City of Suzhou: detail of sculpture (statue) of Gu Yanwu (1613 - 1682) at the square in front of the railway station; Gu Yanwu (1613 - 1682) was one of the most outstanding Confucian scholars of late Ming and early Qing Dynasty. Also known as Gu Tinglin; he was a Chinese philologist; geographer; and famous scholar-official in Qing dynasty. Suzhou is a big city in Jiangsu Province; East China; 100 km northwest of Shanghai; Suzhou is on the Lake Tai Plain south of the Yangtze River. Founded in 514 BC; Suzhou has many sites of historical interest.