Dongzi Reading Platform

Dongzi Reading Platform

The Dongzi Reading Platform is located in the western part of the jurisdiction, near Hui Long Dam outside the former Xiaoximen (i.e., Guangchuan Gate) of the old prefectural city (now near Yingbin Road Primary School in Dezhou). It was where Dong Zhongshu, the prime minister of King Yi of Jiangdu during the Western Han Dynasty, studied, hence it is also known as Dongzi Platform. Later, because Dong authored the “Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals,” people also called it the Fanlu Platform.

The Dongzi Reading Platform has a long history, but the exact year of its construction is unknown, as no clear records exist in historical chronicles. As early as the Yuan Dynasty, people were composing poems to praise this platform. For example, the poem “Ode to Lingzhou” (during the Yuan Dynasty, Dezhou was called Lingzhou) includes the lines: “Boatmen speak to themselves, the night feels longer in the rain. Passersby worry about bandits, deserted villages have lacked grain for long. Who would care for the nation, as virtuous as Dong?” — which indicates that the Dongzi Platform existed well before the Yuan Dynasty.

According to the “De County Annals,” in 1441 (the sixth year of the Zhengtong era of the Ming Dynasty), Wei Jingyuan, the magistrate of Dezhou, renovated the Confucian school (i.e., the Confucius Temple, located inside the North Gate). During the excavation, a stone slab inscribed with five characters — “Dongzi Reading Platform” — was discovered. Upon inquiry about its original site, it was rebuilt. During the reign of Emperor Xiaozong of Ming, to commemorate Dong Zhongshu, a Dongzi Shrine was also constructed east of the Confucian temple. Just like the ceremonies for Confucius, timely worship of Dong was conducted annually. By the time of Emperor Wanli of the Ming Dynasty, the Dongzi Shrine had become dilapidated due to years of neglect. Subsequently, Ma Mingrui, the magistrate of Dezhou, rebuilt the Dongzi Shrine near the Dongzi Platform. At the same time, he also built a “Chunru Academy” (also known as Liuhu Academy) beside Liuhu Lake. In addition to housing the classic texts of various schools of thought, the academy prominently preserved Dong’s “Luxuriant Dew of the Spring and Autumn Annals” and some of his other writings. During the Jiajing era of Emperor Shizong of Ming, when the Prime Minister Yan Song traveled south along the Grand Canal via Dezhou, he left behind the verse: “Where Dong once studied, quietly facing the heights — his virtuous policies hailed, people praised him as a worthy talent.” By the Qing Dynasty, Tian Xiangcheng (the younger brother of Tian Wen), a poet from Dezhou, built the “Shufan Pavilion” on the shore of Liuhu Lake. During the Ming and Qing periods, the area around the Dongzi Platform featured both shrines and academies, making it a grand complex of ornate pavilions and towers. The entire structure of the reading platform resembled the North Pole Temple in Daming Lake, with exquisitely carved beams and painted rafters, exhibiting an ancient and elegant design. Not far from the platform flowed the Grand Canal, winding gently around. The banks of Liuhu Lake were dotted with exotic flowers and plants, making it a natural scenic spot and an ideal place for studying the classics. Over the dynasties, imperial inspectors, literati, and scholars traveling to the capital for imperial examinations all made it a point to visit. In 1960, when the then secretary of the Communist Youth League Central Committee visited Dezhou, he also inquired with concern about the state of the Dongzi Reading Platform.

The main gate of the Dongzi Reading Platform faces south and consists of a single room. The entire compound covers an area of approximately 0.2 hectares. The southern half of the courtyard has three wing rooms on each of the east and west sides, with ancient cypresses and pagoda trees planted within. The northern half is the raised platform base, about three meters high and square-shaped, with 12 steps leading up to it. The platform is surrounded by a waist-high brick flower wall. On the platform stands the main hall, consisting of three rooms, each about 1–2 meters wide and 6 meters deep, built with a brick-and-wood structure and topped with gray tiles. The front porch is of a domed design, with four front pillars and uniform latticed doors arranged front and back. The doors and windows are all wooden lattice works with exquisitely carved patterns, exhibiting an ancient and elegant style. Inside the hall, there is a wooden shrine at the front, enshrining a wooden plaque inscribed with the five characters “Dongzi Reading Platform.” On either side of the main hall are small towers, which were originally the bell and drum towers.

This nationally renowned historic site, after the Republic of China era, fell into ruins due to years of continuous warfare and neglect. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the earthen platform was demolished due to municipal construction.