"There is heaven above and Suzhou and Hangzhou below" Hangzhou's paradise status is mostly due to the West Lake.

Located in the west of Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, West Lake is one of the first national key scenic spots in Chinese mainland and one of the top ten scenic spots in China. It is one of the main ornamental freshwater lakes in Chinese mainland, one of the few lakes listed in the World Heritage List in, and the only lake cultural heritage in China.

The West Lake is surrounded by mountains on three sides, covering an area of 6.39 square kilometers, with a width of 2.8 kilometers from east to west and a length of 3.2 kilometers from north to south, and it is close to 15 kilometers around the lake. The lake in the middle is separated by Gushan, Bai Causeway, Su Causeway and Yang Gongdi. According to the size of the area, it is divided into five water surfaces, namely Waixi Lake, Xili Lake, Beili Lake, Hu Xiaonan Lake and Yuehu Lake. Su Causeway and Bai Causeway pass through the lake, and Xiaoying Island, Hu Xinting and Ruan Gongdun stand in the center of Waixi Lake. The Leifeng Pagoda in Zhao Xi and the Zhu Pagoda in Baoshi Mountain set each other off in the lake, forming the "Dragon and Tiger Mountain".

The development of history

From Qin and Han Dynasties to Tang Dynasty

More than two thousand years ago, West Lake was a part of Qiantang River. Due to sediment deposition, a sand mouth gradually formed at the foothills of Wushan and Baoshishan, and the two sand mouths gradually moved closer, and finally merged to form a sandbar, forming an inner lake, namely the West Lake, on the west side of the sandbar. This is about the Qin and Han Dynasties. Zhang Dai's "Dream of the West Lake" records: "The Great Stone Buddha Temple studies the history of past dynasties. Qin Shihuang swam eastward into the sea and set up a boat on this stone." Here, the Great Stone Buddha Temple, located at the foot of Baoshi Mountain on the north side of the West Lake, still retains the scene of "Qin Shihuang's cable boat stone".

In the sixth year of the Great Cause of Sui Dynasty (6 10), the Jiangnan Canal was dug, which was connected with the North Canal and communicated with the five major water systems in the north and south. Convenient transportation has also promoted Hangzhou's economic development and tourism activities.

In the Tang Dynasty, the area of West Lake was about 10.8 square kilometers, nearly twice that of modern lakes. The west and south of the lake extend to the foot of Xishan Mountain, and the northeast extends to Wulinmen Gate. Pilgrims can row to the foot of the mountain and then walk up the mountain to worship Buddha. Because there was no water conservancy at that time, the West Lake was sometimes flooded by heavy rain and sometimes dried up by long drought.

In September of the second year of Jianzhong (78 1), Li Mi was transferred to Hangci history. In order to solve the problem of drinking fresh water, he creatively adopted the method of diverting water into the city. That is, dig six wells in the densely populated areas of Qiantangmen and Yongjinmen, and introduce the water from the West Lake into the city through the' yin-opening sinus' (that is, buried tile pipes and bamboo tubes). Most of these six wells have disappeared now, and only the Xiangguojing site is west of Jingting Bridge on Jiefang Road. The other five wells are Xijing (west of Guoxiang well), Fangjing (commonly known as Siyan well), Jinniu well (northwest of Xijing well), Bai Gui well (west of Longxiang Bridge) and Xiaofang well (commonly known as Ada well, formerly Qiantangmen, now near Xiaoqiao Bridge).

In October of the second year of Qing Dynasty (822), Bai Juyi was appointed as the secretariat of Hangzhou. During his tenure, Baixing built water conservancy projects, expanded stone culverts, dredged the West Lake, built dams and sluices, increased water capacity, and solved the problem of farmland irrigation between Qiantang (Hangzhou) and Haining. In fact, Bai Juyi's dam near the Han Stone Bridge outside Qiantang Gate is called Baigong Dam, not modern Bai Causeway. Bai built dikes outside Qiantang Gate, built Shihan Gate and stored lakes. He also wrote "Qiantang Lake Gate" on a stone tablet, stating the function of the dam and the methods of water storage, drainage and protection of the dam. Today, the site of Baigong Dike has long since disappeared, but later generations borrowed Bai Causeway (then called "Baisha Dike") to commemorate Baigong Dike. Bai not only left behind water conservancy projects that benefited future generations, but also created a large number of West Lake poems. The most famous works are Spring Tour in Qiantang, Lake in Spring, and Memory of Jiangnan.

Song dynasty in five dynasties

Wuyue and the Southern Song Dynasty have the greatest influence on the West Lake in history, both of which are extremely prominent.

During the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period, Wu Yueguo (907-960) took Hangzhou as its capital, promoted exchanges with coastal areas, and traded with Japan, North Korea and other countries. At the same time, due to the belief in Buddhism among the kings of Wu Yueguo, a large number of temples, pagodas, Buddhist scriptures and grottoes were built around the West Lake, Lingyin Temple was expanded, Zhaoqing Temple, Jingci Temple Temple, Liansi Temple, Liutong Temple and Daoguang Temple were founded, and Babel Tower, Pagoda of Six Harmonies Tower, Leifeng Tower and Baita Tower were built, which was once called the Buddhist Kingdom. Lingyin Temple, Tianzhu Temple and Qiantang River were tourist attractions at that time. Due to the geological reasons of the West Lake, silt accumulates quickly, and the dredging of the West Lake has become a daily maintenance work. So, in the second year (927), our money set up thousands of soldiers to graze grass and dredge springs, thus ensuring the existence of the West Lake water body.

At the end of the Northern Song Dynasty, Su Shi, a famous poet, made great contributions to the management of the West Lake. From the Five Dynasties to the late Northern Song Dynasty, the West Lake was not treated for many years, and half of the lake was covered with dysprosium. In the fifth year of Yuan You (1090), Su Shi went to Song Zhezong in the year of begging for the West Lake in Hangzhou, and asserted: "There is a West Lake in Hangzhou. If people have eyes, don't abandon them. " In April of the same year, 200,000 migrant workers were mobilized to dredge the West Lake, and a 2.8-kilometer-long lake-crossing levee with six stone arch bridges was built on it. Since then, the water surface of the West Lake has been divided into two parts, and the north and south mountains have begun to connect. In memory of him, later generations called this long dike "Su Causeway". According to legend, Dongpo pork, a famous dish in Hangzhou, is a delicious dish prepared by Su Dongpo for dredging migrant workers. Like Bai Juyi, the great poet Su Shi also left many poems in Hangzhou, the most famous of which are Lake Chuqing after Drinking Rain and Drunken Book King Hulou.

From 65438 to 027, after Lin 'an, the capital of the Southern Song Dynasty, Hangzhou became the political, economic and cultural center of the whole country. Its population has surged, its economy has prospered, and it has entered the heyday of development. Wu in the Southern Song Dynasty wrote in "The Year of Dreams": "The customs of Lin 'an are extravagant at four seasons, and there is almost no virtual day to enjoy. There are lovely lakes in the west and rivers and tides in the east, all of which are unique. "Every year, tourists who come to Hangzhou, in addition to pilgrims, also add envoys, businessmen, monks, students who have tried in Beijing, and domestic businessmen who come to Hangzhou to do trade. The scenery of the West Lake began to be widely known. At that time, boating in the West Lake was extremely prosperous. According to ancient books, "there are no fewer than 100 ships in the lake", "all of them are exquisitely carved, carved and painted, and smooth as the ground. Lin Sheng, a poet in the Southern Song Dynasty, vividly described the grand occasion in his poem Lin 'an House. Besides, the poet Yang Wanli also wrote a poem "Jingci Temple sends Linzi Square at Dawn" to praise the beauty of the West Lake.

Yuan Ming Qing dynasty

In the Yuan Dynasty, the West Lake was still a "golden cave". According to article 23 of the History of Yuan Dynasty, in two years (1309), there were more than 1,200 passers-by, including lions, leopards, crows, storks such as Sangwu and Baohe Ding, who stayed for 27 days, and people and animals ate more than 1,300 kilograms of meat. Businessmen and travelers from western and western European countries are also coming to Hangzhou more and more. The most famous is Italian traveler Kyle Poirot, who praised Hangzhou as "the most beautiful and luxurious city in the world" in his travel notes. At the end of the Yuan Dynasty, after the "Ten Scenes of West Lake" in the Southern Song Dynasty, there was also the "Ten Scenes of Qiantang", and the scope of the tour was expanded compared with that in the Song Dynasty. During the period from Yuan Shizu to Yuan Dynasty, the West Lake was dredged into a releasing pond, and some lakes gradually piled up into mulberry gardens. But by the end of the Yuan Dynasty, the West Lake was neglected, and rich and powerful people surrounded the fields by the lake, which made the West Lake increasingly barren and most of the lakes silted up into wasteland.

It was not until the reign of Xuande and Zheng Tong in the Ming Dynasty (1426- 1449) that Hangzhou began to prosper, and local officials began to open stores in Hangzhou.

In the thirty-fifth year of Wanli (1607), Qiantang County ordered Nie Xintang to build a circular long dike from south to west outside the small and medium-sized Yangzhou amusement pool in the lake, forming a unique landscape. In 39 years, Yang Wanli continued to build wailing, and in 48 years, it was improved. There are three small stone pagodas outside the pool, named Sanchi.

In the Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong visited Hangzhou many times to promote the renovation and construction of the West Lake. Kangxi visited Hangzhou five times and inscribed ten scenes of the West Lake, which was formed in the Southern Song Dynasty. Local officials built pavilions and monuments for the inscriptions, so that unspecified scenic spots such as "Twin Peaks in the Cloud" and "Autumn Moon in Pinghu" had fixed viewing positions. During Yongzheng period, "Eighteen Scenes of West Lake" was also introduced, which further expanded the scope of Hangzhou. Liu Long visited Hangzhou and wrote a poem "Ten Scenes of West Lake". The inscription of "Eight Scenes of Longjing" makes the scenery of Longjing in remote mountainous areas attract tourists' attention. During the Qianlong period, The Journey to the West, co-authored by Zhai Hao and Zhai Han in Hangzhou, recorded that the number of scenic spots in the West Lake increased to 10 16, which was the earliest travel guide book in Hangzhou. The east and west dikes of Kunming Lake in the Summer Palace, a royal garden in Beijing, were built during Qianlong period, and they were also modeled after the Sixth Bridge of West Lake Su Causeway.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the West Lake was dredged for many times, and the dredged silt accumulated into two islands, namely, Huxin Pavilion and Xiaoying Island.

During the Yongzheng period, the West Lake covered an area of 7.54 square kilometers, but there were more than 20 hectares of shallows. After large-scale dredging, the area is wide, reaching the west of Xishan Road in modern times to Hongchun Bridge, Maojiabu, Wuguitan and Chishanbu. In the fifth year of Yongzheng (1727), Li Wei, the governor of Zhejiang Province, opened the West Lake Road with Baiyin 42742, and built stone dams in Jinsha Port, Chishan Port, Dingjiashan and Maojiabu to store and discharge sand water into the lake. In the fifth year of Jiaqing (1800), the governor of Zhejiang Province began to dredge the West Lake and build water conservancy projects. Later, Ruan Yuan, Governor of Zhejiang Province, presided over the construction of mound with dredged soil (Ruan Gong Dun). At this point, the outline of the modern West Lake has been formed. Tongzhi for three years (1864), the West Lake Dredging Bureau was established, with Qiantang Ding Bing as the director.

modern times

From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, the capital was moved, and highways from Shanghai to Hangzhou and Hangzhou to Ningbo were built successively, and highways from zhejiang-jiangxi railway and Hangzhou to Shanghai, Nanjing and Ningbo were built. Convenient traffic conditions have promoted the development of tourism in Hangzhou. In addition to traditional pilgrims, there are more and more tourists from Shanghai, Nanjing and other countries, as well as Europe, America and Japan. 055-79000 records that from 19 to 25 years (1930-1936), 32845 foreigners visited Hangzhou.

During the Republic of China, Hangzhou's tourism resources became increasingly rich, and the scenic spots and historical sites of the West Lake continued to increase. Gushan Qing Palace Royal Garden was transformed into a park by the government. /kloc-It was renamed Zhongshan Park in 0/6, and the left side of the park was turned into the Zhejiang Martyrs Memorial Hall, where the Zhejiang army captured the fallen soldiers in Jinling. The tombs of Xu Xilin and Qiu Jin were built near Xiling Bridge. In 6 years of the Republic of China, the Great Compassion Pavilion of Lingyin Temple was built, and the Moon Temple and Moon Powder Temple were repaired many times. 12-20 years, Huanglong Cave was completed. 12- 13 years, the destroyed Wang Qian memorial hall was restored and the garden was built. In 22 years, the tilted pagoda was restored.

During the Republic of China, the park construction in Hangzhou began in lakeside park. 19 12, the Zhejiang military government demolished the walls from Qiantangmen to Jinyongmen and Qiying City, built a lakeside road along the lake, and set up a fence 20 meters away from the lake. Flowers and trees were widely planted in the fence, which was called lakeside park. Lakeside park is about a mile long and is divided into one to five parks. August 29th to 30th, 1922, China * * * production party (