虎丘介绍

在苏州众多的名胜古迹中，虎丘是最具盛名的。2千多年来，虎丘一直是苏州的标志。因为虎丘与苏州这座城市有着不解的渊源。

早在春秋战国时代。这个地区属于吴国，在吴国国王的统治下。随着吴国逐渐强盛起来，在公元前560年，吴国迁都到苏州，把苏州作为吴国的首都。在王子阖闾继任皇位，成为吴国的新君主后，他要求他的大臣伍子婿为其修建一座有影响的城池作为他的首都。

不久一座占地很大城池开始修建了。新的城池以原来的城池为中心，拥有16座城门，其中8座水城门，8座陆城门；整个城池采用内外开挖护城河，护城河与城里的内河相连，街道与河道并行的布局。

这座城池（这个巨大的工程）到公元前516年修建完成。并被命名为“阖闾大城”

虽然苏州历经变迁，但是，苏州现在的城郭没有变，断断续续的护城墙依然位于2500年前当时建造的位置上。由于吴国国王这个里程碑式的工程，使他至今依然被人们公认为苏州这座城市没有争议的奠基人和缔造者。

在国王阖闾去世后，他的儿子夫差将父亲安葬在虎丘山下。这里曾经是阖闾的经常来玩的地方。传说就在阖闾下葬后三天，在虎丘山上出现了一只凶猛的白虎，就像是特意安排的一样，守护在国王最后安息的地方。

当然了，就是当时的人们也不相信这里会有老虎出现。但是，无论如何这就是当时虎丘得名的来历。

在以后的历代中。虎丘山上的建筑物逐渐的多起来，特别是当虎丘变成一座寺院，寺院的山顶上建了一座宝塔时，人们开始将虎丘山的形状与老虎的样子比照起来。

他们说，寺院进门面对小河的第一幢建筑物看起来就像老虎的头，建筑物门前的两口井就像是老虎的眼睛；平缓的山坡就是趴着老虎的背；而山顶上的宝塔就像是老虎翘起的尾巴。

今天，有人说，进山第二座建筑物是老虎的头，建筑物的门和两个圆形的窗户就像老虎的嘴和眼睛；建筑物的两根突出的飞檐就像是老虎的耳朵。

虎丘山作为吴王墓的所在地，这个地方流传着许多有关吴王的故事和传说。随着时间的推移，民间的故事和传说越来越多。不同朝代的文人墨客和社会名流在其著述中时常提到虎丘的名字。虎丘昔日的辉煌历史使它成为来苏游客游览必到之处。

宋代文人苏东坡曾经说过，“玩苏州而不游览虎丘乃憾事也！”

在许多游客的眼里，来苏州游玩不游虎丘就等于没有到苏州一样。

虎丘介绍（中国国际广播电台）

Chu Daye撰文

虎丘位于古苏州市城郊，人们常说“到苏州而不游虎丘乃憾事也”。

虎丘素有“吴中第一名胜”的美誉。此山高36米，面积14,100平方米。其上有不少历史名胜，一些已有二千五百多年的历史，和苏州城一样久远。

在漫长的历史中，许多文人墨客都来浏览虎丘，并留下了许多咏赞佳作。宋代大诗人苏东坡曾经说过，“玩苏州而不游览虎丘乃憾事也！”传统上，人们描绘虎丘有九宜，即“宜月、宜雪、宜雨、宜烟、宜春晓、宜夏、宜秋爽、宜落木、宜夕阳”。

由于虎丘主要的景点都在通往山顶的主路旁边，因此游玩其中，十分容易。

In China's historic Spring and Autumn Period (770 - 476 BC), Suzhou was the capital of the Wu Kingdom, a strong regional power in the lower reaches of the Yangtze River.

King He Lu, the highly competent and heroic ruler of the Wu, lead his country to the peak of power by fighting a lengthy war against the Chu Kingdom in the middle reaches of the Yangtze River region.

Many great contemporaries, such as General Wu Zixu, and Sun Tzu, the Military Theoretician, who authored the military classic The Art of War, served in King He Lu's forces.

With military success and a vigorous economy, the Wu kingdom reached its peak in land expanse and influence, and was recognized by other kingdoms in China as a strong power along the Yangtze River.

But these good times didn't last long, as the Wu would soon be engaged in a prolonged struggle with the Yue Kingdom, which rose up from the area around present-day Hangzhou.

King He Lu himself was wounded and died during a battle with Yue forces.

After his death, his body was buried within the hill.

Three days after the funeral a white tiger came and sat upon the grave as though guarding it. From that time on, the hill has been known as Tiger Hill.

Huqiu Park. Photo:

Sword Pool. Photo:

During his lifetime, King He Lu was a great warrior and had a profound interest in collecting fine bronze swords.

Legend has it that 3,000 swords were buried with him in his tomb, guarding his throne for the next life.

This is suggested by the nearby Sword Pool, a water enclosure which is bordered by a

cliff-side engraving of its name, and the Sword Testing Stone, a huge stone split sharply down the middle.

Near the entrance of the Sword Pool lies a huge, flat boulder, on top of which a thin pagoda was erected. The boulder is called Thousand Man Rock, indicating that it could hold one thousand men on it. It is said that on the day of the completion of the King's tomb, up to 1,000 workers and engineers were killed on the spot, so as to keep the secrets of the exact location and contents of the King’s tomb. From that time on, the stone seemed very slippery and lots of visitors would fall on it, which was believed to be a magic result of the restless souls of those slaughtered people. Later, monks living in the area decided to build this pagoda so as to cease the sorrow of the dead and allow their souls to rest -- and the rock became safe to walk on again.

Walking further up the stone steps, you will come to a

20-metre-high stone bridge spanning Sword Pool. On

the bridge, there is a large piece of milk-colored stone

that contrasts greatly with the surrounding gray rock,

and the stone has two deep holes in it. The holes are

famously known as the Lu Yu Wells. For the safety of

visitors, the holes are now covered with an iron grate,

to prevent any careless people from falling in. But the

crisscross iron pattern gives the wells a funny appearance, like an alien wearing broken glasses. Lu Yu was a master connoisseur of Chinese tea, and he wrote the first ever book on the subject, entitled 'The Treatise of Tea'. During his retirement years, he lived on Tiger Hill and finished the final part of his book there. Lu Yu dug

the wells and declared that the water from it was the third best in all of China (the first being Lu Yu Well. Photo: