The Lutai Site

The Lutai Site

The Lutai Site is a cultural tourism attraction.

The Lutai Site

The Lutai Site is located in Lutai Market, 31 kilometers southeast of the city. According to surveys, it is a Neolithic site and was designated as a county-level cultural heritage protection unit in 1962. Legend has it that during the Spring and Autumn period, a man from the State of Lu named Qiu Hu served in the State of Chen and lived here. He often climbed the platform to gaze toward his homeland, Lu, hence the site is also called Wanglu Platform (Looking-at-Lu Platform) or Qiu Hu Platform.

According to “Yuefu Poetry Topics,” there was a man named Qiu Hu from the State of Lu who married a wife but left for the State of Chen just five days after their wedding. Five years later, he returned home. Before reaching his house, he saw a mulberry-picking woman by the roadside, found her beautiful, and teased her by saying, “Picking mulberries is hard work—why not serve a nobleman instead? I have gold with me and would gladly give it to you.” The woman replied, “I pick mulberries and work hard to support my parents. I do not want anyone’s gold.” When Qiu Hu finally got home, the woman he had teased turned out to be his own wife, whom he hadn’t seen in five years while serving abroad. She was so furious that she threw herself into the Yi River and died. Later generations mourned her and composed the poem “Ballad of Qiu Hu.” Even later generations adapted the poem into the opera “Qiu Hu Teases His Wife.” The Han dynasty scholar Liu Xiang also included the story in his “Biographies of Exemplary Women.”

Source: Huaiyang Government Website