Yuantouzhu Scenic Area is a famous modern garden that was built at the beginning of the last century. Since the last century, a large number of private gardens that absorbed Western culture have emerged in Wuxi, and Yuantouzhu is the largest one among them. It was built in 1918 by Yang Hanxi, chairman of the Wuxi Chamber of Commerce in the late Qing Dynasty. At that time, he cleverly used the real mountains and real water to build the garden, making this private garden three-quarters pleasant and seven-quarters natural. It is also an excellent place to appreciate the water of Taihu Lake. In 1958, Guo Moruo took a tour of Taihu Lake and left behind a poem: "The best place in Taihu Lake is in Yuantou after all." The development of Yuantouzhu Scenic Area has gone through two stages. One is the garden just introduced in the last century, which is the essence of the entire scenic area. The other is the large-scale expansion after the 1980s, which expanded the area from the original 60 acres to the current area. of 1960 acres. It is divided into ten major scenic spots with different functions. Some are mainly for sightseeing and some are for spreading Taoist culture. There are convenient land and water transportation between the scenic spots. There are also sanatoriums and resort islands suitable for vacation and leisure around the scenic area. At present, Yuantouzhu has an annual reception volume of about 2.2 million, and has become a prime tourist spot on the East China tourism line. There are so many tourists visiting our scenic spot. The key is that the scenic spot has scenery to enjoy all year round. They are spring flowers, autumn moon, summer lotus and winter snow.
The Yuantouzhu Archway was built in 1973. It was the old gate of the Yuantouzhu Scenic Area in the past. It is now the prelude to the "Yuanzhu Spring Wave", the first of the eighteen scenic spots in Wuxi. "韼" is an animal that looks like a turtle, and "饚" refers to a small landmass facing water on three sides. Because it looks like a turtle's head, it is called Yuantouzhu. On the back of the gatehouse are engraved the four characters "山 splendor and river beauty", which highlights the characteristics of the scenery here: "the mountains are not high but elegant, and the water is not deep but vast". Going along the avenue, we can see the 300-meter-long azalea slope. Rhododendron is the city flower of Wuxi City. During the Qingming Festival, azaleas bloom all over the mountains and fields in the woods, under the forest, and by the streams, reflecting the red color of the mountains. Sea of ??flowers. The lush trees on both sides are camphor trees, which are the city trees of Wuxi. The hotel we see on the right is called Hengyun Hotel. It has a history of nearly a hundred years. It is built on the water. Here you can not only taste the special dishes of the "Three Whites of Taihu Lake", but also appreciate the majestic beauty and the fishing sails. Beautiful view of Taihu Lake. Wuxi is a famous city in the south of the Yangtze River with a history of 3100 years. There are many celebrities in the history, including the diplomat Xue Fucheng, the mathematician Hua Hengfang, and the writer Qian Zhongshu. There is also a celebrity in the tourism industry, he is Xu Xiake, known as the "Chinese Travel Saint". He was a famous traveler and geographer in the Ming Dynasty. He measured life with his feet and wrote an ancient book "Xu Xiake's Travels".
Please take a look at this bronze statue of Xu Xiake, which is 3.6 meters high and made of more than 4 tons of copper. It was designed by the famous sculptor Wu Weishan and cast by Shanxi Yuda Group to commemorate the 420th anniversary of Xu Xiake’s birth and the 400th anniversary of his trip to Taihu Lake. shaped. The statue has bright eyes and a resolute expression, which symbolizes his ideals, far-sightedness, exploration of the truth, and courage to move forward. His feet are slightly bent, symbolizing the hardships of his journey across mountains and rivers. The figure has been artistically processed, and the clothes and coir raincoat are fluttering in the wind, like flowing water or undulating mountains, symbolizing the historical incarnation of this "Chinese Traveling Saint" who is integrated with the mountains, rivers and earth. The entire statue embodies Xiake's spirit of "exploring the unknown and mastering the unreachable" and "traveling without borders and traveling in China". The reason why he settled in Yuantouzhu Scenic Area is because Taihu Lake was Xu Xiake's first trip 400 years ago. At that time, he entered the canal from the Jiangyin River and then through the canal to Yuantouzhu, Taihu Lake. From Yuantouzhu, he set out for Dongshan and Xishan in Suzhou. Yuantouzhu was Xu Xiake's first stop on his grand tour of China. He visited Taihu Lake many times in his life, and Yuantouzhu is known as the first scenic spot in Taihu Lake, so he chose Yuantouzhu, "the best place in Taihu Lake", as the location of China's first bronze statue of Xu Xiake.
The installation of the bronze statue of Xu Xiake has created many "firsts" across the country and even the world. The first bronze statue of Xu Xiake, other places are stone statues and jade statues. The first statue is the young Xu Xiake, and the others are mostly middle-aged and elderly statues. At the same time, it is also the Xu Xiake statue with the largest investment, costing more than 1 million yuan. It is the first bronze statue of Xu Xiake in Wuxi city and so on.
Dear guests, please continue to visit. The archway with brackets and cornices by the lake in front was once a pier in a private garden, but now it has become a symbol of the climax of the tour. There are four words on the archway, "Juqu Shengjing". "Juqu" is the ancient name of Taihu Lake. "Ju" means complete, "Qu" means area, and "Juqu" means completely water, indicating that Taihu Lake is very vast. Taihu Lake is also known as "Zhenze" and "Five Lakes".
The four words "Special Scenic Area" tell us: The most beautiful place in Taihu Lake has arrived! This coincides with Mr. Guo's evaluation of "Taihu Lake is the best place". Wuxi is a famous city in the south of the Yangtze River with a long history. As early as 3,500 years ago, Taibo, the eldest son of the King of Zhou Dynasty in Shaanxi Province, ran south to Jingman in order to give up the throne and came to Meili, Wuxi, which is today's village. He founded the "Gou Wu Kingdom". ". It lasted for more than 600 years, so Wuxi is the birthplace of Wu culture. After the Sui and Tang Dynasties, with the excavation of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and its integration with the Yangtze River and Taihu water systems, Wuxi's waterway transportation was convenient and it became a cargo distribution center. Wuxi is the famous "cloth wharf" and "silk market" in history, and is also one of the "Four Big Rice Countries". city". Convenient transportation has driven the great development of Wuxi's economy. By the 1940s, Wuxi was known as "Little Shanghai". While the economy is developing, Wuxi has always been Wuxi County due to its low organizational structure in history. Therefore, its popularity is lower than that of Suzhou. In the 1980s, in order to expand its influence, the Wuxi Tourism Bureau went to the public to collect tourism slogans. Among more than 4,000 slogans, this sentence on this stone tablet (Yuan Xiaoguo, Jiangsu Provincial Tourism Promotion Office) was selected: "Wuxi is full of warmth and water. ", "warmth", Wuxi is the birthplace of Wuxi culture. Wu culture advocates gentleness and elegance, which also reflects the high-quality services of Wuxi tourism. As for "water", in Wuxi, which is full of water town customs, water is the soul and the core. Everything is inseparable from water. The convenient waterway transportation has contributed to the great economic development of Wuxi. At the same time, Taihu Lake water irrigates farmland, making Wuxi a famous land of fish and rice. Nowadays, Wuxi's tourism is inseparable from water. Yuantouzhu is famous both at home and abroad for its unique scenery of "real mountains and real waters".
Engraved on the back are the Chinese lyrics of "Wuxi Travel". In order to increase its popularity, Wuxi City, in addition to using various publicity methods, also pays special attention to combining culture and art with tourism activities. In May 1986, the famous Japanese poet and composer Daisaburo Nakayama and Nagayamada Hirosaku of Tokyo ABC Music Publishing House were invited to travel to Wuxi through Japan's Hankyu Travel Agency. After returning to China, they quickly created and published "Wuxi Travel" and "Qingming Festival" "Bridge" two songs, sung by Japanese popular singer Daisaku Ogata. In particular, the song "Wuxi Travel" was played on six TV stations in Japan for half a year. The record sales exceeded 1 million and became popular throughout Japan. Many Japanese friends learned about Wuxi from this song and came to visit them in admiration. Come to Wuxi for travel. It is also the influence of this song that drives Wuxi's economy. Wuxi is now a famous highland for Japanese investment. More than a thousand Japanese companies have settled in Wuxi New Area, and many of them have investment scales exceeding US$10 million. Hengyun Stone Wall is a famous scenic spot in Yuantouzhu. The strange peaks and rocks here half surround a natural large inlet. On the cliff are engraved the six characters "Hengyun" and "Wu Yue", which were written by Liao Lun, the magistrate of Wuxi County in the late Qing Dynasty. On the eighth day of the first lunar month in the Xinmao year of Guangxu (AD 1891), Liao Lun and his friends took a boat here. They felt that the place was majestic, so he happily wrote the words "Wu Yue is included" and "Heng Yun", and engraved them on the stone wall to make them The lakes and mountains add color.
"Including Wu and Yue" describes Taihu Lake's majestic momentum, spanning Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces. Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces were mainly the territories of Wu and Yue 2400 years ago, with Taihu Lake in between. The lake water irrigated the land of the two countries, making them The people of the country have benefited greatly. Taihu Lake is like a great mother who nurtured the children of Wu and Yue with her own "milk".
"Hengyun" refers to looking back at Yuantouzhu from a distance in the lake. All we can see is the vast sky above and below, the water and sky are the same color, and the lakeshore in this area is like a colorful cloud hanging across the sky, drifting gently. The original Hengyun Villa was also named after the Hengyun Stone Carving. (Look at the stone wall below. There are 8 characters on it: "The place where Duke Zhongxian of the Ming Dynasty washed his feet". Duke Zhongxian of the Ming Dynasty refers to Gao Panlong, one of the important leaders of the Donglin Party in the Ming Dynasty. Gao Panlong was once the leader of the Donglin Party in Wuxi. Lin Shuyuan lectured. Later, because the Donglin Party offended the eunuch Wei Zhongxian, he was mercilessly attacked by Wei Zhongxian's eunuchs, which caused a terrible "party disaster". After Gao Panlong returned to Wuxi, he often hid in the lake built on the east side of Lihu Lake. He studied in "Shuiju". At that time, the academy was destroyed and traitors were rampant. He called himself "Old Man of Lake Water". He did not receive guests or talk about current affairs. He only kept company with flowers and birds. He often went to the beach of Yuantouzhu Lake to wash his feet and take "Lushui Old Man". "The water in Canglang is turbid, you can wash my feet", which means to hide from the world and be content with what you have. Despite this, the Wei party still did not let him go, and the persecution became worse day by day. Gao Panlong knew that he could not help it, so in 1626 In the early morning of March 17, he calmly fell into the water and died in the garden behind his residence. His descendants set up a stone by the pool and engraved "Gaozi Zhishui" on it.
After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War, Wuxi native Zhu Songan wrote "The place where Duke Zhongxian of the Ming Dynasty washed his feet" on the stone wall to commemorate Gao Panlong. ) We have just talked about the origin of the name Yuantouzhu, so what is a turtle? Now everyone will follow me to see what a turtle is like.
There are two versions of "Motor", one is the turtle in nature, and the other is the turtle in myths and legends. In nature, the turtle is an animal similar to the turtle, and in some places it is called the "big turtle". In fact, there are differences between turtles and turtles: the maximum weight of turtles is only three or four kilograms, while the weight of turtles can exceed 100 kilograms; the snout of turtles is long and pointed, while the snout of turtles has no tip and the mouth is round; the turtle is also called the mangy-headed turtle because of the There are scattered wart-like protrusions on the head, but the head of the turtle is smooth; the shape of the turtle is oblate, but the shape of the turtle is perfectly round. Therefore, southerners commonly call it "Tuanyu", which means reunion and "surplus", which is very auspicious. It is a national second-level protected animal and most of it grows in Guangxi.
In myths and legends, the turtle is the eldest son born between a dragon and a turtle. It has the head of a dragon, the body of a turtle, the body of a phoenix, and the tail of an eagle, just like the divine turtle we see before us. It is made of bronze, 1.7 meters long, 1.3 meters high, 1.1 meters wide and weighs 700 kilograms. It was presented to Wuxi by the "Chinese Bronze Culture Revival Company" during the first "Taihu Spring Art Festival" in May 1985. Yuantouzhu Park. This "Zhenze Divine Turtle" was created by the famous sculptor Qing Baozhi, and is engraved with the seal-cut inscription of Professor Zhu Fuji. Chenglan Hall was built in 1931. It was built in the style of the palaces of the Song and Ming Dynasties. It has 5 rooms in width and is surrounded by verandahs. It is extraordinary and majestic. It is the main building of "Yuanzhu Chuntao". "Cheng" means calm and clear water, and "LAN" means undulating waves. The name "Chenglan Hall" means that you can enjoy the changing natural scenery of Taihu Lake here. Yuantouzhu itself is ever-changing, and there is fog again after showers. Moreover, it is located high up, so you can see far and near, in spring, summer, autumn, and winter, in the morning, middle and evening, rainy and sunny, and the scenery is different. It is really "the waves are as famous as the pines, and the clear water lasts for a long time." One color”! The scenery can be compared with the scenery of Hongdu (now Nanchang) described in "Preface to Prince Teng's Pavilion" written by Tang Dynasty writer Wang Bo. Therefore, Chen Kuilong wrote on the couplets holding the pillars on both sides of the hall:
The mountains are crossed by the traces of horses, the Zhuzhu is standing on the turtle's head, and the lake is full of light and the green fields are open;
The rain rolls down the bead curtain, and the clouds Feihuadong, the scenery here is better than Hongdu.
"Hongdu" refers to "Tengwang Pavilion".
Overview of Yuantouzhu
Yuantouzhu is located on the shore of Taihu Lake in the southwest suburbs of Wuxi, about 18 kilometers away from the urban area. It can be said that it occupies the most beautiful corner of Taihu Lake. Looking to the south, Taihu Lake has the style of Qingdao's seaside; looking to the north, Taihu Lake has the beautiful scenery of Hangzhou West Lake. This natural scenery of real mountains and rivers is supplemented by ingenious artificial embellishments, making it the most ideal tourist destination for viewing Taihu Lake. No wonder the poet Guo Moruo, after taking a tour of Taihu Lake, commented that "the best place in Taihu Lake is in Yuantou after all." Yuantouzhu has attracted literati of the past dynasties with its boundless wind and moon, "the mountains are not high but elegant, the water is not deep but vast", as well as the magical changes in the morning, noon and evening, sunny, cloudy and rainy scenery, and the four seasons of spring flowers, autumn moon, summer lotus and winter snow. poets and countless Chinese and foreign tourists.
In the early years of the Republic of China, Yang Hanxi, a native of Wuxi, purchased 60 acres of mountain land here. In 1918, he began the initial development of Yuantouzhu and began to build "Hengyun Villa"; in 1924, he allocated another 1 acres of land. Monk Liang Ru raised funds to move the Guangfu Temple in the back mountain here and renamed it Guangfu Temple. In 1925, Yang Hanxi used his status as the president of the Wuxi Business Group to raise funds from the industrial and commercial circles to build the "Tao Zhu Pavilion". During the Anti-Japanese War, it was renamed "Hengyun Park".
The Yuantouzhu area also has the "Taihu Villa" built by Wang Xinru in 1927; the "Ruopu" built by Chen Zhongyan in 1928; the "Zheng Garden" built by Zheng Mingshan in 1931; and the retreats of He Jiwu and Cai Miansan. . At that time, these scenery were blocked by Li Lake and the transportation was inconvenient, so there were not many tourists. In 1934, Mr. Rong Desheng celebrated his 60th birthday. He used his birthday gift to build a 375-meter-long bridge on Lihu Lake. It was named "Baojie Bridge" because the southern end was built on Baojie Mountain. From then on, it connected the north and south of Lihu Lake. The land transportation on both sides of the strait connects the scenery of Meiyuan, Liyuan and Yuantouzhu, making it convenient for tourists to visit. At the same time, the long bridge lies on the waves, blocking the middle of Lihu Lake and adding a bit of beauty. The 60 bridge holes under the bridge are also It just symbolizes the 60th birthday of Mr. Rong Desheng and reminds people to never forget the people who built the bridge when they cross the bridge.
After liberation, the government merged the original gardens and villas here into "Yuantouzhu Park".
A large-scale expansion began in 1982, and the area was expanded from the original 480 acres to 1,950 acres, collectively known as "a scenic spot in the district." There are ten major scenic spots in the park (Chun Zhu Spring Waves, Ten Thousand Waves of Snow, Luwan Summer Relief, The True Meaning of Lakes and Mountains, Luding Yinghui, Chongshan Yinxiu, Depths of Lotus Roots, Ten Miles of Fragrant Path, Zhongdu Morning Mist, and Three Mountains Reflection). Bi), what we want to visit is Yuanzhu Chuntao Scenic Area, which is the essence of the entire garden.