A Winter Visit to Liuhe Pagoda by Hangzhou's Qiantang River: Listening to Waves and 'Water Margin'

I didn't take a car to Liuhe Pagoda; I walked all the way from Tiger Spring to Liuhe Pagoda, following Hupao Road straight towards the Qiantang River, watching the road signs, and soon arrived.

Not far from Liuhe Pagoda, on the Qiantang River, there is the famous Qiantang River Bridge, with trains occasionally passing over it. That day it had just rained in Hangzhou, the river was wide and open, the wind had no shelter, and walking on the bridge in winter was truly cold.

By the bridge, there is the Qiantang River Bridge Memorial Hall, and under the bridge, a statue of the bridge's designer Mao Yisheng. I took the opportunity to tell my child a bit about Grandpa Mao and the bridge's story (Chinese kids have it tough, learning opportunities everywhere :-)).

Further along, there is Liuhe Pagoda, located within the Liuhe Cultural Park by the river. Although Liuhe Pagoda is very famous, in terms of visitor numbers, it's far less than Leifeng Pagoda. I think it's probably because Leifeng Pagoda is situated right by West Lake, with many scenic sights around. However, if you want to see the Qiantang River, this is the place to come.

Climbing Liuhe Pagoda is easy, at least there's no crowd control, and you won't be pushed to the top by a stream of people. Liuhe Pagoda has a seven-story brick-and-stone interior, and an eight-sided, thirteen-story wooden exterior. Each floor of Liuhe Pagoda bears an inscription by Emperor Qianlong; is there any other pagoda in China that has received such 'care' from an emperor? The inscriptions on each floor are: First Ground is Firm, Two Truths Both Melt, Three Bright Pure Realms, Four Heavens Treasure Net, Five Clouds Cover, Six Turtles Carry the Load, Seven Treasures Majestic.

From the top, you can take in the scenery of the Qiantang River. That winter day was rather overcast, the wind was cold, and the river surface was fairly calm. But even so, you could fully appreciate the vastness of Qiantang. All the essays and poems I had once heard about the Qiantang and Fuchun rivers suddenly surged up, and I didn't know which one to use best.

At the foot of Liuhe Pagoda there is a Liuhe Spring, and it is said that its water source is the same as that of Tiger Spring. However, no one draws water here now, whereas at Tiger Spring you can see people with containers fetching water.

The Liuhe Pagoda scenic area is not large; aside from the pagoda itself, I found the most interesting part to be the stories of the Water Margin heroes. After Song Jiang's successful campaign against Fang La, Lu Zhishen and Wu Song became monks here. Lu Zhishen 'heard the tide and attained perfection, saw a letter and passed away', dying here, while Wu Song and Lin Chong both died here as well. Behind Liuhe Pagoda, there is also the Liuhe Stele Pavilion, the place where Wu Song became a monk, a pagoda forest, and so on.

'Liuhe' means above and below, east, west, south, and north — that is, the entire world. It is said that Liuhe Pagoda (also written as Liuhe Pagoda, the characters are interchangeable) was first built in the Song Dynasty, its foundation originally the garden of King Qian Hongchu of Wuyue. The Wuyue Kingdom, which controlled the southeast, actually contributed greatly to the development and construction of this land. Yu Dafu once wrote in his essay 'Hangzhou': 'As for Bai Juyi of the Tang and Su Shi of the Song, who built dykes and channeled water, they indeed benefited the people of Hangzhou. However, the power of a mere governor who got drunk, recited poetry, and took courtesans along was, in any case, no match for that of an emperor.' In the early Song Dynasty, Wuyue surrendered without a fight, sparing the Zhejiang region from warfare. By West Lake, there is a Qian King Shrine commemorating the successive Qian kings.

Su Shi once wrote the 'Biaozhong Guan Stele Inscription' to commemorate the Qian kings, in which he mentioned: 'Only Wuyue, without waiting for orders, sealed the treasuries, registered the counties, and requested officials from the court, viewing leaving their state as checking out of an inn; their merit to the court was immense.' This refers to the Wuyue Kingdom's surrender to the Song.

The scenery of Liuhe Pagoda varies between winter and summer. Friends who want to climb high and see the Qiantang River, and incidentally seek traces of 'Water Margin,' should not hesitate to visit this place.