Seven Mile ShanTang: A Discussion of the Origin and Several Legends of ShanTang Street

Since the first year of the Tang Dynasty, commerce had flourished in the area of in Suzhou. As Cao Xueqin describes in the first chapter of ‘Dream of the Red Chamber’ – ‘It is most the place where a few wealthy and glamorous figures of the wealthy and talented enjoy their lives.’ At that time, Tiger Hill (Huqi) was already famous and called ‘the first scenic spot in Wu.’ Officials and wealthy people and common people all liked to go to Tiger Hill to play and enjoy the music. However, at that time there was no street for horse-drawn carriages, and there was no river for boats to float leisurely.

People who wanted to go from to Tiger Hill, although the straight distance was less than ten miles, they had to pass through villages, fields and small roads, winding and convoluted, which was very time-consuming. If it rained, the muddy road was slippery, and it was really embarrassing. There was no straight road connecting and Tiger Hill, which was a great regret for the people!

A good news is that in the first year of the Tang Dynasty (825), the great poet Bai Juyi, who had been the governor of Hangzhou, became the governor of Suzhou. When he first arrived in Suzhou, the poet, who loved the beauty of the world, naturally went to Tiger Hill. The beautiful and ancient scenic spot of Tiger Hill was equally appreciated by those who went back and forth between and Tiger Hill.

Our great poet Bai Juyi is not just a scholar, but also a capable official who loves the people. Perhaps he had already thought, ‘It is better to go home and sell potatoes than to serve as an official.’ In Hangzhou, it was seen that the West Lake was blocked by silt, causing floods and making life miserable for the people. Bai Juyi decisively implemented the reconstruction and renovation project of West Lake, which had the spirit of large-scale construction projects today, and thus created the beautiful West Lake, which is now ‘West Lake should be compared with Xizi.’ The White Terrace in West Lake is a memorial built by the people of Hangzhou to express their gratitude to Bai Juyi.

Now ‘Heaven has paradise, and earth has Suzhou and Hangzhou,’ Suzhou also has the same problem of blocked waterways and unimpassable streets. Bai Juyi launched another project – the government took the lead in mobilizing workers to excavate rivers and build dams. A waterway from to Tiger Hill was completed: ShanTang Street and ShanTang River. The riverbank was planted with peach, willow, bamboo and thousands of branches, which blossomed in spring and created a beautiful and picturesque landscape.

Since the completion of the dam, teahouses, handicraft workshops and shops along the street have flourished. Guild halls and hermit poets have also set up their residences. Thus, ShanTang River was filled with picture galleries and dance halls, and ShanTang Street was prosperous and bustling.

In order to thank and commemorate Bai Juyi's achievements, ShanTang Street is often called ‘Bai Gongdi’s Dam.’ Because ShanTang Street stretches from Du Seng Bridge to Wangshan Bridge, it is 3600 meters long, so it is commonly called ‘Seven Mile ShanTang,’ and it is regarded as ‘the first ancient street in China.’

Regarding ‘Seven Mile ShanTang,’ there are two versions of the legend.

During the Spring and Autumn Period, King Helu of Wu died of illness after being injured in a battle with the Yue people. His son, King Zhuang, buried him in Haiyungshan. Together with three swords, ‘Bian Zhu’ and ‘Yichang,’ he buried them. It is said that there was a white tiger crouching on the mountain three days after the burial, so ‘Haiyungshan’ was renamed ‘Tiger Hill.’

After thousands of years, when Bai Gongdi was built, a lion wanted to seize Tiger Hill. The white tiger feared that he could not do it by himself, so he hired seven powerful cats to help him, and successfully defeated the lion’s invasion. In order to ensure the eternity of Tiger Hill, the white tiger and the seven cats signed a lifelong contract. The seven cats were in charge of the seven places on ShanTang Street, so it was called ‘Seven Cats ShanTang.’ The seven cats were: Meirenli, Tonggui, Wenxing, Caoyun, Haiyung, Baigui and Fenghu, enjoying a high salary and a gold and silver reward, and faithfully performing their duties in charge of the seven places on ShanTang Bridge, Tonggui Bridge, Xing Bridge, Caoyun Bridge, Qingyan Bridge, Pujie Bridge and Xishan Temple Bridge.

Another version also has seven cats, but the cause is not the conflict between the lion and the cat, but the anxiety of Zhu Yuanzhang about seizing the throne. In the late Yuan Dynasty, many warlords rose up. A private salt merchant, Zhang Shi Cheng, repeatedly won victories and established a dynasty called the Great Zhou under the banner of the True King, and declared himself the King of Cheng.

However, in 1366, Zhu Yuanzhang dispatched General Xu Da to attack Suzhou and completely defeated the Great Zhou dynasty. Zhang Shi Cheng committed suicide, but considering that Zhang Shi Cheng had developed water conservancy, exempted taxes and promoted commerce in Suzhou, and gained the gratitude of the people, Zhu Yuanzhang feared that the people would not be stable, so he sent Liu Bowen, a ‘genius who has calculated for eight hundred miles and planned for a thousand years,’ to investigate the situation of the people in Suzhou.

Liu Bowen was not an ordinary person. He found the dragon vein of the Great Zhou in ShanTang Street, and invited seven ancient gods with locks of ten thousand jin to help him, and together they restrained the dragon, making it unable to turn over. ShanTang Street was one cat in one place, so it was called ‘Seven Cats ShanTang.’

With ShanTang Street, ShanTang River and the talent of the people, it was also possible to tell the stories of talented men and beautiful women. Let’s talk about the story of Tang Yin and Tang Bohu and Autumn Fragrance in ‘Three Smiles.’ The talented Tang Bohu, went to Tiger Hill to stroll along ShanTang Street, which gave birth to Autumn Fragrance. After Autumn Fragrance descended and left, Tang Bohu hired a small boat to chase the boat to Wuxing to sell himself as a slave. The place where the book ‘Chasing the Boat’ was written was on ShanTang River.

In addition to talented men and beautiful women, there were also many wealthy families on ShanTang Street. Let’s just say a few things.

The design of Suzhou Museum, which is familiar to everyone, is the famous architect Mr. Bei Yutong. Bei Family’s Ancestral Hall is located on ShanTang Street. It is said that there is a story between Bei Family and the immortal Liu Haichang.

Once, ‘A Bao,’ a stranger, came to Bei Family to find a job. Seeing that A Bao was honest and simple, Mr. Bei left him. A Bao worked hard and was not afraid of hardship, so he was liked by Mr. Bei, but he was often bullied by the steward. That year, on the Lantern Festival, A Bao and Autumn Fragrance went to Xuanmiao to watch the lanterns. They didn’t go home until late at night. The distance was not far, but they didn’t go home until dawn. The steward took advantage of the opportunity to slander A Bao. While A Bao was telling the truth, Autumn Fragrance told a story about the lantern show in Xuanmiao.

The next day, A Bao went to draw water from a well and found a three-legged crippled cat. A Bao happily took the crippled cat to his shoulder and played with it happily. In fact, A Bao was Liu Haichang, the immortal, and finally found his lost golden toad.

It is also a good thing to encourage people to do good deeds and accumulate virtue.

Besides Bei Family, there was also Mr. Wu Yipeng, the Minister of Rites and Academician, who was promoted to the rank of Academician and Hanlin Academy, and was known as Wu Lao. To facilitate his frequent exchanges with Master Fang at Bodhi Temple in ShanTang Street, he built ShanTang Bridge. This bridge symbolizes prosperity and wealth, of course, is the Ancestral Hall of Bei Family.

Mr. Wu died at the age of 83 and was buried at the south foot of Dayang Mountain. Now there is a four-square stone pavilion called ‘Old Man Wu Pavilion’ to commemorate his achievements.

There are many landscapes and customs on ShanTang Street, waiting for people with destiny to talk about the stories.

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