Wenchang Pavilion, a landmark building in Yangzhou City, is located in the center of the city. Two main roads cross here from north to south, Wenhe Road from north to south and Wenchang Road from east to west.

Wenhe Road was originally a river, and Wenchang Pavilion was originally a loft built on a bridge. Shocking or not, surprising or not.

Yangzhou was once a famous floating city. During the Sui and Tang Dynasties, rivers crisscrossed the city. In addition to the Xiao Qinhuai River, Toudao River, and Erdao River, there was also a north-south river running from Nanshuiguan to Beishuiguan. There was no official name at the time. However, because of its wide river channel, all water transport ships pass here, so the people call it Shihe or Guanhe.

"The twenty-four bridges are empty and silent, and the green poplars destroy the old Guanhe River." This is an ancient poem by the Tang Dynasty people singing about Yangzhou. It can be seen that the "Guanhe" in Yangzhou was once very glorious in history. During the Southern Song Dynasty, the river gradually became narrower, its navigation function gradually faded, and eventually it evolved into a small river in the city. This city river was called Wen River in the Ming Dynasty.

In the ninth year of Hongzhi in the Ming Dynasty, Ye Yuan, the magistrate of Yangzhou Prefecture, built Wenjin Bridge on the Shihe River in order to further connect the two sides of the city river and allow people from the east of the river to go directly to the government schools in the west of the river. In the 13th year of Wanli in the Ming Dynasty, at the initiative of Cai Shiding, the salt censor of Lianghuai, Wenchang Pavilion was built on Wenjin Bridge to worship Emperor Wenchang and to contribute to the "Changming Sacred Learning". Unexpectedly, it was later destroyed by a fire. In the 24th year of Wanli, Zhang Ning, the magistrate of Jiangdu, rebuilt the Wenchang Pavilion on the original site. It is three stories high and has round eaves on the three stories. The pavilion is octagonal, with brick walls on the ground floor and arches on all sides. There are window rails around the second and third floors, all of which can be switched on or off. The top is round and pointed, covered with tube tiles. The shape of the pavilion is similar to the Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests in the Temple of Heaven in Beijing. But more simple and handsome. In the old days, there was a plaque "Hanshang Wenshu" hanging on it. At this time, this city river gradually became known as "Wen River". Cruise ships could originally pass through Wenjin Bridge and swing into Slender West Lake.

The Wen River was blocked before the founding of the People's Republic of China and lost its original shipping function. Beginning in 1952, the government repeatedly mobilized the masses to clear away urban debris and fill up the Wen River with garbage. From July to September 1959, in order to welcome the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China and improve urban traffic conditions, the Yangzhou City Construction Section organized a municipal engineering team to fill the river and build roads, fill in the entire Wenhe River, and build a section from Wenchang Square to Ganquan Road with mud and broken bricks. Simple road and widened to build Wenchang Square.