The best time to visit Hongze Lake Nature Reserve: Suqian has a warm temperate monsoon climate with four distinct seasons, sufficient sunlight, abundant rainfall, and a long frost-free period.
Hongze Lake is located in the west of Hongze County, Jiangsu Province. It developed on the alluvial plain in the middle reaches of the Huaihe River. It was originally a depression with poor water drainage, and later accumulated water to form many small lakes. In the Qin and Han Dynasties of our country, they were called "Fuling" lakes. Among them, Hongze Lake is the largest, covering an area of ??2,069 square kilometers. It is the fourth largest freshwater lake among the five major freshwater lakes in my country.
Hongze Lake was called Pofutang in ancient times. In 616 AD, Emperor Yang of the Sui Dynasty went to the south of the Yangtze River. At that time, there was a severe drought and it was very difficult to travel by boat. When the dragon boat passed Pofutang, it suddenly rained heavily. The water rose and the boat sailed smoothly. Emperor Yang was overjoyed and thought that he was blessed with great blessings and blessings, so he changed the name of Pofutang to Hongzepu. It was named Hongze Lake in the Tang Dynasty.
The entire shape of Hongze Lake looks like a swan with its head held high and its wings spread out. Because Hongze Lake develops in the depression of the alluvial plain, the lake bottom is shallow and flat, and the bank slope is low and gentle. The lake bottom is 4-8 meters higher than the plain in northern Jiangsu Province in the east, making it a "hanging lake". Before the regulation of the Huaihe River, Hongze Lake was a vast expanse of water with neither fixed shores nor a certain shape. With reference to the management of the Huaihe River, Hongze Lake has also been renovated. Now the eastern embankment of the lake area is 50 meters wide and 67 kilometers long. It is almost entirely made of basalt stones. From a distance, it looks like a Great Wall on the water stretching across the lake. This long embankment not only protects thousands of hectares of farmland and hundreds of villages and towns in the downstream area, but also stores abundant water resources to facilitate shipping, power generation, and irrigation.
Hongze Lake is a shallow lake with a water depth generally within 4 meters and a maximum depth of 5.5 meters. The source of lake water, in addition to atmospheric precipitation, mainly relies on water from rivers. The rivers flowing into Hongze Lake are concentrated in the west of the lake, including the Huaihe River, Suihe River, Bianhe River and Anhe River. Among the rivers out of the lake, Sanhe and the North Jiangsu Irrigation Canal are the main rivers that discharge Hongze Lake into the Yangtze River and the sea.
Hongze Lake is rich in aquatic resources. There are nearly a hundred species of fish in the lake, mainly carp, crucian carp, bighead carp, green grass, silver carp, etc. Hongze Lake is also famous for its crabs. In addition, Hongze Lake is very famous for its aquatic plants. Reeds are almost all over the lake, making it difficult for ships to navigate in dense areas. Lotus root, gorgon fruit, and water chestnuts have long been famous in history. There was once a saying that "chicken heads and water chestnuts are enough for half a year."
The Zehu embankment was first built in the fifth year of Jian'an in the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 200). It was built by Chen Deng, the prefect of Guangling. It was initially 30 miles long and was originally called "Gaojiayan". During the Yongle period of the Ming Dynasty, Chen Xuan, the superintendent of transportation, built the embankment between Wudun and Zhouqiao. During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty, Pan Jixun extended the embankment to Jiangba, and the embankment of Hongze Lake was basically completed. The embankment was originally an earth embankment, and later it was changed to a brick embankment and a stone embankment. The stone embankment was built in the eighth year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty (AD 1580), and it took 171 years from the Ming and Qing dynasties to be basically completed. The stone embankment adopts pile foundation technology. The long embankment was built with more than a hundred bends and twists by connecting stones and holding iron pots together to resist waves. At the same time, five water reduction dams of "benevolence, righteousness, propriety, wisdom, and trust" were built on the embankment line to release floods.
The stone embankment is more than a hundred miles long and majestic, like the "Great Wall on the Water." However, for hundreds of years, every flood season, due to the large gap between the upstream water and the flood discharge capacity of Xiazhou, the levee has repeatedly failed, causing devastating disasters to Xiazhou. In 1950, Comrade Mao Zedong issued a call to "repair the Huaihe River." After more than 40 years of hard work, a series of large and medium-sized hydraulic buildings, flood discharge, irrigation and other projects were built, such as the Sanhe Gate, the Erhe Gate, and the Gaoliangjian Water Inlet Gate. , hydropower stations, double-track ship locks, etc. In the winter of 1966, the original stonework was dismantled, and a wave-proof forest platform 50 meters wide and 14.5 meters high was built on the lake front. The slope protection was built with old embankment stones, more than 400,000 trees were planted, and the embankment feet were changed to stone. On the slope, there is another stone wall along the top of the embankment. In order to ensure that the embankment was safe, from the winter of 1976 to the spring of 1978, a secondary embankment with a width of 26 meters and a height of 13.4 meters was built on the east side of the embankment. The deep ponds at Zhouqiao and Gaoliangjian were also filled in. Now the embankment has truly become " The "Great Wall on the Water" is "impregnable".
There are many places of interest along the fifty-mile long embankment from the county seat to Jiangba, such as Qinglong Temple in Gaoliangjian. Dadun Island at the exit of the dock has the ruins of Deng Aiyin Machi, the general of the Three Kingdoms period. Ahead there are Kowloon Bay, Zhouqiao Pond, Qianlong Imperial Monument, Gunshui Dam (i.e. the five dams of Ren, Yi, Li, Zhi and Xin), Huanggang Temple (Wang Yuyang, a Jinshi during the Shunzhi period and a sect of the Shen Yun School of Poetry, once came here. Seeing the osmanthus in full bloom in the temple and filling the courtyard with its fragrance, I wanted to imitate the elegant gathering at Orchid Pavilion, so I invited seven lakeside poets to come to the temple to sing osmanthus poems, Sanhe Gate, etc. Nowadays, trees are planted on the east and west sides of the embankment of Hongze Lake, which resembles a giant dragon that is about to fly. When people walk among it, they feel that "the vast clouds and smoke envelope the thin waves, and the sky is covered with rain and falls into the deep abyss."
During the Kangxi period of the Qing Dynasty, when the Hongze Lake embankment was built, nine oxen, two tigers and a chicken were cast to control the water. Nowadays, there are no traces of tigers and roosters, but the iron ox is still "alive", but unfortunately only five remain. Two of them are at the Jiangba Sanhe Gate Management Office, two are at the park and Gaoliangjian water gate, and one is at Huaiyin Gaodi. The Iron Ox is made of pig iron. Except for the horns that are missing and some of the inscriptions that are rusty, the rest is relatively well preserved. The Iron Ox is 1.70 meters long, 0.57 meters wide, and 0.68 meters high. It has an iron plate 0.07 meters thick and is integrated with the body of the bull. It weighs approximately 2,250 kilograms. There is an inscription in Yangwen regular script cast on the shoulder and ribs of the ox body. The inscription reads: "Only gold can overcome the wood and the dragon hides; only the earthen turtle and snake can descend; the rhinoceros can be cast as a memorial to the Huaiyang River, and the emperor can always correct his mistakes and report to the emperor." From the inscription, we know that the iron ox was used to control water. According to historical records, the Hongze Lake embankment broke many times in history, more than 140 times in the 280 years from 1575 to 1855 alone. At that time, in addition to gathering migrant workers for construction, the Qing Dynasty decided to cast iron oxen in order to control water and eliminate flood damage. In the 40th year of Kangxi's reign (AD 1701), Grand Sima Zhang Suining began to cast iron oxen in Gaoliangjian at noon on the Dragon Boat Festival. The original plan was to cast 9 iron oxen. Later, when there was enough material, 16 iron oxen were cast. The cast iron oxen were placed separately in Hongze. The dangerous sections of the lake embankment are important.
Guishan, also known as Xiaguishan. Located on the bank of the Huaihe River, with three stone walls facing the lake and one side connected to the land, it looks like a giant turtle lying at the outlet of the Huaihe River and enters the lake. It is a natural fish mouth that diverts the Huaihe River. It is about 80 miles southwest of Hongze County. According to legend, when Dayu was controlling floods, he reached Tongbai three times and captured the Huaiwo Water God Wu Zhiqi. He locked it at the foot of Guishan, and the Huaihe River began to stabilize. The famous Zhiqi Well is here, also known as "Jellyfish Well" by the people. During the Han and Jin Dynasties, Guishan was the county seat. Because it was located near the Huaihe River, it was mostly used as a military base. Therefore, Guishan is also called "Junshan". During the Tang and Song Dynasties, there was the Linghui Pagoda on Guishan Mountain. There were continuous temples at the foot of the mountain and majestic palaces and pavilions, including the Huaidu statue, the giant iron Buddha, and five hundred gilded iron Arhats. It's a pity that it was destroyed by the war. The solitary peak of Guishan stands standing, with the main stream in the middle. If you climb the mountain and look around, you can see thousands of miles of Huaihe River, mist and rain in all directions, and you can have a panoramic view. Many ancient celebrities came here to visit and chant. Mi Fu of the Song Dynasty wrote the poem "Evening Bell of Guishan Temple": "The perilous peaks tower high and connect the cloud tower, and the falling clouds reflect the sunset village", which is unique and innovative. Pu Yinliang, the envoy of Goryeo in the Song Dynasty, once visited Guishan and wrote a poem "Passing Guishan". The poem says: "The rocks are stacked into mountains, with pearls and water rings hanging down. The shadow of the tower hangs down at the bottom of the Huaihe waves, and the sound of bells falls far away among the blue clouds. Guests in front of the door are rushing to play turbulent waves, and monks are playing chess in the bamboos during the day. I am lucky to win. I cherished the scenery while traveling, so I left a poem about returning there again. This shows the prosperous scene of Guishan in those days.
There are two inscriptions on Guishan: one is about the reconstruction of the Huaidu Temple during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty. Dayu controlled the flood and obtained the water god Wu Zhiqi and Sizhou prepared to build the Huaidu Temple. The other piece is the "Stele for Moving the Anhuai Temple" in the Qing Dynasty. It is written in official script by Yangzhou Ruan Yuan, a famous calligrapher in the Qing Dynasty. The content mainly describes the danger of the Yellow River taking over the Huaihe River and the water conservancy projects such as the Laozi Mountain Dockyard.
The Ming Zu Mausoleum is located on the west bank of Hongze Lake where the Huaihe River enters the lake. When Sizhou City was submerged by the lake, the Mingzu Mausoleum was also swallowed up by the lake. In the 1970s and 1980s, in order to protect the Mingzu Mausoleum, a 3,000-meter embankment was built to isolate the mausoleum from the lake. The cultural relics and treasures that had sunk in the lake for more than 300 years were rediscovered and became a tourist attraction.
The Ming Zuling Mausoleum is known as the "First Tomb of the Ming Dynasty". After Zhu Yuanzhang established the Ming Dynasty, he honored his great ancestor Zhu Bailiu as Emperor Xuan, his great ancestor Zhu Sijiu as Emperor Heng, and his grandfather Zhu Chuyi as Emperor Yu. In the 19th year of Hongwu (1386 AD), he built the ancestral mausoleum to Yongle. In the eleventh year (AD 1413), all the ancestral mausoleums were completed. The ancestral mausoleum originally had a palace hall, golden gate, jade bridge, kitchen warehouse, well pavilion, slaughterhouse, worship room, sleeping room, pavilion, stele pavilion, ritual attendants, etc. It was planted with thousands of cypress trees. The total length of the Shinto is more than 250 meters, with two sides. There are two pairs of pillars, 19 pairs of stone statues, and 149 hectares of sacrificial fields. It is large in scale and extraordinary in momentum.
Now, when visitors arrive at the Ming Dynasty Mausoleum, the first thing they see is twenty-one pairs of huge stone carvings, standing on both sides of the long Shinto. Relevant experts believe that these stone carvings are the best among the Ming Dynasty mausoleum stone carvings. representative works with high artistic value. Because they have been submerged under water for a long time, they are less damaged and the details of the stone carvings are as clear and delicate as they were back then. There are four pairs of civil servants, wearing python robes and jade belts around their waists, with their hands on their chests, looking gentle and kind; two pairs of military attachés, wearing armor on their tops, holding swords in their hands, their eyes wide open, looking majestic. The rest of the lions, unicorns, horns, horses, etc. are all vivid and beautiful in shape, with fine carvings and smooth and soft lines. Such as the cloud patterns on the body of the unicorn, the fluttering hair and the draped scales; the swirling curly hair on the lion's head and the red tassels floating in the wind on the neckband; the countless fine manes on the neck of the stone horse, The faintly discernible sweat drops on the body and the dragon and phoenix patterns on the saddle are all exquisite stone carvings. Going north from the stone carvings are the ruins of Lingxingmen and the main hall. There are 28 stone foundations at the ruins of the main hall. You can imagine the grand scale of the main hall. The joint burial place of Zhu Yuanzhang's great-grandfather, great-grandfather and grandfather is called Xuan Palace. Now you can see three caves of a brick vaulted building, and three stone gates 2 meters high and 1.2 meters wide on the front, which have not been excavated yet. As an important part of the Hongze Lake tourist area, the Mingzu Mausoleum is attracting more and more tourists with its unique style.
The legend of Hongze Lake (nine oxen, two tigers and one chicken) is often used to describe the power of the people. When the Qing Dynasty government reinforced the embankment of Hongze Lake, it cast the "nine oxen, two tigers" A tiger and a chicken" were placed at the strategic point of the embankment to pray for water control.
It is said that when the Iron Ox was first cast, it had a heart of gold and gallbladder in its belly. It often ran into the fields at night to steal people's crops. When people came out to beat it, they hit its horns with a stick. After that, some greedy person stole the gold heart and gallbladder of Tie Niu, which made Tie Niu unable to move and lost its ability to control water. The existing iron ox is as big as a real ox, with its head held high and its knees bent, as if it is about to moo, and it is quite naive. It lies on a conjoined iron base about 10 centimeters thick. It has fine casting, vivid shape, and weighs about 2500 kilograms. The iron ox shoulder blade is engraved with regular script Yang inscriptions: "Weijin overcomes the wood, the dragon hides, the earth makes the water turtle and the snake descends, casts the rhinoceros to commemorate Huaiyang, forever corrects the mistake and reports to the emperor. The Kangxi Xin Dynasty cast it at noon." The "nine oxen, two tigers and one chicken" have all run away, leaving only five iron oxen scattered on the embankment enjoying the wind and rain. Today, the Iron Ox has become the most popular scene in Hongze Lake.