Suzhou (Soochow) Jiangsu (Kiangsu) China

Liu Yong claims to be the proper emperor of Han, based on his lineage—as the son of Liu Li , the Prince of Liang under the reigns of Emperor Cheng, Emperor Ai, and Emperor Ping who had been forced by Wang Mang to commit suicide; he controls the modern eastern Henan and northern Jiangsu region.

Liu Yong's son and heir Liu Yu is defeated by Eastern Han forces and killed in CE 29.

The Tiger Hill Pagoda, more officially the Yunyan Pagoda, also sometimes translated as Huqiu Tower, is a Chinese pagoda situated on Tiger Hill in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

It is nicknamed the 'Leaning Tower of China'.

It is the pagoda of the former Yunyan Temple.

Construction had begun in 907, during the later period of the Five Dynasties period, at a time when Suzhou is ruled by the Wuyue Kingdom.

The pagoda rises to a height of forty-seven meters (one hundred and fifty-four feet).

The pagoda has seven stories and is octagonal in cross-section.

It is built with a masonry structure designed to imitate wooden-structured pagodas prevalent at this time.

Construction is completed in 961.

The present Beisi Pagoda in Suzhou dates to the Ming Dynasty (1368–1644) (with renovations in following eras), but the historical site of construction for the pagodas dates back seventeen hundred years.

A Buddhist pagoda built during the reign of Sun Quan in the third century originally stood at the site (in honor of his wet nurse), along with another pagoda built during the Liang Dynasty (502-557).

The current design of the pagoda structure is made between the years 1131 and 1162, during the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The base of the pagoda has an octagonal frame, and the tower rises nine stories in a total height of seventy-six meters (two hundred and forty-nine feet).

The pagoda was once eleven stories tall, but was damaged and reduced to nine stories.

its double eaves and flying corners are similar to that of the Liuhe Pagoda found in Hangzhou.

Its base and outside walls are made of brick, the balustrades made of stone, and the eaves and banisters encircling the structure are made of wood.

Patronage and construction for the Song era pagoda had been headed by the Buddhist monk Dayuan.

However, the pagoda will be burnt down by fire towards the end of the Song Dynasty and rebuilt during the Ming.

The two hundred thousand multiethnic troops of the Yuan Dynasty, headed by Bayan, face, in March 1275, a Chinese Song Dynasty army of one hundred thousand led by the Song Chancellor Jia Sidao.

The result is a decisive victory for the Yuan Dynasty.

The invading forces capture the Song city of Suzhou.

Soon after, the much-vilified Jia Sidao is stripped of rank and title, and killed by one of his own guards as he is sent to exile in Fujian by the Song court.

Huang Gongwang holds minor governmental posts in northern China until his dismissal, at forty-three, after being implicated in a scandal.

Upon returning to his native region near Suzhou (Soochow) in 1313, he begins to pursue Taoist studies and to paint and write poetry.

During an extended mountain sojourn he paints his (surviving) masterpiece, the long horizontal scroll “Dwelling in the Fuchun Mountains.”

Qiu Ying, born to a peasant family in Taicang (now Jiangsu Province), had studied painting under Zhou Chen in Suzhou.

Though Suzhou's Wu School encourages painting in ink washes, Qiu Ying also paints in the green-and-blue style.

He paints with the support of wealthy patrons, creating images of flowers, gardens, religious subjects, and landscapes in the fashions of the Ming Dynasty.

He incorporates different techniques into his paintings, and has acquired a few wealthy patrons.

His talent and versatility allow him to become regarded as one of the Four Great Masters of the Ming Dynasty, together with Shen Zhou, Wen Zhengming and Tang Yin.

Wen Zhengming, born in present-day Suzhou, claims to be a descendant of the Song Dynasty prime minister and patriot Wen Tianxiang.

Wen’s family was originally from Hengyang, Hunan, where his family had established itself shortly after the tenth century.

Not until the time of Wen's great-grandfather, Wen Hui, a military officer, did the family move to the Suzhou area.

Wen often chooses painting subjects of great simplicity, like a single tree or rock.

His work often brings about a feeling of strength through isolation, which often reflect his discontent with official life.

Many of his works also celebrate the contexts of elite social life for which they are created.

He collaborates in the design of the Humble Administrator's Garden, generally considered one of China's four greatest gardens.

The Taiping leader Li Xiucheng occupies Suzhou from 1860.

Although it is one of the few places in which Taiping reform policies seem to have been effectively carried out, the city is, nevertheless, largely destroyed.

Under Gordon's leadership many walled cities and towns are taken.

Two Chinese armies raised and led by volunteers also aid in suppressing the rebels.

Li, repeatedly driven off from Shanghai by the Western mercenary armies, has to abandon his efforts in 1863 and go to aid in the defense of the Taiping capital.