Where is the Zuiweng Pavilion? The Drunken Pavilion is located at the foot of Mount Langya in the southwest of Chuzhou City, Anhui Province,China. It was built in the seventh year of the Qingli period of the Northern Song Dynasty (1047). It was made famous by Ouyang Xiu, one of the “Eight Great Prose Masters of the Tang and Song Dynasties.” He named the pavilion “Zuiweng Pavilion” and wrote a brilliant essay titled “The Record of Zuiweng Pavilion.”
The entire Zuiweng Pavilion scenic area is quite large, featuring nine small courtyards and seven pavilions. These are collectively referred to as the “Nine Scenic Spots of Zuiweng.” Each pavilion and courtyard has its own unique characteristics and is distinct from the others.
When Ouyang Xiu was transferred to Chuzhou to serve as an official, he was in a bad mood. However, he was soon captivated by the beautiful mountain scenery surrounding Chuzhou. A monk named Zhi Xian, who lived in the mountains, built this pavilion specifically to make Ouyang Xiu’s mountain excursions more enjoyable. Ouyang Xiu referred to himself as “Zuiweng,” so he named the pavilion after himself and wrote the timeless “Record of the Drunken Pavilion.”
How to Visit Zuiweng Pavilion
The Ouyang Xiu drunken pavilion itself is a traditional Chinese歇山式 (xieshan-style) building. Its roof ridge is adorned with mythical beasts. The corners of the pavilion’s roof are raised high, resembling birds spreading their wings to take flight. This distinctive eave design was specifically crafted to achieve this effect.
The pavilion can accommodate more than ten people. The door frames on the south and north sides are carved with beautiful patterns and relief flowers. Inside the pavilion are eight relief carvings of the “Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea” made in the late Qing Dynasty. Now, a statue of Ouyang Xiu stands in the center of the pavilion. The pavilion is surrounded by wooden railings for protection.
On the stone wall east of the pavilion, vines hang down, adorned with wildflowers. The stone wall is inscribed with many ancient characters, recording the historical changes of the Drunken Pavilion and people’s reflections on this place. Among them is a large inscription from the Southern Song Dynasty reading “Drunken Pavilion.”
Adjacent to the north of the Drunken Pavilion is Two Governor Hall. Its roof is covered with small tiles, supported by sixteen columns, with three connected rooms, and the doors and windows are lattice-style. Inside the hall stand statues of Wang Yucheng and Ouyang Xiu, along with photographs of Ouyang Xiu’s handwriting and related historical materials.
A short walk west from the Ouyang Xiu drunken Pavilion leads to a small house called Bao Song Room. This was originally a place dedicated to storing precious items from the Song Dynasty. The stone stele inside the hall is engraved with the full text of Ouyang Xiu’s “Record of the Drunken Pavilion,” written in the hand of the great literary figure Su Dongpo.
West of Bao Song Zhai is Yi Zai Pavilion. The name of this pavilion comes from Ouyang Xiu’s famous saying: “The old man’s intention is not in the wine, but in the mountains and rivers” (The old man’s mind is not on drinking, but on appreciating the beautiful scenery). The couplet on the pavilion reads: “The crisp wine and fragrant spring water invite guests to drink, while the beauty of the mountains and waters seems to flow into the cup.”
In order to commemorate the good deeds of a man named Feng Ruoyu who built Baosong Room, later generations built Feng Gong Ancestral Hall near Baosong Room. The couplet on the ancestral hall reads: “The sound of the spring is like listening to Drunken Man’s Melody, and the morning sun has already illuminated Langya Mountain.”
To the west, north of the Drunken Old Man Pavilion courtyard, stands the Ancient Plum Tree Pavilion. It is named after the ancient plum tree in front of the pavilion, so it is also called the Plum Viewing Pavilion. Between the Shadow Fragrance Pavilion and the Ancient Plum Tree Pavilion, there is said to be an ancient plum tree planted by Ouyang Xiu himself.
Ancient people built this Ancient Plum Pavilion to the north of the plum tree for the purpose of appreciating it. It was constructed by Zhang Mingdao, an official from Chuzhou during the Ming Dynasty. Viewing the ancient plum tree from different angles within the pavilion reveals its various postures.
It is said that this plum tree was indeed planted by Ouyang Xiu himself, and it is known as the “Ouyang Plum.” Unfortunately, this ancient plum tree withered and died during the wars at the end of the Song Dynasty. The plum tree that people see today was replanted during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty.
To the north of the ancient plum tree is the Ancient Plum Pavilion, and to the south is the YingXiang Pavilion. The YingXiang Pavilion is built on a square pond and was originally called the “Seeing Plum Pavilion.” Later, someone inscribed the phrases “Cold Stream and Sparse Shadows” and “Emerald Accumulation and Clear Fragrance” on the walls, and the pavilion was renamed the “YingXiang Pavilion.”
The couplet on the pavilion reads: “Sparse shadows stretch across the clear water, and the faint fragrance drifts in the twilight” (the sparse branches of the plum tree cast shadows on the clear water, and the fragrance of the plum blossoms drifts in the twilight). These two lines are excerpted from the poem “Plum Blossoms” by the Song Dynasty poet Lin Bu. The first line describes the posture of the plum branches, and the second line describes the fragrance of the plum blossoms.
Continuing westward, one can see the Lingxi Rock Pavilion. It is located south of Yiting Pavilion and northeast of Baosong New Room, and is a four-sided pavilion in the scenic area modeled after ancient architecture. Inside the pavilion is a special stone discovered and moved here by Ouyang Xiu himself. This stone has remained intact after thousands of years of wind and rain. It was originally located in a stream called “Lingxi” at the foot of Langya Mountain, but now the stream has dried up, leaving only a pond called Lingxi Pond.
South of the Lingxi Stone Pavilion lies New Baosong Room. The original Baosong Room and its precious stele inscriptions were destroyed during a special period. The stele inscribed with “The Record of the Drunken Pavilion” in New Baosong Room today was recarved based on an ancient rubbing.
There is also the Jiecheng Pavilion in the scenic area, which means “a place to sober up.” Ancient poets were quite romantic and believed that without a little wine, it was hard to compose truly exquisite poetry. As Ouyang Xiu said, “The old man’s intention is not in the wine, but in the mountains and rivers.”—without a little wine, one might indeed struggle to express such profound meaning.
Sights around Zuiweng Pavilion
Along the Langya Ancient Path stands the Xixin Pavilion. “Xixin” means to repent and purify one’s heart. On the southern wall of the pavilion is a couplet: “Resting by the stream, rinsing with stones; roaming the horizon with one’s eyes.”
Finally, don’t forget the Rangquan Spring in front of the Drunken Pavilion. Not far from the pavilion, a clear spring gushes forth from the ground. The spring’s source is enclosed by a square stone pool. The spring water flows into the pool and then into the mountain stream. The water temperature remains stable year-round, averaging around 17°C to 18°C. The pool measures approximately three feet square and is about two feet deep. Above the pool stands a stone stele engraved with the characters “Rang Quan.”
