There is a temple for King Qian in the "Weeping Orioles in the Willows" scenic area of ??West Lake in Hangzhou. "Qian Temple for Loyalty" was also one of the "Ten Scenic Spots of West Lake" in 2007. Speaking of ancient celebrities in Hangzhou today, the most familiar ones include Su Xiaoxiao, Bai Juyi, Su Shi, Yue Fei, Yu Qian, etc. But the one who made the greatest contribution to the development of Hangzhou and West Lake is Qian, the founding king of Wuyue in the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms.镠.
Hangzhou was called Yuhang in ancient times. According to legend, Dayu took a boat to Kuaiji Mountain to convene the princes, but abandoned the boat when he arrived in Hangzhou, so it was called Yuhang. "Hang" means wooden boat. "People above the Six Dynasties never heard of West Lake." Compared with Suzhou in the north and Shaoxing in the south, when Hangzhou was already tall and graceful, people were already gray-haired. It was not until Emperor Wen of the Sui Dynasty established Hangzhou in the lower reaches of the Qiantang River and Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty opened the Grand Canal to the door of Hangzhou that Hangzhou won the spring of development.
During the Tang Dynasty, Li Mi, the governor of Hangzhou, was the first person to build Hangzhou. "Hangzhou is a state. It is the hometown of rivers and seas. The water springs are salty and bitter, and the residents are scattered. Since Li Mi began to divert the lake water to make six wells, then the people were satisfied with the water. The wells and cities became rich day by day, and millions of people gathered here to eat." The construction of Bai Juyi has made it an emerging tourist city. "When I recall the south of the Yangtze River, the most memorable thing is Hangzhou. I look for osmanthus seeds in the middle of the moon in the mountain temples, and watch the tide on the pillow in the county pavilion. When will I visit again?"
Hangzhou in Tourism is not a bad idea in prosperous times, but in troubled times, it would be too dangerous for a small city like this to serve as the capital. In addition, the Qiantang River floods have curbed economic production. Therefore, Qian Liu did several major things in a targeted manner during his time in power.
The first thing is to transform the city of Hangzhou. First, build a high wall and expand the Fucheng, which is equivalent to the outer city of Hangzhou; secondly, build a Luocheng between the Fucheng and the Royal City, which is equivalent to the main city of Hangzhou. The shape of this middle city is interesting, with ten gates in the shape of a waist drum. The shape was naturally adapted to local conditions. To this day, the outline of the old city of Hangzhou still roughly retains the shape of this waist drum. Finally, the Royal City was expanded with Fenghuang Mountain as the center, which is equivalent to the inner city of Hangzhou. Naturally, it is inevitable to build a palace in the royal city for your own enjoyment.
Three such large-scale construction projects naturally caused widespread resentment among the people. But Qian Liu said it very truthfully: "Thousands of years later, those who know me will use this city, and those who sin against me will also use this city. If I gain something from others and harm myself, I have no shame!" (Luo Yin's "Hangzhou" It is true that from a short-term perspective, the construction of Hangzhou City can protect the people of Hangzhou; from a long-term perspective, Hangzhou has since become China's "paradise". How can Qian's mistakes be compared with his merits?
The second item is the construction of Qiantang embankment. Qiantang River was originally called Luosha River, but the name is not a good one. Although the tide of the Qiantang River is breathtaking, the tide also eroded farmland and swallowed up farmhouses, making Hangzhou's development before the Tang Dynasty extremely painful. On the one hand, Qian Liu ordered the construction of a seawall, which was more than 100 kilometers long from Liuhe Pagoda to Genshan Gate and was indestructible; on the other hand, he built Longshan Gate and Zhejiang Gate to prevent the inflow of sea tides. When the seawall was built, it was washed away as soon as it was built, so Qian Liu "ordered hundreds of crossbows to shoot at the head of the tide."
Legend has it that the Qiantang River God is Wu Zixu, an official of the Wu State who died unjustly in the Spring and Autumn Period. However, the River God was unable to fight against Qian Liu and was shot away. This approach has a strong color of witchcraft, but it does not prove that Qian Liu is superstitious. On the contrary, it is more to stabilize the mood of the frontline civilians, and the actual work of reinforcing the seawall has not been slackened at all. Because Qian Liu defeated Jiang Shen Wu Zixu, he was nicknamed "Sea Dragon King".
The third item is dredging the West Lake. Bai Juyi has been managing the West Lake for more than a hundred years. By the time Qian Liu took over, the West Lake was already a pool of dirty water filled with water hyacinths. So Qian Liu formed a construction team known as the "Lake Soldiers", and West Lake was quickly restored to its original appearance. At this time, there was also a sorcerer who said that building a palace on Fenghuang Mountain would only last for a hundred years. If the West Lake was filled with buildings, the Wuyue Kingdom could last for thousands of years.
Qian Liu smiled at this bad idea of ??enclosing the lake to build farmland, and said: "The West Lake is a famous scenic spot in Daxia, how can it be filled up? Besides, a king will rise in five hundred years, how can there be no God in the world in a thousand years? Is it enough to have a country for a hundred years?
"Among the emperors who were superstitious about Feng Shui, Qian Liu was an anomaly. If Qian Liu had believed in Fang Warlock, we would not be able to see the magnificent West Lake today, and the beauty of Hangzhou would be less than half of that.
The fourth thing is the construction of Buddhist temples and pagodas. Friends who have been to Hangzhou know that the Buddhist industry in Hangzhou is very developed. This is also due to Qian Liu who was very enthusiastic about Buddhism during his reign. Many Buddhist temples, stone carvings, and scripture towers were built, and this belief was passed down to his descendants. Later, his grandson Qian Chu came to the throne and built the Four Pagodas in Hangzhou - Baochu Pagoda, Leifeng Pagoda, Liuhe Pagoda, and White Pagoda. Only the White Pagoda is not there, and the other three pagodas are famous far and wide.
Among them, the Baochu Pagoda is located on the Baoshi Mountain on the north bank of the West Lake, facing the Leifeng Pagoda across the lake. It has been compared by literati to a beauty versus an old monk. The He Pagoda was built on the bank of the Qiantang River. The Ten Scenes of the West Lake in the Southern Song Dynasty included the Lei Feng Sunset. In 1985, the Ten Scenes of the West Lake included the Gemstone Flowing Clouds. In 2007, the Ten Scenes of the West Lake included the Liuhe Tingtao. Qian Liu not only inherited Buddhist culture. , It has also contributed greatly to the development of Hangzhou's tourism industry from ancient times to the present.
Qian Liu not only focused on domestic affairs, but also directly connected foreign affairs. "New History of the Five Dynasties" records that Qian Liu "sent envoys to Silla. , King of the Bohai Sea, all the countries in the sea will worship his king." It is a bit unbelievable to be able to canonize the Northeastern countries across the sea. In addition, he also focused on the development of overseas trade, with Japan, North Korea and other countries To do some business, many merchant ships sailing out of the Qiantang River were loaded with Yue kiln porcelain. The economy and population of the Wuyue area developed rapidly at this time.
Today when we travel to Hangzhou, we should remember Bai Juyi and commemorate Yue Fei. , Qian Liu should be remembered more
References:
(Song Dynasty) Qian Yan: "History of Wu and Yue"
(Song Dynasty) Editor-in-chief Xue Juzheng: "Old History". "History of the Five Dynasties"
Editor-in-chief Ouyang Xiu (Song Dynasty): "New History of the Five Dynasties"
He Yongqiang: "Manuscript of Qian's History of Wuyue"
Author Lin Wugongzi , literary and historical writer, focusing on the history of the Pre-Qin, Qin and Han Dynasties. He has published three works: "Chronicles of the Ancient Countries of the Pre-Qin", "Chronicles of the Ancient Countries of the Pre-Qin: The Spring and Autumn Period of Wu and Yue", and "The Complete Collection of Classics of Mountains and Seas". His works are scattered in print media such as "National Humanities History" and NetEase History Channel. Thanks for reading and welcome to follow!