Zhenze Ancient Town

Zhenze Ancient Town

Zhenze Ancient Town is a national AAAA-level tourist attraction.

Zhenze Town is located in the southwest of Wujiang District, Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province, and is one of the Five Silk Towns of the Jiangnan region. The towering Ciyun Pagoda in the town preserves the legacy of the "Three Kingdoms Sun Wu era"; the Yujie Bridge arches solemnly, recounting the great deeds of ancient sages; the long, winding alleys retain an ancient charm; the Shijian Hall and Sifan Bridge tell tales of centuries of rise and fall. The astronomer Wang Xichan, well-read and profoundly knowledgeable, excelled in both Chinese and Western sciences. His work *Xiaowan New Method* has been celebrated in academic circles for three hundred years. Following titles such as China's Flax and Spun Silk Town and China’s Hemp Textile Industry Cluster Base, Wujiang Zhenze has earned another national accolade. Zhenze was awarded the title of "Hometown of Chinese Silk Quilts" by the China Textile Commercial Association.

Zhenze Town is an important market town in the southwest of Wujiang District, Suzhou City, and a key central town and historical-cultural town in Jiangsu Province. With a long history, Zhenze has been inhabited since the late primitive society over 5,000 years ago, with early settlers engaging in agriculture, fishing, and hunting, living and thriving here. Established as a town in 741 AD (the 29th year of the Kaiyuan era in the Tang Dynasty), it derived its name from Taihu Lake, also known as "Zhenze." In 1726 during the Qing Dynasty, it was briefly designated as a county. It is the site where the legendary Yu the Great left his footprints while taming the floods, the birthplace of the millennia-old ceramic and silk industries, and the hometown of Wang Xichan, the "scholar well-versed in both celestial and human studies" of the Qing Dynasty, Shi Zejing, the founder of the Chinese Red Cross, and Yang Jiachi, a key contributor to China’s "Two Bombs, One Satellite" program.

The *Hundred Cities and Misty Waters* from the Qing Dynasty states: "Zhenze Town is located four li west of Shuangyang Village, bordering Taihu Lake to the north. The *Book of Documents* says 'Taihu Lake is calmed,' hence the name." Taihu Lake, China’s third-largest freshwater lake, also known as Gouwu, Lize, and Zhenze, spans 36,000 hectares of vast waters. Zhenze Town derives its name from the glory of Taihu Lake. However, this association is not baseless or far-fetched but rather well-founded, with the name fitting its reality.

The *Songling Prefecture Preface* compiled by Dou Deyuan in the Hongwu era of the Ming Dynasty states: "Yu the Great directed the water source here, hence the saying 'Taihu Lake is calmed,' meaning it has reached stability without disturbance. Ninety li southwest of the county lies a bridge called Diding. The *Wu Yue Chunqiu* mentions that Fan Li set sail from here at the mouth of the Three Rivers, and there is also a bridge called Sifan in that area, whose traces remain to this day."

The seven-character quatrain *The Vast Expanse of Taihu Lake* by Xu Song of the Qing Dynasty also reads: "The vast expanse has long origins, nearly reaching the Tiaoxi River; in autumn, the reeds rustle desolately. But it is Zhenze that boasts the most ancient name, with the legacy of Yu the Great still passed down through Diding Bridge." In 1726 during the Qing Dynasty’s Yongzheng era, due to the heavy grain taxes and complex legal cases in Wujiang, the court ordered the division of the county. The western part of Wujiang was split off to form Zhenze County, giving rise to a third place named Zhenze. Zhenze Town was under the jurisdiction of Zhenze County, though the county government was located in Songling (now the site of the Wudu Hotel), co-governing with the Wujiang County government in the same city. In January 1912, the two counties were merged back into Wujiang County.

Forty-one years later, in May 1953, the Taihu Lake administrative region of the former Wu County was restructured into Zhenze County, also borrowing the prestige of Taihu Lake’s alternate name. However, the second Zhenze County had no administrative connection with Zhenze Town, being merely separated by the lake. Moreover, the second Zhenze County existed only briefly and was abolished in March 1959. Since then, aside from the two county names, only the historically cultural town of Zhenze remains, shining brightly forever.

Just as the people of Shengze prefer the alias Shengchuan for their town, the people of Lili favor Lichuan, and the people of Tongli use Tongchuan, the people of Zhenze—especially silk merchants—favor the alias Zhenchuan for their town. The name Zhenchuan gained renown along with Jili silk, becoming famous in silk-producing regions and markets such as Nanjing, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Shanghai.

Address: No. 1333, Zhenxin South Road, Wujiang District, Suzhou City

Type: Ancient Town and Village

Rating: AAAA

Recommended Visiting Time: 3 hours

Phone: 0512-63751101

Official Website: http://www.zhenze.com.cn/

Opening Hours:

8:00—17:00

Zhenze Town: This Jiangnan water town—Zhenze—is located in the southwest of Wujiang City, Jiangsu Province, adjacent to Zhejiang Province. Historically known as the "head of Wu and tail of Yue," it lies 90 km east of Shanghai and 54 km north of Suzhou. National Highway 318 and the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal run through the area, providing convenient land and water transportation. Covering a total area of 57 square kilometers, with a town area of 3.93 square kilometers and nearly 40,000 mu of arable land, the town has a population of over 50,000. The infrastructure is well-developed, including one 220,000-volt and one 110,000-volt substation, a 25,000-ton ground water plant, and mobile communication transmission stations... More detailed information about Zhenze Town++

Zhenze Park

Wang Xichan Memorial Hall (Wang Xichan Tomb and Ancestral Hall)

Shijian Hall

Zhenze Wenchang Pavilion

Zhenze Ciyun Buddhist Temple

Jiangsu Agricultural Machinery Museum