Changshu Shutai Park (Reading Platform)

Changshu Shutai Park (Reading Platform)

Changshu Shutai Park (Reading Platform) is a Suzhou Municipal Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Located at Shimei at the southeastern foot of Yushan Mountain, this park was newly built in 1977 on the site of ancient relics. The original site included the Reading Platform of Prince Zhaoming of the Liang Dynasty, Jiaowei Spring, Yaji Pavilion, Wu Gong Shrine, and the cliff inscriptions on the eastern foothills of Yushan Mountain, among other cultural relics and scenic spots.

The park was completed in October 1977 and covers an area of 1.2 hectares. It features ancient trees towering above and attractions arranged in a well-spaced layout, embodying the charm of a Jiangnan-style garden. With mountain views and spring sounds, it offers an idyllic setting for reading and socializing with friends, full of poetic and picturesque appeal.

The park currently houses the Reading Platform of Prince Zhaoming of the Liang Dynasty from the Southern Dynasties. Other attractions include Jiaowei Pavilion, Jiaowei Spring, the cliff inscriptions on the eastern foothills of Yushan Mountain, Wu Gong Shrine, and Yaji Pavilion. At the park’s main entrance stands a pair of granite stone lions, originally from the old City God Temple. The entrance is inscribed with a plaque reading “Reading Platform,” calligraphed by Qian Chiyun, a local painter and calligrapher. “Reading Platform Snowfall” is one of the “Eighteen Scenic Spots of Yushan.”

Reading Platform: Built with compacted mountain soil, it is 3.54 meters high, 14.6 meters long from north to south, and 12.8 meters wide from east to west. Perched on higher ground, it stands firmly and imposingly. On the platform is a stone pavilion, rectangular in shape with a single bay, featuring a rolled shed roof. It is 3.65 meters high, 4.6 meters wide, and 5.16 meters deep. The walls are inlaid with several stone tablets, including the image of Prince Zhaoming, the “Inscription of the Reading Platform,” and the “Record of the Reconstruction of the Reading Platform of Prince Zhaoming” written by Chen Cha, an imperial censor of the Ming Dynasty. Inside the pavilion, there is also a large stone platform, with the front horizontally engraved with the “Record of the Yulu Garden” written by Ni Liangyao during the Qing Dynasty’s Daoguang era. Around the base of the platform, over twenty ancient trees planted hundreds of years ago remain, including elm, cypress, beech, hackberry, and oak.

In November 1982, the Reading Platform was designated as a county-level (later changed to city-level) cultural relics protection unit. The tablets originally inside the pavilion were broken in two during the Cultural Revolution. In 1978, they were replicated with funding from the Yushan Town Public Management Office. In 1995, a couplet inscribed by Hu Junfu and written by local resident Weng Shoucang—“No summer heat in the months of May and June; Book sounds will linger a thousand years hence”—was carved onto a catalpa wood board donated by Gong Xiangxing of Fushan and hung on both sides of the pavilion.

Cliff Inscriptions on the Eastern Foothills of Yushan Mountain: Along the eastern foothills of Yushan Mountain, starting from the “Little Three Terraces” on the south side of the “Southern Amity” memorial archway on Zhongyong Tomb Path, passing through Shimei and ending at Yaji Pavilion, there are numerous inscribed stone tablets featuring regular, cursive, clerical, and seal scripts. The Little Three Terraces feature the “Chuping Stone” inscription. On the cliff of the original Yaji Pavilion site is engraved the “Stone Pavilion Inscription”: “Two lakes like mirrors, myriad trees touch the clouds; literature is revered, benevolent legacy remains profound.”

On six huge rocks on the hillside behind Wu Gong Shrine,

are engraved the characters “Longevity”

, “Wealth,” “Health,” “Virtue,” and “Long Life,” all in large seal script, along with “Inscribed by Weishi Master, Calligraphy by Donglin Earth” (i.e., Zhu Xianbin and Wang Chaorui). Slightly ahead stands a massive rock, facing west, with two characters in regular script: “Just Right,” accompanied by smaller running script characters “Arrived Last Night,” both written by Qu Qiajia, a modern calligrapher and owner of the Iron Qin Copper Sword Tower. Nearby is a cave, with the entrance engraved in regular script with the characters “Cliff Pile,” alongside smaller characters “Joyful.”

There are also inscriptions such as the four regular script characters “Mountain Glows, River Charms” and the four running script characters “Pine Wind, Water Moon,” both written by Yan Rusi in 1702 (the 59th year of the Kangxi reign of the Qing Dynasty); and the two characters “Meng Quan” (Dream Spring), written by Cheng Guangju, director of the Grain Storage Bureau, in 1746 (the 11th year of the Qianlong reign). These stone inscriptions are now municipal cultural relics protection units.