King Yu's Terrace (Ancient Blowing Terrace)

King Yu's Terrace (Ancient Blowing Terrace)

King Yu's Terrace (Ancient Blowing Terrace) is a national AA-level tourist attraction and a cultural heritage site protected by Henan Province.

King Yu's Terrace, located about three li southeast of Kaifeng city, is a tranquil and picturesque garden featuring halls, pavilions, lush trees, rockeries, ponds, fragrant flowers, and birdsong.

In pre-Qin times, King Yu's Terrace was a vast and lofty earthen mound. During the Spring and Autumn period, there was a renowned blind musician from the State of Jin named Shi Kuang, who served as a court musician under Duke Ping of Jin. Legend has it that he once played music on this terrace, which led ancient people to name it the Blowing Terrace. In the Warring States period, when the State of Wei established its capital at Daliang, King Hui of Wei renovated the Blowing Terrace. In 225 BC, when the Qin attacked Wei, this beautiful site with its "lofty terrace and winding pools" was destroyed by flooding.

During the Jin Dynasty, the Blowing Terrace was renovated into a two-story structure. To the left of the terrace was a pasture marsh spanning fifteen square li, commonly known as Puguan Marsh. During the Northern and Southern Dynasties, the Northern Wei geographer Li Daoyuan visited Kaifeng and wrote in his Commentary on the Water Classic: "The King of Liang expanded and fortified it as the Blowing Terrace. The city walls have vanished, leaving only remnants of the old site. Today, the multi-tiered terrace stands alone to the right of the pasture marsh, measuring roughly a hundred paces square. ... In the turmoil of the Jin era, refugees took shelter here, eroding the original foundation, eventually forming a two-story structure. The upper foundation still measures about forty or fifty paces square, standing over ten feet high."

The beautiful surroundings of the Blowing Terrace attracted many historical figures. Literary figures such as Ruan Ji from the Cao Wei era, the Tang Dynasty poet-immortals Li Bai and Du Fu, and the poet Gao Shi all came here to drink, compose poetry, reflect on the past, and write verse.

During the Song Dynasty, a Two Aunts Temple was built on the Blowing Terrace, which remained a popular spot for spring outings and Double Ninth Festival climbs. After the Jin and Yuan dynasties, the structures on the terrace gradually fell into disrepair. In the early Ming Dynasty, it became a village with closely built homes. In the 18th year of the Ming Chenghua era (1482), Wu Jie, a provincial administrator of Henan, selected this abandoned terrace and built the Bixia Yuanjun Temple (Bixia Yuanjun being the Goddess of Mount Tai) atop it. As the Yellow River continued to shift southward and threaten Kaifeng, people began to remember Yu the Great, the founding ruler of the Xia Dynasty famed for flood control. During the Zhengde era of the Ming Dynasty (1506–1521), the Yuanjun Temple was renamed the King Yu Temple, and the terrace followed suit, becoming known as King Yu's Terrace. The ancient architecture on King Yu's Terrace was renovated multiple times during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Existing structures include a memorial archway, the Imperial Calligraphy Pavilion, the Hall of King Yu, side halls on both sides, and an Imperial Stele Pavilion. It is celebrated for its meticulous layout and delicate charm.

The wooden memorial archway was first built in the 27th year of the Qianlong era (1762) and rebuilt in the 29th year of the Daoguang era (1849). It features four pillars and three stories, topped with glazed tiles, and stands over four meters tall. The central plaque bears the inscription "Ancient Blowing Terrace," written by He Wei, the governor of Henan.

Passing through the archway and ascending the steps to the terrace, you are greeted by the Imperial Calligraphy Pavilion. In the 33rd year of the Kangxi era (1694), Emperor Kangxi bestowed a plaque inscribed with "Merits Preserved for Rivers and Luo" to the King Yu Temple. This pavilion was specially built to house the plaque, hence its name. The original plaque no longer exists, but a replica hangs in front of the pavilion. On the east wall inside the pavilion are ten bluestone slabs engraved with poems composed by Kang Youwei during his visit to Kaifeng in 1923. The poems were spontaneously written and boldly brushed by Kang after being hosted by local military and political officials Zhang Fulai and Zhang Fengtai on the terrace—considered one of his finest late-life works, cherished by many. Also housed in the pavilion is a poem by Zhang Fengtai, the governor of Henan, who was Kang’s contemporary. The pavilion is three bays wide and two bays deep, with a flush-gable gray-tiled roof, fronted by a projecting porch. Despite over 300 years of renovations, it retains its original appearance.

Behind the Imperial Calligraphy Pavilion lies a second courtyard, partitioned by flower walls and connected by a moon gate. Passing through the moon gate leads to the main hall and side halls on the east and west.

The Hall of the King Yu Temple is five bays wide and three bays deep, with a front-connected rolled awning also five bays wide. The hall has a single-eave hip-and-gable roof covered with glazed tiles. Inside the hall stands a standing statue of King Yu, while the east and west walls feature brick carvings of the "Flood Control Map" and the "Celebration of Merit Map" in the style of Han Dynasty art, created in 1981 by faculty and students of the Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts. The north wall of the hall houses a rubbing of the Goulou Stele, engraved in the 23rd year of the Guangxu era (1897) by Liu Shutang, governor of Henan. The stele text is said to originate from Goulou Peak of Mount Heng in Hunan, consisting of 77 characters in an unusual script, with varied interpretations. Copies or rubbings have been made at sites associated with King Yu, such as Kunming, Shaoxing, Changsha, Chengdu, Nanjing, Xi'an, and Anyang’s Yuli.

In front of the main hall are side halls on the east and west, each three bays wide with flush-gable roofs and plain gray tiles. The east side hall contains a clay sculpture of King Yu passing his home three times without entering, while the west side hall displays replicas of ancient flood-control tools. The back wall features rubbings and explanations of the Goulou Stele. Interpretations of the Goulou Stele have long been debated. Ming scholar Yang Shen provided an explanation that became widely accepted, with only minor differing views later. This interpretation is the one used here.

Legends of the Goulou Stele existed before the Tang Dynasty. Han Yu once searched for it in vain and wrote a poem lamenting its absence. It was rediscovered during the Southern Song Dynasty by climbers, who made two rubbings—one presented to the authorities, who then organized a search of the mountain but found nothing. Though the rubbing was sealed away for a long time, it resurfaced in the Ming Dynasty, leading to numerous copies and interpretations. Its cryptic content has sparked various theories—some say it is an autobiographical account by Yu the Great, others believe it praises his achievements. Comparisons with more reliable oracle bone scripts suggest the writing style is no earlier than the Shang Dynasty, leading many to conclude it is a later forgery. Some modern scholars speculate it may be an ancient script of southwestern ethnic minorities, though no consensus has been reached.

To the east of the main hall lies the Three Sages Shrine. When the temple was converted to honor King Yu during the Ming Dynasty, a statue of Bixia Yuanjun still stood in the rear. In the 12th year of the Zhengde era (1517), the statue was removed, and the shrine was rededicated to the Tang Dynasty poets Li Bai, Du Fu, and Gao Shi, who were known to drink and recite poetry here. A rear hall was added and named the Three Sages Shrine. In the 41st year of the Jiajing era (1562), the shrine was further expanded to include Li Mengyang and He Jingming of the "Former Seven Masters" literary group, who studied and wrote about the terrace, and renamed the Five Sages Shrine. During the Qianlong era of the Qing Dynasty, the shrine was moved to the Daliang Academy and expanded to include the Ming poet Gao Shusi, becoming the Six Sages Shrine. After several relocations of the Daliang Academy, the shrine fell into ruin. In the 10th year of the Daoguang era (1830), Liu Shilu, head of the academy, discovered the ruined shrine among the debris and moved it back to its original location, rebuilding it east of the King Yu Temple. It was still called the Three Sages Shrine, dedicated to six literati from the Tang and Ming dynasties. Several Ming and Qing steles in the shrine document its history. In 1927, the shrine was abolished, but its layout remained—a three-room flat house with a projecting porch and gray-tiled roof.

To the west of the main hall also stands a three-room flat house with a projecting porch and gray-tiled roof, built in the 10th year of the Daoguang era alongside the Three Sages Shrine. When the King Yu Temple was renovated during the Ming Dynasty, 29 ancient flood-control heroes were enshrined in the side halls. This renovation added eight more figures from the Ming and Qing dynasties, totaling 37, and the hall was renamed the Water Virtue Shrine.

The original 29 figures enshrined in the Water Virtue Shrine were: (Warring States) Shi Qi, Zheng Guo; (Han) Ji An, Zheng Dangshi, Xu Bo, Wang Yanshi, Jia Rang, Wang Jing, Wang Wu; (Song) Cao Han, Chen Yaozuo, Zhang Gong, Zhang Tao, Sima Guang, Zhang Maoze, Zhang Shangying; (Yuan) Shang Wen, Na Huai, Liu Geng, Ye Xianbuchua, Alutulian, Jia Lu, Guo Shoujing, Toto; (Ming) An Ran, Yu Qian, Nian Fu, Wang Xian, Wang Liang. Later additions: (Ming) Song Li, Yuan Yingtai; (Qing) Zhu Zhixi, Jin Fu, Chen Pengnian, Ji Zengyun, Ya Ertu, Hu Baoquan. In modern times, Lin Zexu has also been included, bringing the total to 38.

The original wooden spirit tablets (memorials) were moved into the shrine, but they were destroyed when the shrine was abolished in 1927. They have since been restored.

Behind the main hall of the King Yu Temple stands an imperial stele erected by Emperor Qianlong. In the 15th year of the Qianlong era (1750), while traveling to Dengfeng to worship the Central Mountain, Emperor Qianlong stopped briefly in Kaifeng. He visited the Blowing Terrace, composed a poem, and had it inscribed on a stele placed there. Local officials built a pavilion around the stele, called the Imperial Stele Pavilion.

The King Yu Temple is surrounded by corridors, with its walls inlaid with numerous steles from the Ming and Qing dynasties, along with some modern works, documenting the historical events of King Yu's Terrace for visitors to admire.

North of the Imperial Stele Pavilion is a brick stairway leading down from the terrace to ground level. To the north lies a newly built quadrangle courtyard, with a three-room main house facing south and three-room side wings on the east and west. North of the courtyard is a moon gate, beyond which stands a four-arch bridge.

The area around the Blowing Terrace (King Yu's Terrace) was originally a lotus pond. By the Daoguang era of the Qing Dynasty, it had silted up into flat land. In the 11th year of the Tongzhi era (1872), the Director-General of River Conservancy Qiao Songnian dredged it again, constructing pools around the terrace and reshaping the high platform and its surroundings into an oval. Six pathways and corresponding small bridges were built from the top of the terrace down to the base on the north, south, southeast, northeast, southwest, and northwest sides. The dredged earth was piled up on the north side of the pool, creating a contrast between the surrounding green waters and the raised northern bank—evoking the traditional Chinese symbol of the northern deity Xuanwu, resembling a turtle and snake. A three-room passageway was built on the raised bank, with a hexagonal pavilion behind it.

In the late Qing Dynasty, the Henan Law and Politics School was also located here, along with an artillery battalion of the New Army. During the Xinhai Revolution, the school served as a contact point for the Tongmenghui, and the New Army secretly planned to join the armed uprising.

In the 1st year of the Xuantong era (1909), the Henan Agricultural Experiment Station was established on King Yu's Terrace. In 1914, part of it was split off to form the Forestry Bureau. In 1919, the Henan authorities merged six agencies—including agriculture, cotton, sericulture, and forestry—into the Henan General Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station.

In the 1st year of the Xuantong era (1909), the Henan Secondary Agricultural School was founded, later merging into Henan University to become its College of Agriculture.

Until the mid-1950s, King Yu's Terrace remained under the administration of these two units. In 1957, with the relocation of the provincial government westward and the departure of the agricultural college and experiment station, King Yu's Terrace Park was officially established.

In addition to the ancient structures on the Blowing Terrace, King Yu's Terrace Park utilizes the lush forests cultivated by the Forestry Bureau over the years, cultivating a variety of flowers and plants such as peonies and cherry blossoms. With its rich natural scenery, it is a popular recreational destination in the suburbs.

Address: No. 38, East First Street, Fantajie East Road, Yuwangtai District, Kaifeng City

Type: Historical Site / Historic Architecture

Recommended visiting time: 1 hour

Phone: 0378-2678761

Opening hours:

7:00–17:30 (winter); 6:30–17:00 (summer)

Transportation:

Take bus 12, 15, or 32 within the city to Yuwangtai Station

Admission:

10 RMB

Address: No. 38, East First Street of Fantai, Yuwangtai District, Kaifeng City

Further reading:

· Second Batch of Henan Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units