The First Well of Qiantang is located in Hangzhou City, Zhejiang Province. The ancient well, facing west and positioned to the east, has an overall layout in the shape of a concave. In the central courtyard, there are five wells distributed, with a boundary stone inscribed with ‘Ancient Great Well Wall Boundary’.
The great well was initially dug by the master of the Wu Yue Kingdom during the Five Dynasties, named Deshao. At the time of its creation, the circumference was four Zhang, indicating a significant size. The well had no cover and was known as ‘The First Spring of Wushan’.
During the Shaoxing years of the Southern Song Dynasty, there were frequent incidents of people drowning in the well. Grand Commandant Dong Dezhi covered the well with large stone slabs, leaving six openings. In the Hongzhi years of the Ming Dynasty, the well opening was changed to five eyes. After a thousand years, the well has never run dry and has been a blessing to the people’s livelihood, benefiting the common folk. It is an important testament to the ancient laboring people of Hangzhou in their efforts to build water conservancy projects and transform nature.
The well is open all year round from 09:00 to 19:00.
