Riverside Evening Reflections

Author: Dong Jiancheng
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2003-01-01
Features: Shaoxing is located on the southern bank of the Qiantang River in the Hangzhou Bay area of Zhejiang, western part of the Ning-Shao Plain, with the magnificent Tiantai Mountains stretching southward. The east, middle, and west are adorned with the beautiful Siming, Kuaiji, and Longmen Mountains, forming a "mountain" shaped framework. The Cao'e and Puyang Rivers meander through the area, creating three basins—Xinsheng, Zhangzhen, and Zhuji—and the northern Shao-Yu Plain. The name "Shaoxing" originated in the 1930s of the 11th century. When the Southern Song Emperor Gaozong Zhao Gou was chased by the Jin forces to a fishing boat in the East Sea, he later returned to the sea after the Jin forces retreated. He temporarily stayed in Yuezhou. The officials of Yuezhou submitted a request for Emperor Gaozong to inscribe the prefectural plaque. As the Jin forces had just retreated and the Song Dynasty had temporarily recovered, Gaozong named the prefecture "Shaoxing" based on the meaning of "succeeding the prosperity and restoration." From then on, the name "Shaoxing" spread far and wide, while "Yuezhou" gradually fell into disuse.