For the three famous buildings in Jiangnan - the Yellow Crane Tower in Wuhan, Hubei, the Tengwang Pavilion in Nanchang, Jiangxi, and the Yueyang Tower in Yueyang, Hunan, everyone is familiar with it. The Yellow Crane Tower and the Tengwang Pavilion were built in the Tang Dynasty, and both have a good reputation. Yueyang Lou was actually built in the Tang Dynasty, and was rebuilt during the Later Northern Song Dynasty, and became famous at home and abroad because of the immortal "Record of Yueyang Lou" by the famous minister Fan Zhongyan. We all know that the author of "Yueyang Louji" is Fan Zhongyan, in fact, behind "Yueyang Louji" and Yueyang Lou, there are many little-known stories.
Let's start with Yueyang. Yueyang is located in the northeast of Hunan Province, bordering Dongting Lake to the west, and the Xiangjiang River (via Dongting Lake) joins the Yangtze River. In ancient times, whether from the Central Plains, Sichuan, Jiangdong to Hunan, Yueyang was an important gateway. To the east of Yueyang are Mufu Mountain, Jiuling Mountain, Luoxiao Mountain, etc., and to the west are Wuling Mountain, Xuefeng Mountain, etc. These two directions of mountain ranges have created certain obstacles for Sichuan to enter Hunan and Jiangdong (including Jiangxi) to Hunan. From Sichuan, the Yangtze River flows east to Yueyang, and then down the Xiangjiang River to all parts of Hunan. The same is true in Jiangdong, from Jiangdong to the Yangtze River to Yueyang, and then down the Xiang River to all parts of Hunan. The Central Plains enter Hunan, the Shunjiang River passes through Jingzhou to Yueyang, and the river traces from Wuhan to Yueyang.
The ancients praised the dangerous terrain of Yueyang, which is with rivers and mountains, two Guangzhou in the south, Bashu and Jingxiang in the west, the Central Plains in the north, and the whole Chu in the east. Because Yueyang's military strategic significance was too great, successive generations of warriors regarded Yueyang as a place of victory under the heavens, and Lu Su, the governor of eastern Wu in the Three Kingdoms, raised troops in Yueyang and built Baling City, which was therefore called Baling County. The Eastern Jin Dynasty moved its seat of government from Jiangling (Jingzhou, Hubei Province), which was relatively difficult to defend, to Yueyang. If the Northern Dynasty wanted to conquer Hunan, it would generally choose to take Yueyang, the gateway to Hunan, first. Once Yueyang was lost, Hunan was difficult to defend.
Next, let's talk about Fan Zhongyun. In May of the first year of the reign of Emperor Renzong of Song (1041 CE), Fan Zhongyan was appointed as the envoy of Huanqing Road and the governor of Gyeongju Zhizhou. Where is Gyeongju? If we look at the map of Gansu Province, there is a "big tail" in the southeast of Gansu Province, and Qingyang is located in the middle of the east of Gansu Province and the "big tail".
During the Northern Song Dynasty, the Dangxiang people active in the northwest established the Western Xia Dynasty, posing a huge strategic threat to the Northern Song Dynasty. Qingyang is not far from the border of Xia and Song in the north, Chang'an in Guanzhong in the southeast, and Hanzhong, the gateway to Bashu in the southwest. This determines the special gateway location of Qingyang, and once Qingyang is lost, the western line of the Northern Song Dynasty may collapse completely. Against this background, Fan Zhongyan came to Gyeongju to fight against Western Xia.
Talking about the Yueyang Tower in Hunan, how did it get to Gansu in the great northwest? Does it matter? There is a direct relationship. From the perspective of military defense, Fan Zhongyan built a building at the north gate of Gyeongju. Because Gyeongju was once called Shuoju during the Southern and Northern Dynasties, Fan Zhongyan named this building ZhenshuoLou (or Chip side building or Weiwu Building).
Later, Fan Zhongyan was transferred out of Gyeongju, and Fan Zhongyan was succeeded as the envoy of HuanqingLu and the governor of Gyeongju Zhizhou, another famous minister of the Renzong Dynasty, Teng Zongyu, who was then the governor of Jingzhou (泾川县, Pingliang City, Gansu Province). The opening chapter of the "Yueyang LouJi" reads: "In the spring of the fourth year of the Celebratory Calendar, Teng Zijing guarded Baling County. The Teng Zijing in the text is Fan Zhongyan's "same year (Jinshi)" and lifelong confidant Teng Zongyu, Teng Zongyu Zijing. Teng Zongyu was able to come to Gyeongju because of Fan Zhongyan's recommendation to the imperial court.
As the new Governor of Gyeongju, Teng Zongyu, of course, will see the Zhenshuo Tower in the north of Gyeongju Castle. The Zhenshuo Building was rebuilt in the ninth year of Emperor Mingwu Zhengde (1514 AD), and the new building is about 20 meters wide and about 17 meters high, divided into three floors, each floor is about six meters high. It can be guessed that the scale of the Zhenshuo Building during the Northern Song Dynasty will at least not be much worse than the Zhenshuo Building rebuilt in the Ming Dynasty. When Teng Zongyu saw the Zhenshuo Building, he was greatly impressed by the visual impact and was greatly amazed.
In the third year of the Qing calendar (1043 AD), someone exposed Teng Zongyu's greed for ink when he was in Zhijing Prefecture, and was impeached by the overseer Yushi Liangjian and others. The implications for this matter were very widespread, and even the famous generals Zhong Shiheng and Di Qing were implicated. After Fan Zhongyan learned of this, he vigorously defended Teng Zongyu to the imperial court. Fan Zhongyun ran in many directions, and Teng Zongyu was not sent to prison to bite the nest. Later, Teng Zongyu was demoted to a number of places, and later served as Yuezhou Zhizhou. After coming to Yueyang, Teng Zongyu was impressed by the atmosphere of Yueyang's mountains and rivers, and he had plans to build a building. When rebuilding Yueyang Tower, Teng Zongyu should have been inspired a lot by the Gyeongju Town Shuo Building.
At this time, Fan Zhongyan, as the governor (deputy prime minister), was participating in the vigorous celebration of the new policy in the DPRK. Because there were too many people to offend, the New Deal failed. Fan Zhongyan did not want to stay in the place of right and wrong in the DPRK, and took the initiative to request an external transfer. Fan Zhongyan first came to Ying Prefecture (邠州, in Xianyang, Shaanxi Province) to serve as Zhizhou, and in the fifth year of the Qing Calendar (1045 AD), Fan Zhongyan was transferred to Dengzhou (Dengzhou City, under the administration of Nanyang City, Henan Province).
While Fan Zhongyan was in Zhideng Prefecture, he received a letter from Teng Zongyu of Yuezhou Zhizhou. The letter to the effect is: Yueyang is a place of victory in the world, and it is not possible to use a nameless building to be a town. Yuzhang (Nanchang, Jiangxi) has the Tengwang Pavilion, Jiujiang has yulou, and the old building in Yueyang is named Yueyang Lou, which was built in the fourth year of the founding of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang (714 AD) by Zhang Shu, a famous minister during the reign of Emperor Xuanzong of Tang. After hundreds of years, after experiencing wind and rain, Yueyang Tower can no longer be used. Therefore, he wanted to rebuild the Yueyang Tower, and asked Fan Zhongyan to write a "Record of Rebuilding the Yueyang Building".
Fan Zhongyan and Teng Zongyu are lifelong confidants, and old friends have requests, so there is no reason why they should not. Fan Zhongyan adjusted his mood and wrote this timeless "Record of Yueyang Lou" in the official office of DengZhou. You read that right, "Yueyang Lou" was actually written in Dengzhou, Henan, and Fan Zhongyan did not go to Yueyang Lou to write articles on the ground. I have not been to Yueyang Tower, I don't know what Yueyang Tower looks like, how to write? Anyway. Fan Zhongyan built the Zhenshuo Building in Gyeongju and imagined the Yueyang Building as the Zhenshuo Building. With Zhenshuo Building as a model building, it is easier to write.
Yueyang in Hunan and Qingyang in Gansu, one west and one south, seem to be "incompatible with each other", but because of Fan Zhongyan, Teng Zongyu, Zhenshuo Lou, Yueyang Lou, and Yueyang Lou, there is a special connection between the two cities.