釋氏稽古略 4.232

4.232

The West Lake: In the Tang dynasty, Vice Director Bai Juyi was Prefect of Hangzhou, and dredged it to create scenic beauty. By this time, Su Shi, Academician of the Hall of the Dragon Diagram, served as Prefect of Hangzhou. He submitted a memorial stating that Hangzhou having the West Lake was like a person having eyebrows and eyes, yet overgrown aquatic weeds had obscured it. He therefore dredged the lake according to its former bounds, bordering the mountains along thirty li to make embankments, piling the weeds along the sides of the lake to form a long causeway straight from north to south, planting willows and cotton roses alternately upon it. The people of Hangzhou named it the Causeway of Lord Su (Poji zouyi).