Zhu Maichen's Study Platform

Zhu Maichen's Study Platform

Zhu Maichen's Study Platform is a cultural relic protection unit of Suzhou City.

Qionglong Mountain, located in Cangshu Town about twenty kilometers west of Suzhou City, is the highest among the mountains in the Wu region, with an elevation of 341.7 meters. Legend has it that it was where the ancient hermit Qing Songzi practiced alchemy and ascended to immortality. The mountain earned the name “Qionglong” (meaning “Arched Dragon”) due to its towering and profound terrain. Qionglong Mountain is both lofty and picturesque, covered with ancient towering trees and vast bamboo groves, and is home to two hundred and seventy species of precious trees such as Machilus thunbergii, Schima superba, and Castanopsis sclerophylla. The entire mountain stretches approximately seven and a half kilometers in length, with its main peak, Ruomao Peak, rising to an elevation of 341.7 meters. It stands as the tallest among the eastern Taihu Lake mountain range and is known as the “Number One Peak of the Wu Region.”

Legend has it that it was where the ancient hermit Qing Songzi practiced alchemy and ascended to immortality. The mountain earned the name “Qionglong” (meaning “Arched Dragon”) due to its towering and profound terrain. Qionglong Mountain is both lofty and picturesque, covered with ancient towering trees and vast bamboo groves, and is home to two hundred and seventy species of precious trees such as Machilus thunbergii, Schima superba, and Castanopsis sclerophylla. The entire mountain stretches approximately seven and a half kilometers in length, with its main peak, Ruomao Peak, rising to an elevation of 341.7 meters. It stands as the tallest among the eastern Taihu Lake mountain range and is known as the “Number One Peak of the Wu Region.”

Qionglong Mountain’s Dongwu National Forest Park boasts a long history, numerous cultural sites, and profound cultural heritage, making it a true “Famous Cultural Mountain of China.” The scenic area features one of China’s Five Great Study Platforms — “Zhu Maichen’s Study Platform.” At first glance, the study platform appears to be nothing more than a large rock, no more than ten feet high and wide, standing abruptly on the hillside. However, it is surrounded by ancient vines and trees, offering a serene and tranquil environment. In the past, Zhu Maichen would often sit or lie on this rock to read when he took breaks from woodcutting, which led later generations to call it the Study Platform. The rock now bears an inscription of eleven characters written by the Ming Dynasty scholar Du Mu: “The place where Zhu, Governor of Kuaiji in the Han Dynasty, studied.”

Zhu Maichen (190 BC – 115 BC) was a legendary figure. His courtesy name was Wengzi, and he was a native of Wu (present-day Suzhou) during the Western Han Dynasty. He lived at the foot of Qionglong Mountain in poverty, working as a woodcutter, but he had a deep love for reading and persisted in studying while laboring. At the age of fifty, he was finally recommended by a friend and interviewed by Emperor Wu of Han, after which he was appointed as a Middle Doctor. Later, he successively served as a local administrative official — Governor of Kuaiji (equivalent to today’s governor, with the capital in present-day Suzhou) — and as the Director of the Central Nobility Guard (equivalent to the commander of the capital’s garrison). When Zhu Maichen was a woodcutter, he would read while working, fearing ridicule, so he kept his books hidden in the mountains and never brought them home — hence the origin of the place name “Cangshu” (meaning “Hidden Books”). Zhu Maichen was extremely diligent in his studies. Even while carrying firewood on the road, he would read aloud as he walked. This is the origin of the expression “reading while carrying firewood” (负薪读书). Later, “reading while carrying firewood,” along with stories like Li Mi “hanging books on ox horns,” Kuang Heng “chiseling a hole in the wall to steal light,” and Che Yin “studying by firefly light at night,” came to be regarded as some of the most representative examples of ancient Chinese scholars’ diligence in study.