Seven Castles

Tiger Hill

                                      

September 16, 2006

 

Tiger Hill, 3.5 kilometers northwest of Suzhou, lays claims to being the "first scenic spot in the State of Wu". He Lu, the King of the State of Wu, is regarded as the founder of Suzhou, once the capital of the state. According to legend, King He Lu died in battles against Yue, the neighbor state. Fu Chai, his son, buried him in the hill, where he enjoyed himself during his lifetime. Three days after the funeral, a white tiger came and sat upon the grave, seeming to be a guard. From then on, the artificial hill has been known as Tiger Hill. There are others who say that the hill was given the name "Tiger" simply because it looks like a crouching tiger. Whichever is more credible, the name has been in use for more than 25 centuries.

 

Dotted here and there with huge picturesque rocks and densely wooded, in addition to a glittering assemblage of beautiful pavilions and towers, Tiger Hill has been praised as "the most beautiful of all hills in south of the Yangtze River". With the sojourns in the neighborhood of famous men of letters in history and the many stories and anecdotes being circulated about them, Tiger Hill has further been invested with an air of romance and mystery. For this reason, it draws huge crowds of sightseers. Su Dongpo, the Song poet, said, " it would be a great pity if one visits Suzhou but does not go sightseeing at Tiger Hill."

 

Tiger Hill is a large hillock, standing 36 meters high and covering an area of some 14,100 square meters. Going up to the hill, you will find a number of historical sites, including some from 2,500 years ago, which are as old as the city of Suzhou. Since it is surrounded by flat, even country, it gives the impression of being higher and steeper than it actually is. The seven-story pagoda at the top, surrounded by densely grown woods and bamboo groves, offers thus quite an imposing and lofty sight, in spite of or because of its decided lean. The pagoda was first built in 959, octagonal in shape. Its architectural style is similar to that of the Leifeng Pagoda in Hangzhou. In history, it has seven times been ravaged by fire which resulted in the destruction of the dome and the wooden eaves on the outside, leaving intact only the brick-built body. The presence of this towering pagoda at the top lends a special charm to the hill and that is why the two together have become a symbol of Suzhou.

 

At the foot of the hill there is a sword pond, 5 meters deep. King He Lu was a zealous collector of rare swords and it is said that he tested them upon the stone, leaving the crevice on the rock. As for his swords, it is believed that they were buried beneath the sword pond as funerary objects. Another mystery is the whereabouts of the remains of the 1,000 tomb builders who were killed upon the completion of the project.

 

During the Eastern Jin Dynasty, with a temple built on the hill, Tiger Hill changed into a Buddhism hill from the tomb of the kings. In successive dynasties, more and more architectures were added here and with the change of the dynasties. Tiger Hill experienced the rise and the fall endlessly during 2400 years, which leaves us numerous relics of legacy of history. The ancient carving, the horizontal inscribed boards, the couplets, the poems of the celebrities, the various scenes, the paintings and the handwritings, the whole reaches a seldom seen amount, hardly found around the world.

 

【作者: zhangliping】【访问统计:】【2006年09月16日 星期六 07:39】【 加入博采】【打印】