writings about the West Lake have already been the indispensable part of historical and cultural treasury of the West Lake.

Publishes at : 07-08-06 23:21

Url : http://www.asiavtour.com/China_Zhejiang_Hangzhou_West%20Lake%20Scenic%20Zone_Other%20Views_Attractions_a785_s4_c5664.html