King Helü (Helu)

King Helü (阖闾) ascended the throne of Wu after a period of internal strife and immediately pursued military and administrative reform. He entrusted the strategist Wu Zixu with the design and construction of a new capital, the “Great City of Helu” (Helu Dacheng), which was laid out with eight land gates and eight water gates—a hydraulic and defensive grid that would define the site of Suzhou for over 2,500 years. Under Helü, Wu challenged Chu and expanded its influence; his reign is remembered as the beginning of Suzhou’s identity as a planned, enduring city. He died from a wound sustained in the war against Yue, and was buried at Tiger Hill (Huqiu), where his tomb and the legend of 3,000 buried swords still capture the imagination.