Wuma Street

Wuma Street

Wuma Street is one of the ancient streets in the old city of Wenzhou and also a well-known commercial street. It stretches 400 meters in length and 12 meters in width, starting from Jiefang Street in the east where it connects with Gongyuan Road, and ending in the west at Chan Street where it intersects with Fuqian Street. According to the Tang Dynasty text *Gu Jin Feng Su Tong* (“Comprehensive Account of Ancient and Modern Customs”), “Wang Yishao (courtesy name of Wang Xizhi) was appointed as the governor of Yongjia. In his courtyard stood five horses, adorned with golden bridles, hence Yongjia came to have the Five Horses Archway.” In the second year of the Shaosheng era of the Song Dynasty (1095), Yang Pan, the prefect of Wenzhou, reorganized the city’s 36 wards, and the Five Horses Ward was among them. Yang Pan wrote in his poem *Hundred Verses on the Five Horses Ward*: “Legend says there were five horses that once stood here in hesitation. People loved the governor’s virtue — trading a goose for calligraphy was no vulgar act.” During the Qing Dynasty, the ward was turned into a street, which featured 14 alleys along its sides. In 1934, storefronts were demolished to widen the street from 6 meters to 12 meters, and it was renamed Zhongshan Road. In the old days, the area was bustling with merchants, lined with silk and cloth shops, department stores, copper and tinware stores, Chinese and Western pharmacies, and money shops.