The author of this article, Huang Lang, was originally issued by Fang Zhi Jiangsu WeChat public account, and reprinted with permission.
If you look at the ancient map of Jiangsu, you will find that some important natural landmarks from ancient times are missing today. A hill called "Kunshan", an island called "Haimen", a lake called "Sheyang" on the other... Where did these "mysterious places" go?
Where did the "Kunshan" of Kunshan go?
In a "Canal Map" drawn around the forty-first year of the Kangxi Dynasty (1702), a mountain called "Kunshan" appeared on the side of the city pool in Kunshan County. But now there is no "Kunshan" in Kunshan, how did the mountain in the map disappear?
Yufeng Mountain in the "Canal Map" is named "Kunshan"
In fact, the "Kunshan" in the "Canal Map" still exists, but it has changed its name, and it is now called "Yufeng Mountain", which is located in the Old City Pavilion Forest Park. We compared and found that the "Kunshan" in the "Canal Map" and the current Yufeng Mountain are geographically the same, and both are saddle-shaped (Yufeng Mountain was formerly known as "Ma'anshan"). "Kunshan" is Yufeng Mountain, no doubt.
Saddle-shaped Yufeng Mountain
There are also literature to prove this, we found in Qianlong's "Kunshan Xinyang Hezhi" and Guangxu's "Kunxin Two Counties Continued Cultivation Hezhi" that Ma'anshan (Yufeng Mountain) was called "Kunshan" at that time.
But the literature that precedes it does not regard Ma'anshan (Yufeng Mountain) as "Kunshan". The Minutes of Reading history and public opinion, known as the "Divine Works", indicate that Kunshan County got its name from Xiaokunshan in the territory of present-day Songjiang. Jiajing's "Chronicle of Kunshan County" juxtaposes "Ma'anshan" with "Kunshan" and identifies Tianma Mountain, which is now in Songjiang District, Shanghai, as "Kunshan".
Jiajing's "Chronicle of Kunshan County" juxtaposes "Ma'anshan" with "Kunshan" and indicates that "Kunshan" is Tianma Mountain
The earliest surviving general chronicle in China, the Yuanhe County Atlas, states that the name of Kunshan County comes from the name of the mountain "Kunshan". This "Kunshan" may be Xiao Kunshan, it may be Tianma Mountain, in short, it is not in the territory of the current Kunshan City. Due to the adjustment of administrative divisions, Kunshan County lost the mountain "Kunshan", and people gradually regarded Ma'anshan (Yufeng Mountain) as "Kunshan", one reason is that Ma'anshan (Yufeng Mountain) produces jade like Kunlun Mountain, and another reason is likely that people think that Kunshan County should have a mountain called "Kunshan", and Yufeng Mountain is the only mountain in Kunshan.
Where did Haimen Island go?
Many ancient maps of the Ming and Qing dynasties depict Haimen Island in the sea surface of Jiangsu, and in the map of the Emperor and Ming Dynasty, Haimen Island is located in the northeast direction of Rudong, while Haimen Island is located on the east side of Haimen in Qianlong's "Great Qing Guangyu Map".
Haimen Island in the "Great Qing Guangyu Map"
Haimen Island in the ancient map is very large, why did it suddenly disappear on today's map? In fact, Haimen Island did not disappear for no reason, but people's understanding of it has improved.
According to the "Chronicle of Jiangsu Province and Geographical Names", Haimen Island is a group of radial sand ridges off the coast of Jiangsu, which is credible. Haimen Island is mainly common on maps before modern times, and maps after modern times mark the yellow sea sandbar in great detail, and no longer refer to it as "Haimen Island" and "chaotic sand" in general. For example, Daoguang's "Complete Map of The River and Sea" has more than ten sandbars such as Wunansha, Lengjiasha, Bansha, and Baisha on the coast of present-day Nantong and Yancheng, and explains that "there is a lot of sand, its shape is incomplete, and its name is also different", reflecting the complexity of the sandbars in the Yellow Sea, which is no longer comparable to the early simple labeling of "Haimen Island".
Haimen Island in the Map of the Imperial Office
Jiangsu Radiant Sand Ridge Group is the world's largest intertidal radial sand ridge group, known as "Jiangsu Reserve Storage Land Resources". The Dongtai Tiaozi Mud Scenic Area, which we are familiar with, is a case of its development and utilization.
Where did Sheyang Lake go?
The Late Ming Dynasty's "Illustration of Yangzhou Capital" depicts a water area called "Sheyang Lake" in the east of Baoying County. Sheyang Lake is a historical lake in Jiangsu. In the Song Dynasty's "Taiping Huanyu Record", it is said: "Sheyang Lake is three hundred miles long and thirty miles wide." "The lake is very imposing. However, we cannot find this lake on our map today, but there is a sheyang lake town at the junction of Baoying and Jianhu.
Sheyang Lake (Sheyang Lake) in the "Illustration of Yangzhou Capital"
Looking at the map from decades ago, we found that in the "Fine Map of the Provinces of the People's Republic of China" published in 1955, a large swamp was marked roughly west of Jianhu County, north of Xinghua County, and east of Baoying County, and the three words "Sheyang Lake" were written. The 1958 map of Jiangsu depicts a large, non-swampy Sheyang Lake. By the 1978 "Atlas of Jiangsu Province", the name "Sheyang Lake" was gone, but the swamp icons were all over the map of the Lixia River, and there were also a large number of small lakes painted at the junction of Baoying, Jianhu and Xinghua, such as Jiulidang (Jianhu), Tingdang (Baoying), Tuantou Dang (Yandu, Baoying), and Guanzhuangdang (Xinghua), it is clear that Sheyang Lake has been silted up, and by 1978, it was decomposed into many lakes due to siltation. Unfortunately, these small lakes have disappeared further, and to this day many people have never even heard of the existence of Sheyang Lake.
Sheyang Lake in a 1958 map of Jiangsu
In fact, the siltation of Sheyang Lake has begun since the Song Dynasty, and natural drying up and reclamation and breeding are important reasons. Many media claim that the ancient Sheyang Lake has disappeared. However, in 2018, the "Yangzhou Release" reported that Baoying Sheyang Lake has not disappeared, saying that the current water surface of Sheyang Lake is about 8 square kilometers, which is a total reduction of 130 square kilometers compared with the early liberation period. The Baoying chapter of "Chinese Image Fangzhi" broadcast by CCTV in 2019 also showed the appearance of Sheyang Lake, but did not explain the historical changes of Sheyang Lake.
Through map comparison, it is found that many famous scenic spots today are the remnants of Sheyang Lake, such as Lizhong Water Forest Park, a 4a-level scenic spot in Xinghua, and Jiulongkou, a 4a-level scenic spot in Jianhu, which are all part of the former Sheyang Lake.
It is also worth mentioning that in the Qing Dynasty, the Sheyang River was often called "Sheyang Lake", because the Sheyang River was eroded by the water of Sheyang Lake.
Where did Mount Maha go?
Along the Yangtze River in Jiangsu, there are more hills in the south of the river than in the north of the river. East of the Jiangyin Fortress to the mouth of the sea, the low mountains on the north bank of the river are only the Wolf Five Mountains, but before the JingJiang River merges, the lonely mountain on the north bank is also on the riverbank, in addition to the Maha Mountain of Rugao. At the end of the Ming Dynasty, the "Illustration of Rugao County" in the "Illustration of Yangzhou Capital" vividly shows the location of Mount Maha.
Mount Maha in the Illustration of Yangzhou Prefecture
Mount Maha is located on the river, next to Shizhuang. There are many historical poems about Mount Mahabharata. In the Ming Dynasty's "Looking at Maha Mountain", it is said that "Maha Mountain is in the great river, looking like a bun floating in the blue sky", showing the geographical location and form of Maha Mountain. Another Ming Dynasty, Wu Shishi, has "Maha Mountain", which describes the mountain as "hidden In The Maha Jedi, Donggao shields and wanders heavily." One day the sea color mountains and rivers were there, and the sound and shadow of the waves came from the waves. ”
The Historical Atlas of China shows that the Maha Mountains of the Northern Song Dynasty were integrated with the north of the River
Mount Maha was the only mountain in rugao's past, so where does it go now? With the change of the riverbank, Mount Maha gradually merged with the south bank, and in about the 1920s it was completely integrated with Jiangnan and renamed "Duanshan". The current Duanshan site is located in the territory of Daxin Town, Zhangjiagang, and the mountain has been basically flattened as early as the middle of the last century due to the mining of stone. Zhangjiagang originally had a Duanshan Village, but at the end of 2020, the zoning of Daxin Town was adjusted, and Duanshan Village was merged, and the history of "Duanshan" as an administrative division unit was also ended. However, the name "Duanshan Port" still exists.
Where did Tianmu Mountain go?
Tianmu Mountain in Zhejiang is famous throughout the country, but Jiangsu also has a Tianmu Mountain. Among the many maps of the Ming Dynasty, the "Tianmu Mountain" of Taizhou was often painted in a conspicuous position. Interestingly, Jiangsu Tianmu Mountain is considered to be the remnant of Zhejiang Tianmu Mountain.
The Yangtze River in the "Three Talents Picture Society" depicts Tianmu Mountain
At present, the only mountain in the entire Taizhou area is the lone mountain of the Jingjiang River (which is also the remnant of Tianmu Mountain), and there is no Tianmu Mountain. So where did Mount Tianmu in Taizhou go?
At present, there is a Tianmu Mountain ruins in the north of Jiangyan City, involving the Shang and Zhou civilizations, which is one of the eight major sites in Jiangsu and has a greater popularity. During his exile in Taizhou, Wen Tianxiang once left a poem that read, "The family of the courtiers is ten thousand miles, and the heavenly eyes are lonely and loyal". Unlike the above-mentioned Sheyang Lake and Maha Mountain, Tianmu Mountain is highly valued, and a new Jiangyan Museum has been established near it, and Jiangyan also set up Tianmushan Street in 2019. The place name "Tianmu Mountain" was retained.
The Jiangyan Museum is located next to the tianmu mountain site
Although Tianmu Mountain is called "mountain" in ancient maps, it is actually only a few meters high, equivalent to waterside highlands. Wanli's "Taizhou Chronicle" calls it "Gao Erzhangyu, Tuesday One Hundred and Thirty Steps", we compare the above-mentioned Jiajing "Kunshan County Chronicle" in Ma'anshan (Yufeng Mountain), Ma'anshan is recorded as seventy zhang high, through calculations, the height of Tianmu Mountain during the Ming Dynasty Wanli period is about 2.3 meters to 3.4 meters. It can be seen that its humanistic and archaeological significance is far greater than the significance of topography and landform.
Where did Shuoxiang Lake go?
Jiangsu is the province with the largest proportion of land and water area, and two of the four major lakes are located in Jiangsu. But compared with history, the current waters of Jiangsu are actually shrinking. Some areas without large lakes also had large lakes in the past. Shuoxiang Lake is one of them.
Shuoxiang Lake in the "General Map of the Unified Sea Route of the Great Qing Dynasty"
In the third issue of "Jiangsu Local History" in 2014, an article was published "Shuoxiang Lake in the Vicissitudes of the Sea", which told the past and present lives of Shuoxiang Lake. According to the 1874 "General Map of the Great Qing Dynasty", Shuoxiang Lake is located just east of Shuyang and north of Lianshui (Andong). According to the 1895 "Public Opinion Map of Jiangsu Province", Shuoxiang Lake is located in the northeast of Shuyang and southwest of Haizhou. Both the "General Map of the Great Qing Dynasty Unified Sea Route" and the "Public Opinion Map of Jiangsu Province" show that the size of Shuoxiang Lake is comparable to that of Luoma Lake.
There are many poems about Shuoxiang Lake in history, such as the Ming Dynasty Lianshui man Wang Qiyun has "Shuoxiang Qingbo", in which the poem uses "West Pillow Sang Ruins East River" to describe the location of Shuoxiang Lake. Like Sheyang Lake, Shuoxiang Lake later silted up. Now a large area of land in Guannan was once located in the lake. At present, ShuoxiangHu Wetland Park has been opened in Guannan, which is an important local scenic spot. Although the size of the water surface is incomparable to the past, it is valuable as a carrier of memory "nostalgia".
Shuoxiang Lake in "Public Opinion Map of Jiangsu Province"
In the ancient map of Jiangsu, there are also Qingyi Lake, Guangyang Lake, Sangxu Lake, etc., which are similar to Shuoxiang Lake, and are representatives of the lake from vast to silted.
Some of the "mysterious places" in the ancient maps of Jiangsu have become passers-by in the vicissitudes of the sea, and some are just "anonymous" and have not really disappeared. They were once an important landmark on the land of Jiangsu and may no longer be beautiful, but as part of the "nostalgia", they have always haunted our hearts.
Source: Purple Cow News