On June 5, History of the Wisteria Residence, Changzhou’s first annals of a famous individual’s former home, was premiered at the Fourth Conference of Representatives of the Su Dongpo Academy in Changzhou.

The Wisteria Residence was the site where Su Dongpo (orginally known as Su Shi) , a renowned Chinese poet of the 11th century, spent his last years. From 1094 to 1100, Su was banished to Huizhou in Guangdong province and again to Danzhou in Hainan island. In 1101, he died at the age of 66 in Changzhou, Jiangsu province. According to legend, Su once planted wisteria and fragrant begonia in his garden, thus his house was also known as the Wisteria Residence. In 1172, prefecture Chao Jiangbo built the Dongpo Hall there, which was unfortunately destroyed at the end of the Song Dynasty and the beginning of the Yuan Dynasty. To commemorate Su Dongpo, in the middle of the Ming Dynasty, Changzhou people rebuilt the Wisteria Residence on the spot. In March 1982, Wisteria Residence was announced as one of the third group of cultural relics under provincial protection.

History of the Wisteria Residence was edited by Yan Zhengyuan and Su Shen. The book is divided into seven parts, containing the life of Su Dongpo, the history of Su’s residence in Changzhou, local people’s strong admiration toward him, related academic research and Su’s legacies and legends in Changzhou.