Guangji Ancient Spring

Guangji Ancient Spring

Guangji Ancient Spring is a cultural relic protection unit of Jiangsu Province.

Guangji Spring, commonly known as the "Four-Eye Well," is located on Minyun Lane within the pedestrian street area of Shoushan Road Community, Chengjiang Subdistrict, Jiangyin. It was dug in the sixth year of the Jiayou era of the Song Dynasty (1061) by Monk Zongshou of Qianming Temple. The spring water is cool and never runs dry or overflows. Covering an area of 17 square meters, the well is 10 meters deep with a shaft diameter of only 4 meters. It has four well curbs on top, circular inside and octagonal outside. The existing well rims are inscribed on the outside with four regular script characters: “Yi (Righteousness), Yong (Bravery), Guan (Pass), Quan (Spring).” Three of the well curbs are made of bluestone, while one was added later and is made of cement. The rims have diameters of 0.55–0.63 meters and heights of 0.3–0.4 meters. On the southern wall of the well is embedded a stone stele from the second month of the eighth year of the Yongzheng era titled “Guangji Spring Stele.” The stele is made of bluestone, standing 1.35 meters tall and 0.65 meters wide, and is relatively well preserved. Historical records indicate that during the late Ming and early Qing dynasties, when the city of Jiangyin fell, its people chose death over surrender. Over 400 individuals lined up to jump into Guangji Ancient Spring. One woman, before jumping, wrote on the wall: “A mountain of corpses and bones covers the battlefield; in this lone city facing certain death, we refuse to yield. To passersby I say: do not cover your noses—the living are not as fragrant as the dead.” After the defeat of the Taiping Army in the Qing Dynasty, since the residents of the eastern half of the city relied on this spring for drinking water, and the ancient well had long been neglected and was at risk of silting up, local residents funded its dredging. Countless stones and bricks were extracted from the well, filling a large lane nearby, along with more than a hundred skeletons believed to be those of the anti-Qing resisters who jumped into the well. During the Republican era, Sha Zengda composed a poem for the well: “Four eyes looped in unbroken line, through ages the well stands unchanged. Drawn by many, yet its source runs still; its taste and color clear, surpassing even Hui Spring.”

In December 2011, the People's Government of Jiangsu Province designated it as a cultural relic protection unit under the seventh provincial batch.

Chengjiang Subdistrict: Located in the urban core of Jiangyin, Chengjiang Subdistrict is home to the municipal Party committee, the municipal government, and serves as the center of politics, economy, and culture for the entire city. It spans a total area of 124.3 square kilometers (including the New Town East Office), governs 49 community committees and 22 village committees, and had a registered population of 229,403 and a migrant population of 108,458 by the end of 2008.

Chengjiang has long been a cradle of talent, producing the “Three Outstanding Lius,” educator Wu Yanyin, patriotic eminent monk Ju Zan, pioneer of Chinese herbal chemical research Zhao Chenggu, “Father of Chinese Robots” Jiang… More details about Chengjiang Subdistrict++

Further Reading:

· Seventh Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relic Protection Units