Xiangsu Tower

Xiangsu Tower

Xiangsu Tower is a cultural heritage site protected by Yuan District.

Xiangsu Tower is located at Shangjiao Genglou, Yuan Town, Heyuan City. According to the Daoguang-era Guangdong General Gazetteer, “Xiangsu Tower is situated to the north of the county. In the early years of the Song Dynasty's Duan'gong era, Gu Chengzhi passed the imperial examination. Along with 28 others from the same examination cohort, they were collectively known as the Twenty-Eight Stars. The locals, proud of this achievement, built this tower in their honor.” The original tower had long fallen into disrepair. The currently existing Xiangsu Tower is a Qing Dynasty structure, covering an area of approximately 50 square meters. The building features a flush-gable roof and is constructed with brick and tile. According to Dongpo's Collection, during his exile in Huizhou, Su Dongpo visited Heyuan in search of scholars and historical traces, and wrote a poem titled “Ode to Xiangsu Tower”: “The sky is high where stars align, / The land so fine with towers that shine. / All admire those who touch the cloud, / Like ancient nobles proud and loud. / Their names inscribed on Wild Goose Pagoda’s face, / Their spirit lives in Isles of Grace. / Here I linger by ruins old, / Amidst autumn’s jade-like winds and cold.”

Gu Chengzhi was born in the 12th year of the Tianfu era of the Later Han Dynasty of the Five Dynasties (947 AD), originally from Heyuan County. By the end of the Five Dynasties, he had moved to Zengcheng County. In the first year of the Song Dynasty's Yongxi era (984 AD), he initially ranked second in the imperial exams but was poisoned and silenced by slander, disqualified from the court examination, and dismissed. Three years later, in the first year of the Duan'gong era, he passed again. This examination was particularly strict, admitting only 28 scholars, who were collectively known as the Twenty-Eight Stars. As the first scholar from Lingnan in the early Song Dynasty, the Guangdong General Gazetteer states: “Chengzhi championed literature in southern China.” He once served as magistrate of Yidu County in Qingzhou, as an editorial proofreader, and as magistrate of Mianzhu County in Sichuan.

In 1986, the Heyuan County People’s Government designated it as a cultural heritage protection site.