Ancient canal Scenic Area

Ancient canal Scenic Area

The ancient canal scenic area refers to the Liaocheng section of the ancient Beijing Hangzhou Grand Canal, which was opened in the 29th year of the Yuan Dynasty (A.D. 1292) and lasted for 700 years. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, water transport reached its peak. In the ninth year of Yongle (AD 1411) of the Ming Dynasty, Song Li, the Minister of the Ministry of industry, recruited 160000 migrant workers and renovated along the old canal. For more than 400 years, the canal became the main artery of transportation between the north and the south. It has a history of more than 1400 years. In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, water transport was very popular. With the benefit of water transport, the canal economy was very prosperous. Liaocheng, one of the nine major merchants along the coast, is known as "a metropolis in the north of the river". Emperor Kangxi and Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty once stationed here 11 times.

Ancient canal Scenic Area

There are many places of interest along the canal, such as Shanshan guild hall, Guangyue building, wharves, towers in Song Dynasty, ancient pagodas in Tang Dynasty, and so on. The ancient canal scenic area has become a key tourist area of Jiangbei water city. The canal starts from sihetou sluice in the South and ends at beiyangji sluice in the north.

Shanshan guild hall

Shanshan guild hall is located on the West Bank of Liaocheng Dongguan ancient canal. Sitting on the west facing east, facing the river. It is a temple and guild hall complex built by Shanxi and Shaanxi merchants. It began to be built in 1743, which lasted for four years. The main works such as the mountain gate and the main hall were completed. After that, it was expanded year by year until the 14th year of Jiaqing (1809).

The hall is 77 meters long from east to west and 43 meters wide from north to south, covering an area of 3311 square meters. More than 160 pavilions and pavilions have been preserved so far, including Shanmen, Xilou, Jialou, Guzhong 2nd floor, Nanbei Kanlou, Nanbei Beiting, Xianting, nanzhongbei 3rd hall corridor, Chunqiu Pavilion, Wanglou, etc. Two stone lions about 2.8 meters high in the courtyard are majestic in shape, accurate in proportion, skillful in knife technique and exquisite in carving. They vividly represent the power and ferocity of lions and are rare art treasures. Two ancient locust trees, old and vigorous, twirling branches, add antique flavor to the ancient architecture. In this ethnic style building complex, there are also 19 large and small stone inscriptions rebuilt over the years, 26 square stone eaves pillars, 21 square precision forehead squares with relief and openwork, 12 stone inscriptions of lion, elephant and unicorn as the base of the pillars, and 12 stone inscriptions of characters, flowers and landscapes.

The 116 column bases of the main buildings are all decorated with flowers, birds and animals. In addition, there are 2 couplets carved on wooden pillars and 10 couplets carved on stone pillars. They are written in both regular script and running script. The handwriting is rich, generous and powerful, which is praised by calligraphers. Therefore, Shanshan guild hall has high artistic value in architecture, sculpture, painting, calligraphy and so on. In 1988, it was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Guangyue tower

Guangyue tower, located in the center of Liaocheng ancient city, is one of the three famous towers in China, together with Yueyang Tower and Yellow Crane Tower. It is a representative work of the transition from song and Yuan Dynasty architecture to Ming and Qing Dynasty architecture. It has an important position in the history of ancient Chinese architecture. In 1988, Guangyue tower was listed as a national key cultural relic protection unit. Tall buildings in the air, majestic and magnificent, extraordinary momentum, for a major scenic spot in western Shandong. It was built in 1374, the seventh year of Hongwu in Ming Dynasty. At that time, Chen Yong, the commander of Dongchang garrison, rebuilt the city wall. In order to "be strict, watch the enemy and see the distance", he made use of the remaining wood. Therefore, it was called "yumulou" in the beginning, and later "Gulou" and "dongchanglou".

In the ninth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty (1496), kaogong yuan Wai Lang Li Zan went to Liaocheng. He saw that this building was very tall and strong, which was not seen in the world. However, it was still lonely and unknown in this century. Because of the agreement with Jin Tianxi, the prefect of Dongchang Prefecture at that time, he named it "Guangyue tower" and "take it near Lu Youguang in Daiyue". The building is a representative building from the song and Yuan Dynasties to the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is the largest existing Pavilion in the Ming Dynasty in China. In form, it inherits the remains of song and Yuan Dynasty pavilions, and in structure, it inherits the traditional style of Tang and Song dynasties. At the same time, it has some similarities with other buildings in the early Ming Dynasty, which is the first "official" architecture.

Xieshan Cross Ridge pavilion with quadruple eaves is composed of a building foundation and a four storey main building, with a total height of 33 meters. The foundation of the building is a square high platform made of brick and stone. It covers an area of 1236 square meters, with a side length of 34.5 meters. It gradually gains upward, with a vertical height of 9 meters. It is composed of four semi-circular arches and 50 multi-level steps leading to the main building. The main building is of full wood structure, surrounded by brackets and cornices. The building has 112 steps, 192 gold pillars and more than 200 brackets. There are a wide range of plaques, couplets, titles and carvings in the building. Among them, the plaques and couplets written by Emperor Kangxi, Emperor Qianlong, Fu Yijian and Deng Zhongyue, Guo Moruo and Feng Zikai are most precious. The appearance of the pavilion is a Cross Ridge pavilion with four eaves, which is composed of two parts: the pier and the main building. The pier is a square pyramid made of brick and stone with a height of 9 meters. The four storey main building is built on the pier with a height of 24 meters. Guangyue tower is 33 meters high and its four sides are 33 meters long, which is the ancient Jiuzhang Jiuchi. In ancient China, nine is the number of Yang, implying that it can not be surpassed. In 1988, it was listed as a national key cultural relics protection unit.

Liaocheng iron tower

Song Dynasty tower is located on the West Bank of Liaocheng Dongguan canal and the southeast corner of Longxing Temple. It was built in the Northern Song Dynasty with 13 stories and a height of 15.8 meters. It is one of the few metal pagodas in China. It has a high value in architectural style and carving art. It was listed as the key cultural relics protection unit in Shandong Province in 1977

In Liaocheng, there is a well-known folk song: "Dongchangfu, there are three treasures, iron tower, ancient building and Yugao." The iron tower, which is known as one of the three treasures, is located on the West Bank of Liaocheng Dongguan canal and the southeast corner of Longxing Temple. The iron tower itself has not been remembered, and there is no record in local literature. From the analysis of the shape and relief style of the tower, it was first built in the early Northern Song Dynasty and is the oldest existing building in the city. The tower is an octagonal pavilion style pagoda. It has 12 floors and is 15.8 meters high. It is composed of the body and the base. The tower base is a stone square with asymmetric Xumi base, 2.90 meters high and 3.17 meters long at the bottom, covering an area of 10.50 square meters. The body of the tower is made of cast iron imitating wood structure by layer and assembled layer by layer. The iron shell is hollow and 6-10 cm thick. There are 12 floors in the building, and the leaning columns and brackets are the same as those on the first floor. Each floor has a waist eaves flat seat, which is made of four layers of single meter, surrounded by railings. There are purlin, eaves rafter, flying rafter, tile ridge and inclined ridge in the waist eaves. The tower body is divided layer by layer, and the top of the tower is equipped with a lotus gourd vase type tower brake. Liaocheng tower is one of the few iron and stone buildings in China. It has high research value in both architectural style and stone carving art.

Address: Dongfeng West Road, Decheng District, Dezhou City, Shandong Province

Longitude: 116.27350616455

Latitude: 37.447578430176

Chinese PinYin : Gu Yun He Feng Jing Qu