There is an interesting legend about the construction of zhenhai tower. Zhu Yuanzhang won the world, made Nanjing his capital and established the Ming Dynasty. One day, when he was traveling with Taoist Tieguan in Zhongshan, Nanjing, Tieguan suddenly pointed to the southeast and told Zhu Yuanzhang that there was a "royal soul" over the sea in Guangdong, and it seemed that a "son of heaven" was about to be born. We must immediately build a building in Guangzhou to suppress "Long Mai", otherwise it will be a disaster for Daming in the future. Hearing this, Zhu Yuanzhang lost his mind. He quickly sent someone to Guangdong to inquire and found that Yuexiu Mountain in Guangzhou was now the king. Zhu Yuanzhang immediately issued a edict, ordering Yongjia Hou Zhu Liangzu, who was guarding Guangzhou, to build a building on the mountain to contain Wang Qi. Imperial edict, Zhu Liangzu naturally dare not neglect, so, built a "tower-shaped, tower-shaped" zhenhai tower on the Yuexiu Mountain. The building is crimson, and it is said that it also means to ward off evil spirits.
Zhenhai tower is the most complete, imposing and national ancient building in Guangzhou. It is 28 meters high and 365,438+0 meters wide, with five floors. The first and second floors are red sandstone strips, and more than three floors are brick walls. The external walls are decreasing step by step, like buildings and towers, with red walls and green tiles. The shape is simple and unique. In front of the building, there are a pair of red sandstone stone lions more than two meters high, which were carved by the Ming Dynasty. Zhenhai Tower faces south, with its eaves rising and ridges flying, towering and straight, and the top of the mountain is magnificent, with extraordinary bearing and unique features. Qu Dajun, a famous poet in the early Qing Dynasty, praised zhenhai tower for his marvelous mountains and seas. Although Yellow Crane and Yueyang can't surpass them, they can "keep a solid view of 30% and make Wuling a Hall of Fame". During the Qing Dynasty, zhenhai tower was always the tallest building in Guangzhou. Climb to the top of the building and overlook the rippling Pearl River, which is magnificent; Near Yunshan, the mountains and rivers are beautiful, the Yangcheng is brilliant, and the weather is myriad.
On the west side of zhenhai tower is the ancient city wall just introduced, on the east side is the special exhibition room of the museum, and on the west side is the stele gallery, which displays 24 inscriptions of past dynasties, which is valuable information for studying historical and cultural cities. Among many inscriptions, it is worth mentioning that the inscription of "Greedy Spring" is engraved with the poem "Greedy Spring" written by Wu Yinzhi, the secretariat of Guangzhou in the Jin Dynasty. Here is a thought-provoking story:
During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, Guangzhou was relatively rich because it was located on the coast of the South China Sea and local officials were corrupt. There is a saying that "once you cross the city, you get 3200". Guangzhou North Shimen is the only place where the Central Plains passes between Guangzhou and Guangzhou. There is a spring in Shimen, which is called greedy spring. An official who comes to Guang Chuan will become a corrupt official after singing. In the early years of Yuan Xing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (402-404), Wu Yinzhi became an official in Guangzhou. When he went to work in Shimen, Guangzhou, he listened to the legend that greedy spring water would change people's original integrity. He specially chose a water to drink and wrote a poem, saying, "The ancients said that it was not easy for Qi Yi to drink this water for 1000 yuan." Wu Yinzhi, an official in Guangzhou, was honest and self-sustaining, leaving the impression of being an honest official. Therefore, future generations built monuments in the greedy spring to warn corrupt officials. This monument originally stood in Shimen, and 1963 moved here.
Next to the stele gallery, there are a number of ancient cannons, which were Guangzhou city defense cannons in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, four of which were made in Foshan. Lin Zexu went to Guangzhou to ban smoking at that time. In order to strengthen Guangzhou's defense, he ordered Foshan gunners to cast a batch of cannons, which were cast that year. The big iron cannon was originally placed in Yuexiu Mountain Fort. In the first and second Opium Wars of 1840 and 1856, it was used as a weapon for the people of Guangzhou to fight against foreign invaders. After the defeat of the Opium War, these iron cannons and fortresses were severely damaged by the invaders, and the ears on both sides of the cannon body were broken and the ignited holes were nailed, making the cannons useless, which fully exposed the invaders' ferocious face and the nature of bully is always coward.
On the top of the five-story building, there is a huge gold plaque of "zhenhai tower" with a pair of woodcut couplets on each side:
There are still thousands of dangerous buildings, so ask who will pick the stars; Overlooking the past?
Five hundred years later, Hou An is here, let me lean on the fence to see the sword and cry for the hero!
This pair of couplets was written by Li Dihua, a subordinate of Peng Yulin who went to Guangdong to organize coastal defense with the title of Ministry of War during Guangxu period of Qing Dynasty. Zhu Liangzu, an architect in zhenhai tower, is an "old Hou" in Lianzhong. The existence of people in the building now can prove the vicissitudes of history. "Looking at the past" and "Tears on Heroes" are emotional. At that time, due to the Sino-French War, Peng Yulin led troops into Guangdong and stationed in zhenhai tower. He opposed Li Hongzhang's proposal and failure, and he was just a tearful hero. Li Dihua knows the boss's mind and experience, so he recites that architecture is full of artistic conception and is a world-renowned leader. In a blink of an eye, 600 years later, things have changed, and the world is completely different. It's just that this crimson Gu Lou has experienced numerous disasters, numerous wind and frost, cold and heat, and shuddering. The bamboo wall of Biwa is still like an elder in history, tirelessly telling people about the lost years.
The fifth floor is now the Guangzhou Museum, which displays more than 4,000 years of historical relics from the Neolithic Age to modern times in Guangzhou. The first floor is a thousand years old, and the eyes are connected with the past and the present. The rough stone tools, multi-tone bronzes and ancient ceramics, yellowed historical documents and photos left by ancestors let people know the development history of Guangzhou for more than 2,000 years.
This five-story building receives hundreds of thousands of Chinese and foreign tourists every year. 1June, 1996, 10, together with Wuyang stone statue, was rated as one of the top ten scenic spots in Guangzhou. With the development of tourism, the original exhibition can no longer meet the demand, so the Guangzhou municipal government allocated special funds to build a two-story ancient building on the east side of the building. This new exhibition hall is small, exquisite and antique, which complements the five floors.
When you board zhenhai tower, you can see the lush green trees, green screens and colorful scenery on the mountain. On both sides of the Pearl River, Hongfei Frame, Yulou and Yulou are lined up, and the water is like an area. Blue sky, white clouds, red flowers and green trees make up a beautiful picture of Guangzhou, which makes people feel suddenly enlightened and relaxed.