Mayor Wei 1 Built a New Tower Outside Yong-zhou
City
Liu, Zong-yuan (773 A.D.-819 A.D.)
If we were to build craggy mountains, deep pools, and deep valleys on a
city's outskirts, we would have to exhaust ourselves in dredging channels,
moving boulders, and ascending to dangerous heights through difficulties.
Furthermore, even if we were able to do so, it would still be impossible to make
it look natural. However, there is one exception ―
Yong-zhou City. If we match its terrain and preserve its natural beauty, we can
easily build such a dream park without exposing people to danger or exhaustion.
Yong-zhou City is actually at the foot of Jiu-yi Mountain 2. The
city's first land surveyor built a town surrounded by the mountain. At that time
stones were buried in clusters of grass and springs flowed underground. This was
a place where vipers hid and where foxes and squirrels roamed. Luxuriant trees,
beautiful flowers, and poisonous grass mingled and competed for space. Because
no one tended this place, it was called a wasteland.
One month after Wei assumed his office as mayor at Yong-zhou City, everything
was being managed properly. There was not much left for him to do. One day he
looked over the land and found it extraordinary. Consequently, he ordered people
to cut weeds and open a path. The cut weeds were piled up onto a hill and then
burned. He also ordered channels dredged and water sieved so that a clear stream
might flow. Consequently, new wonderful terrains continued to emerge. The
stagnant filthy water became clear and the wasteland became a beautiful park. If
you looked at the plants, they appeared pretty, delicate, and vigorous. If you
looked at the water in the dam, it appeared full, wide, and winding. Peculiar
pieces of stone rose in ranks around the park. Some of them were set in order;
others looked like people kneeling. Some of them stood tall; others were lying
flat on the ground. The paths in the mountain caves were winding and deep. The
piled rocks protruded from the ground menacingly. Because of these interesting
features, Mayor Wei decided to build a tower for sightseeing. Everything
displayed in the park either matched or complemented its background, and showed
its craftsmanship like an entertainer performing on a stage. The remote plateaus joining to mountains alternated in the landscape with the cliffs at the wooded foothills. The plateaus and the cliffs were sometimes hidden and other times visible. The nearby scenery, surrounded by the verdant grass, and the distant scenery, tinted azure by the sky, both met the eyes of an observer in the tower.
Later, Mayor Wei invited guests to the tower and entertained them at a banquet to celebrate its opening. A guest praised and congratulated
the mayor on the tower's completion by saying, "Your building of this tower
inspires us to see your vision. You revealed the beauty by matching its terrain.
You must have sought to educate people by acting according to local customs. You
hoed weeds so that flowers could grow freely. You must have wanted to eliminate
criminals and protect good citizens. You removed silt from the channels so that
a clear stream could flow. You must have been determined to demolish greed and
establish a clean city government. You climbed the tower to look into the
distance. You must have hoped to have every family provided for and educated."
If what this guest said was true, then this tower was not just a place to enjoy
viewing trees, stones and streams, or merely a window to the beautiful scenery
of plateaus and wooded foothills. Mayor Wei built this tower mainly because he
wanted future mayors to think about more important tasks by observing small
things. I proposed to have this story of Mayor Wei's
inscribed on the wall as a model for future mayors.
1 Zhou was Mayor Wei's first name.
2 Jiu-yi Mountain is located forty miles south of Ning-yuan City in Hunan
Province.
