佚名 · Public domain
Tang dynasty · 772–846
Bai Juyi
白居易（字乐天） · China
Poet
Born in Taiyuan. As prefect of Hangzhou from 822 to 824, he found West Lake's old dyke broken, the lake drying up and farmland suffering drought, and oversaw the building of a dyke to store water. The Baisha causeway on West Lake was later called the 'Bai Causeway' in his memory, though the 'Lord Bai's Dyke' he actually built no longer exists. He later served as prefect of Suzhou. His line 'Where names are inscribed beneath the Ci'en Pagoda, of seventeen men I was the youngest' records his pride at signing his name beneath the Big Wild Goose Pagoda.
Where the story happened
Places connected with this person
History · West Lake, Hangzhou
Two causeways left by two poets
In 822 Bai Juyi became prefect of Hangzhou; West Lake's old dyke had broken, the lake was drying up and the fields were parched, so he oversaw building a dyke to store water; today's 'Bai Causeway' is named in his memory, though the 'Duke Bai's Dyke' he actually built no longer exists. More than two centuries later Su Shi served in Hangzhou, dredged West Lake and used the silt to build a long causeway — the 'Su Causeway'.
