Bai Juyi
Construction of the Shantang Canal () started in 825 AD, during the Tang Dynasty by Bai Juyi, a poet and the "Cishi" (modern-day equivalent of the prefectural governor) of Suzhou, to provide a link between Huqiu and the city. The sludge that was dug out from the construction formed a dam along the north bank of the canal known as Baigong Dam () in honor of Bai Juyi. A street was then built on the dam, which later became the modern-day Shantang Street.