Souls of the City
Meet the strategists, poets, and artists who turned a riverside settlement into a global cultural capital.
Wu Zixu
Strategist & Architect of Suzhou
The visionary general and politician who planned and supervised the construction of the Great City of Helu, the foundation of modern Suzhou.
Wu Zixu is revered as the ‘founding father’ of Suzhou. Tasked by King Helu of Wu, he designed the city with a unique dual-gate system (water and land gates) and a sophisticated canal network, much of which still defines the city’s layout today.
According to legend, he chose the location based on celestial and terrestrial omens to ensure the city’s prosperity. His legacy remains central to Suzhou’s identity, and he is often honored as a deity of the city’s gates.
Tang Bohu
Painter, Calligrapher & Poet
One of the 'Four Masters of the Ming Dynasty,' Tang Bohu (Tang Yin) is an iconic figure of Suzhou's literati culture, known for his extraordinary talent and eccentric lifestyle.
Born in Suzhou, Tang Yin is one of the most famous intellectuals in Chinese history. While he was a brilliant scholar, his life was marked by both professional setbacks and immense creative achievement.
He is celebrated for his delicate landscapes and figure paintings, which captured the refined aesthetic of the Suzhou elite. In popular culture, he is often depicted as a romantic and witty figure, epitomizing the ‘Jiangnan Scholar’ archetype.