Wulin Gate

Wulin Gate

Wulin Gate was one of the ten oldest city gates of ancient Hangzhou (including Zhengyang Gate, Baiguan Gate, Bazimen, Luosimen, Caoqiao Gate, Houchao Gate, Qingbo Gate, Yongjin Gate, Qiantang Gate, and Taiping Gate), also known as Beiguanmen. Located near the municipal government in the southern part of Gongshu District, Hangzhou, the dock was also named after the gate. Since ancient times, this area has always been the busiest thoroughfare dock on the Hangzhou section of the canal, and the famous Beiguan Night Market was located here.

In the Hangzhou dialect, "Beiguan" sounds very similar to "Baiguan" ("officials"), so locals often referred to Beiguanmen as "Baiguan Gate." In the past, amid the hustle and bustle of traffic, official boats came and went in an endless stream — officials of all ranks arriving at their posts, being welcomed, going on inspection tours, or traveling to the capital — all engaging in elaborate formalities that drew much attention. Calling it Baiguan Gate wouldn’t have been inaccurate, but let’s talk about Wulin Gate instead.

According to historical records in China, the earliest excavation of canals can be traced back to the 11th century BC. If we consider the legend of Yu the Great controlling the floods, the practice goes back even earlier. This shows that our ancient Chinese civilization had already pioneered hydraulic engineering. The construction of the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal began in the 10th year of King Hui of Wei during the Warring States Period (360 BC). The Jiangnan section of the Grand Canal took shape around 220 BC during the Qin Dynasty, and by 586 AD, when Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty fully opened the Grand Canal, it had been over 1,400 years ago.

Wulin Gate can be traced back as early as the Sui Dynasty, when it served as the northern city gate of Hangzhou. Before the Sui Dynasty, life was turbulent and war was frequent. Canals were mainly used for military purposes, which is why the area was originally called Hulinmen — already exuding a powerful, fierce aura. By the height of the Tang Dynasty, with the deepening spread of Taoism and the gradual infiltration of Buddhism, people’s quality of life improved significantly, and they became more refined. During the Tang Dynasty, due to taboos and the inauspicious connotation of “Hulinmen” (which sounded like “tiger approaching the gate”), it was later renamed Wulinmen. As time passed into the Southern Song Dynasty, the court renovated Hangzhou, but this gate remained a land gate until it was demolished after the Xinhai Revolution. There is a folk rhyme about Wulin Gate: “Outside Beiguanmen, the fish vendors cry.”

Speaking of Wulin Gate, there are many legends associated with it. During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period following the Sui and Tang Dynasties, there was a poor man surnamed Qian, named Qian Liu. Forced by circumstances, he started selling smuggled salt at the age of sixteen and began wandering the world. In his early twenties, he joined the army, and a few years later rose to the rank of deputy general. As the saying goes, heroes emerge in troubled times — through years of warfare, he honed his abilities and built up his military strength. Eventually, he founded the Wuyue Kingdom, which lasted for a hundred years and continues to influence to this day. Qian Liu himself became the king of Wuyue, established the capital in Hangzhou, and initiated the construction of the city, naming this gate “Yuhangmen.” By the Qing Dynasty, with the Manchus’ martial culture, it was renamed Wulin Gate. It served as a major north-south water transport hub; official taxes, grain, tribute goods from Hangzhou to the capital, as well as goods exchanged between the north and south such as fish, salt, silk, general merchandise, firewood, coal, and farming tools, all relied on this dock for transit. Thus, the area thrived commercially and remained bustling for millennia. Unfortunately, during the late Qing Dynasty, commerce declined, and by the Republican era, Wulin Gate was demolished in a precarious state. Even today, it would be difficult to restore it to its original standard design. Although the gate is gone, Wulin Mountain remains, so the name has endured. We won’t pass judgment on Qian Liu’s merits and faults, but listening to the colorful tales told by storytelling artists from Yuhang is quite captivating.

It is said that after Qian Liu became king, his behavior became erratic. Once, while taking a midday nap lying in bed, he had two attendants fanning him. One attendant, dozing off, accidentally let the fan touch his body. The other, seeing the kettle on the stove making loud noises, put down the fan and added cold water to the kettle. Qian Liu believed both attendants had disturbed his nap and decided to have them both executed. The first attendant remained silent, while the second pleaded his case loudly, voicing his grievance. Seeing this, Qian Liu unexpectedly pardoned the first attendant but had the second one executed instead. After the innocent attendant died in resentment, he turned into a vengeful ghost to settle the score with Qian Liu, saying, “I added water to the kettle to prevent your nap from being disturbed, yet you killed me. My spirit will not let you off.” Only then did Qian Liu realize he was in the wrong. He posthumously appointed the attendant’s spirit as the Local God of Hangzhou, thus averting disaster. To this day, the deity of Hangzhou is indeed depicted as a boyish figure.

Another tale says that before rising to power, Qian Liu was a salt merchant. Once, while carrying a load of salt across the Qiantang River, he felt tired and set down the salt load to take a nap. At that moment, the Dragon King of the East Sea was on duty, and the tide silently rose, dissolving all his salt. When Qian Liu woke up and found the salt gone, only an empty carrying pole remained. Seeing the surrounding water stains, he immediately understood it was the Dragon King’s mischief. Furious, he swung his carrying pole down toward the river, stirring up massive waves. The Dragon King of the East Sea was terrified and rushed ashore to apologize to Qian Liu. He promised to compensate him by bringing seawater ashore to evaporate for salt, and also vowed to warn people with the thunderous sound of the tides whenever they rose in the future. To this day, the mighty Qiantang River tidal bore is said to be the result of that promise. It is also said that salt merchants still worship two patron saints: one is the legendary troublemaker Cheng Yaojia, and the other is King Qian Liu of the Wuyue Kingdom.