Suzhou, the cradle of Wu culture, is one of the oldest towns in the Yangtze Basin. 2500 years ago in the late Zhou Dynasty, local tribes who named themselves Gou Wu lived in the area which would become the modern city of Suzhou. These tribes formed villages on the edges of hills above the wetlands around Lake Tai.
In 514 BC, during the Spring and Autumn Period, King Helü of the State of Wu established his capital at Helü City on the site of present-day Suzhou. In 496 BC, King Helü was buried in Huqiu (Tiger Hill). In 473 BC Wu was defeated by Yue, a kingdom to the east which was eventually annexed by the State of Chu in 306 BC. Remnants of this culture include remainders of a 2,500 year old city wall and the gate through it at Pan Gate.
By the time of the Qin Dynasty, the city was known as Wu County and was part of Guiji Commandery. Xiang Yu there staged his historical uprising of 209 BC, which contributed to the overthrow of Qin.
When the Grand Canal was completed, Suzhou found itself strategically located on a major trade route. In the course of the history of China, it has been a metropolis of industry and commerce on the south-eastern coast of China. During the Tang Dynasty, the great poet Bai Juyi constructed the Shantang Canal (called "Shantang Street") to connect the city with Huqiu for tourists. In 1035, the temple of Confucius was founded by famed poet and writer Fan Zhongyan. It became the venue for imperial civil examinations. It has developed continuously and became a high school now called Suzhou High School in 1910s.
In February 1130, the advancing Jin army from the north ransacked the city. This was followed by the Mongol invasion (1275). In 1356, Suzhou became the capital of Zhang Shicheng, one of the leaders of the Red Turban Rebellion against the Yuan Dynasty and the self-proclaimed King of Wu. In 1367 Zhang's main rival, Nanjing-based Zhu Yuanzhang took the city after a 10-month siege. Zhu - who was soon to proclaim
