Luzhi Town () is a famous historic old town located in the

Wuzhong District Wuzhong District () is one of five urban districts of Suzhou, Jiangsu Province, China. It has a land area of and had a population of 590,000 in 2001. Administrative divisions In the present, Wuzhong District has 8 subdistricts and 7 towns. ;8 s ...

, 18 km east of

Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu (; ; pinyin: Jiāngsū, Postal romanization, alternatively romanized as Kiangsu or Chiangsu) is an Eastern China, eastern coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province of the China, People's Republic of China. It is o ...

province, China.

Etymology

It was also known as Puli (),() has two pronunciations, 'fu' and 'pu'. () is pronounced as Pu-li, not Fu-li. an ancient name for this town. This river town was named after a

Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

recluse poet

Lu Guimeng Lu Guimeng (; died 881), courtesy name Luwang (), was a recluse Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty. He lived in seclusion at Puli near Suzhou. His pseudonyms included Mr. Puli (), Tiansuizhi (), and Jianghu Sanren (). He and his friend, the fell ...

who retired in this town. Lu Guimong had a pseudonym: Mr. Pu-li (). At that time, Puli consisted of two districts: Puli () and Liuzhi (). Liuzhi meant that there were six straight rivers in the town. In the Suzhou dialect, "liu" was pronounced as "lu", and () pronounced as Luzhi. At the end of the

Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...

, Puli was changed to Luzhi township of Yuanhe County. Luzhi is famous for its beautiful waterways and ancient bridges, some of the bridges dated back to the

Song dynasty The Song dynasty (; ; 960–1279) was an imperial dynasty of China that began in 960 and lasted until 1279. The dynasty was founded by Emperor Taizu of Song following his usurpation of the throne of the Later Zhou. The Song conquered the rest ...

. A walk in the ancient town Luzhi is said to be a walk into history frozen in time, tranquil and serene. The

Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty (), officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China, ruling from 1368 to 1644 following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming dynasty was the last ort ...

poet

Gao Qi Gao Qi (, 1336–1374), courtesy name Jidi (), pseudonym Qingqiuzi (), was a Chinese poet who lived in the early Ming dynasty. He is generally acknowledged as one of the greatest creators of Ming poetry. Gao Qi was born and raised in the shore of ...

poem : "Scene of Puli" is still an accurate description of the scenery in the ancient town Luzhi today: :Scene of Puli :''Long bridge short bridge with willows'' :''Front stream rear stream with lotus'' :''People watching banner over wine store risen'' :''Seagulls escort boat to home of fishman.'' Luzhi is one of the best preserved old towns in China, along with its old canals and streets. In 2003, the Chinese government published a list of "Ten Famous Chinese Historical Townships", with Luzhi featured on this list. In 2004, Luzhi was awarded a Township Preservation Award by UNESCO.

Sights

* The old town and its canals. * Baosheng Temple. Baoshen Temple boasts a history of thousand years, built in the second year of Tianjiang of

Liang Dynasty The Liang dynasty (), alternatively known as the Southern Liang () in historiography, was an imperial dynasty of China and the third of the four Southern dynasties during the Northern and Southern dynasties period. It was preceded by the South ...

(503 AD). By Song dynasty it was called the Baoshen Zen Temple, with 5000 halls and one thousand monks. :The Arhat statues in the Baoshen Temple are national treasures. They were the work of the

Tang Dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, t= ), or Tang Empire, was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907 AD, with an Zhou dynasty (690–705), interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dyn ...

sculptor Yang Huizhi. * Tang Dynasty poet Lu Guimong tomb, with Fare Breeze Pavilion and two of his hand planted ginkgo trees. * Former Residence of Shen Bohan () * First reformer Wang Tao Memorial Hall * Educator and writer

Ye Shengtao Ye Shengtao (28 October 1894 – 16 February 1988) was a Chinese writer, journalist, educator, publisher and politician. He was a founder of the Association for Literary Studies (), the first literature association during the May Fourth Movement ...

Memorial Hall, at former site of The 5th High School where Ye Shengtao taught from 1917 - 1922.

Food

* Puli Trotters and Puli duck: Two dishes in Luzhi township are Puli trotters () and Puli duck (). They are said to be prepared according to the recipe of poet Mr. Pu-li; he often treated guests with these two dishes. * Luzhi Radish (), a pickled radish prepared according to a Qing Dynasty recipe

Famous people of Puli

: Tang dynasty poet, pseudonym: Mr. Puli. *

Pi Rixiu Pi Rixiu (; ca. 834 – 883) was a Tang dynasty poet. His courtesy names were Yishao () and Ximei (), and he wrote under the pen name Lumenzi (). Pi was a contemporary of poet Lu Guimeng; these two poets are often referred to as Pi-Lu. Pi was bor ...

: Tang dynasty poet, contemporary of Lu Guimeng *

: Ming dynasty poet * Wang Tao: Qing dynasty reformer, writer, newspaper publisher *

: prominent novelist and educator.

Transportation

* buses between ** Luzhi and

, route 18. ** Luzhi and

Kunshan Kunshan is a county-level city in southeastern Jiangsu province with Shanghai bordering its eastern border and Suzhou on its western boundary. It is under the administration of the prefecture-level city of Suzhou. Name There is a strong pos ...

** Luzhi and

Shanghai Shanghai (; , , Standard Mandarin pronunciation: ) is one of the four direct-administered municipalities of the People's Republic of China (PRC). The city is located on the southern estuary of the Yangtze River, with the Huangpu River flow ...

. * Steam boats between ** Luzhi and Suzhou ** Luzhi and Kunshan

References

Bibliography

External links

{{Commons category, Luzhi
Luzhi town
Traditional folk houses in China Tourist attractions in Suzhou AAAA-rated tourist attractions