Horse Market Street

Horse Market Street

Horse Market Street is situated in the eastern part of today’s Houde Road, specifically from the northern end of Xiaonanmen Lane to the front of the Confucius Temple (i.e., Xuegongping). The section from the Confucius Temple eastward to Baisheng Gate was completely undeveloped land.

Horse Market Street got its name because, during the late Tang Dynasty, the local warlord Lu Guangchou grazed his horses here. Historically, it was referred to by various names such as Mazhi Lane, Horse Market, -, and Horse Road. Due to phonetic similarities, it was also long mispronounced as Maqi Lane or Maci Lane. During the Song and Ming dynasties, Horse Market Street was still a shabby road, but by the Qing Dynasty, it had evolved into a proper street as more people began to frequent the area.

In the late Tang Dynasty, Horse Market Street served as a military camp after Lu Guangchou built Baisheng Gate. The army’s warhorses were typically pastured in the open fields around Horse Market. While no definitive historical records exist, it’s tempting to speculate whether later merchants, aware of the area’s history as a horse-grazing ground, turned it into a hub for trading livestock such as mules, horses, and donkeys—thus giving rise to the name “Horse Market.” If true, this would be a prime example of how a military function evolved into a commercial outcome.

The exact time when the name “Horse Market Street” disappeared is unclear. According to elderly residents, the name was still in use as late as the 1940s. Fortunately, today’s Houde Road has transformed this once-nominal street name, infusing it with richer cultural significance. In truth, not only was there no longer a need for a Horse Market, but by the late 20th century, horses themselves had been deliberately reintegrated into the wild, lest their species face extinction—let alone their former glory on the battlefield. Modern military competition has long since transitioned from the primitive era of horses and chariots to the realm of electronic information.

In its heyday, Horse Market Street, being connected to Baisheng Gate, was considered an important thoroughfare. Though it was flanked by the bustling noise emanating from Wudao Temple, Confucius Temple, Guangxiao Temple, and Jiangdong Temple, old residents of Ganzhou remember Horse Market Street as a desolate and quiet place. Walking westward along Horse Market Street, the right side features the low-lying, pond-like Hepaotang. Ganzhou locals enjoy eating poached eggs—could it be that Hepaotang was named for its resemblance to the shape of a poached egg? Alternatively, some say the pond was densely covered year-round with lotus flowers, leaves, and stalks, hence the name “Hepaotang” (Lotus-Wrapped Pond).

Approaching the intersection of Xiaonanmen from Horse Market Street, one suddenly notices the lush, elevated Dongsheng Mountain to the left. As described by Qing Dynasty poet Song Luo, Dongsheng Mountain was once a desolate, layered hill where “a path leads into the mist at the city’s edge, with flower gates and bamboo groves hiding undulating ridges”—a place of strange beauty where peach and pomegranate blossoms occasionally bloomed even in winter, long after the social festivals had ended. Today, Dongsheng Mountain has been flattened into a broad avenue, as wide as Horse Market Street multiplied several times, rendering the layered hills and secluded corners of the poets’ descriptions a thing of the past. To the right where Horse Market Street meets Nanshi Street lie Guilin Ridge and Cigu Ridge in central Ganzhou, with the legendary Night Light Mountain—said to house a “night pearl”—visible in the distance. To the left front stands the Brush Peak Mountain, symbolizing Ganzhou’s cultural flourishing. With Dongsheng Mountain and Night Light Mountain flanking the north and south, Guilin Ridge and Cigu Ridge accompanying on the sides, and Brush Peak Mountain standing in the distance, Horse Market Street traverses five of these hills and ridges. Such a concentration of peaks is a testament to how remote this area once was.

Interestingly, what was once a remote area has now become a major thoroughfare. Dongsheng Mountain has transformed from its former status as a “solitary path at the city’s edge” into one of the main streets connecting the East River Bridge and the eastern urban corridor. In the past, cities were closed and self-contained, so Baisheng Gate stood proudly at the entrance of Horse Market Street. Today’s urban landscape is open and outward-looking. The road that once wound its way from the base of Baisheng Gate now cuts through the flattened Cigu Ridge, Guilin Ridge, and Dongsheng Mountain, carrying the modern vibrancy of the city across the East River Bridge to a more exciting world beyond.

Horse Market Street: This street is located beside the main gate of the former Jinan Confucian Temple (i.e., the Temple of Confucius). Before the Xinhai Revolution, out of reverence for Confucius, it was customary for “civil officials to dismount from their sedan chairs and military officials to dismount from their horses” upon passing the temple gate. As a result, visitors or those coming to worship Confucius would tether their horses on this street, which is how it came to be called Horse Market Street.