Pishan Site

Pishan Site

The Pishan Site is a cultural heritage site protected at the provincial level in Zhejiang Province.

Pishan is located east of Huzhou city. Due to its proximity to the city, it is named Pishan. The mountain boasts beautiful scenery, attracting literati throughout the ages. During the Liang Dynasty of the Southern Dynasties, Liu Yun, governor of Wuxing, built Pishan Pavilion and a reading platform on the mountain. In the Five Dynasties period, the Qian family constructed gardens along the mountain’s contours, featuring exquisite rock caves. In the Song Dynasty, Wu Yuezhong built the “Kuangyuan Pavilion” on Pishan. During the Ming Dynasty, Minister Pan Jixun constructed Pishan Garden. Pishan features clear mountains and waters, with Pishan Yang, a lake with rippling blue waves, at its northern foot; the Tiaoxi River to the south, bustling with boat traffic; and the Tanghe River to the northeast, winding around the mountain. Climbing Pishan offers excellent views of Taihu Lake in the distance and Huzhou city up close. Zhou Mi of the Southern Song Dynasty wrote: “Delightfully, one can look down upon Taihu Lake as if one could reach out and touch it.” Today, spacious stone steps lead from the mountain’s foot to its summit, and the Hezhang Pavilion has been built midway up the slope, providing a place for visitors to rest. At the mountaintop stands Ciyun Temple, originally the Pan family’s ancestral shrine before being converted into a temple. Along its central axis, the Heavenly King Hall, the Mahavira Hall, and the Yuantong Hall are built along the mountain’s slope, with the main deity being a large jade Buddha from Myanmar.

Based on the characteristics of the unearthed relics, the site dates to the Shang and Zhou dynasties, after the Liangzhu Culture but before the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods. On March 11, 1963, the People’s Government of Zhejiang Province designated the Pishan Site as a provincial-level key cultural relics protection unit.

Pishan originally had the Puning Monastery, built by Li Shiyue of the Southern Tang Dynasty. It experienced several cycles of prosperity and decline. During the Cultural Revolution, it suffered further damage, leaving only the main hall remaining. In recent years, the Heavenly King Hall and the Guanyin Hall have been restored, and the site now enjoys considerable incense offerings. Pishan is covered in lush trees, and at its base, the Pishan Yang, a tributary of the Tiaoxi River, flows through Daqiankou into Taihu Lake. The mountain stands alone in the plain, integrating natural landscapes such as mountains, water, temples, and historic sites with cultural elements, creating picturesque scenery.

Pishan Village: Balianzhen Pishan Village is located in the suburbs of Hucheng, within the eastern new district. It lies beside mountains and water, boasting a beautiful environment. National Highway 318’s outer ring road encircles the village, and Xin Wuxing Avenue runs past it. The village has a total of 13 villager groups, with 408 households and a population of 1,426, including 839 agricultural household registrations, 587 non-agricultural household registrations resulting from land expropriation and rural-to-urban registration changes, and 250 migrant residents. The village covers a total land area of approximately 2,758 mu. In 2007, the village’s total economic income was 102.58 million yuan; the per capita net income of farmers was 10,238 yuan; and the collective disposable income was 630,000 yuan... More details about Pishan Village ++