Humble Administrator's Garden
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The Humble Administrator's Garden (; Suzhou Wu: ) is a
Chinese garden The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Emperor of China, Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and t ...
in
Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...
, a
UNESCO World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
and one of the most famous of the gardens of Suzhou. The garden is located at 178 Northeast Street (东北街178号),
Gusu District Gusu District () is one of five urban districts and the main district of Suzhou, Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, techn ...
. At 78 mu () (), it is the largest garden in Suzhou and is considered by some to be the finest garden in all of southern China. In 1997, Humble Administrator's Garden was named a
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage Site World Heritage Sites are landmarks and areas with legal protection under an treaty, international treaty administered by UNESCO for having cultural, historical, or scientific significance. The sites are judged to contain "cultural and natural ...
as a component of the
Classical Gardens of Suzhou The Classical Gardens of Suzhou (; Suzhounese ( Wugniu): ''sou1-tseu1 yoe2-lin2'') are a group of gardens in the city of Suzhou, in Jiangsu, China, which have been added to the UNESCO World Heritage List. Spanning a period of almost one thousand ...
.


History

On the garden's site was first built a garden during the Shaoxing period (1131–1162) of the Southern Song dynasty. Afterwards it changed ownership, and was destroyed or modified continually. It was the residence and garden of
Lu Guimeng Lu Guimeng (; died 881), courtesy name Luwang (), was a recluse Chinese poet of the Tang dynasty. He lived in seclusion at Puli near Suzhou. His pseudonyms included Mr. Puli (), Tiansuizhi (), and Jianghu Sanren (). He and his friend, the fell ...
, a
Tang dynasty The Tang dynasty (, ; zh, c=唐朝), or the Tang Empire, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 618 to 907, with an Wu Zhou, interregnum between 690 and 705. It was preceded by the Sui dynasty and followed ...
scholar. Later in the
Yuan dynasty The Yuan dynasty ( ; zh, c=元朝, p=Yuáncháo), officially the Great Yuan (; Mongolian language, Mongolian: , , literally 'Great Yuan State'), was a Mongol-led imperial dynasty of China and a successor state to the Mongol Empire after Div ...
it became the Dahong Temple's garden. In 1513, Wang Xianchen, an Imperial Envoy and poet of the
Ming dynasty The Ming dynasty, officially the Great Ming, was an Dynasties of China, imperial dynasty of China that ruled from 1368 to 1644, following the collapse of the Mongol Empire, Mongol-led Yuan dynasty. The Ming was the last imperial dynasty of ...
, created a garden on the site of the dilapidated Dahong Temple which had been burnt during the Ming conquest. In 1510, he retired to his native home of Suzhou on the occasion of his father's death. He had experienced a tumultuous official life punctuated by various demotions and promotions, and gave up his last official post as magistrate of Yongjia county in Zhejiang province, and began to work on the garden. This garden, meant to express his fine taste, received close attention from the renowned artist, Suzhou native, and friend,
Wen Zhengming Wen Zhengming (28 November 1470 – 28 March 1559Wen Zhengming's epitaph by Huang Zuo indicate that he died on the 20th day of the 2nd month of the ''ji'wei'' year during the reign of the Jiajing Emperor. (嘉靖己未二月二十日,与严侍 ...
. The garden was named (first evidence around 1517) after a verse by the famous scholar official of the Jin dynasty, Pan Yue, in his prose, ''An Idle Life'', "I enjoy a carefree life by planting trees and building my own house...I irrigate my garden and grow vegetables for me to eat...such a life suits a retired official like me well". This verse symbolized Wang's desire to retire from politics and adopt a hermit's life in the manner of
Tao Yuanming Tao Yuanming (365–427), also known as Tao Qian, courtesy name Yuanliang (元亮), was a Chinese poet and politician. He was one of the best-known poets who lived during the Six Dynasties period. Tao Yuanming spent much of his life in reclusi ...
. In the Xianju rhyme-prose, he writes 'This is the way of ruling for an unsuccessful politician'. It took 16 years until 1526 to complete. Wen Zhengming wrote an essay ''Notes of Wang's Humble Administrator's Garden'', and painted ''Landscapes of the Humble Administrator's Garden'' in 1533 including 31 paintings and poems to commemorate the garden. Wen produced a second album of eight leaves showing sites in the garden in 1551, with different views but the same poems as in 1533. Wang's son lost the garden to pay gambling debts, and it has changed hands many times since. In 1631 the eastern garden was divided from the rest and purchased by Wang Xinyi, Vice Minister of the Justice Board. He added many modifications over the next four years, finishing work in 1635. After completion it was renamed ''Dwelling Upon Return to the Countryside'' (). The central garden was purchased by Jiang Qi, Governor of Jiangsu in 1738. After extensive renovations he renamed it Garden Rebuilt. In 1860, it became the residence of a Taiping prince,
Li Xiucheng Li Xiucheng (; 1823 – August 7, 1864) was a military rebel commander opposing the Qing dynasty during the Taiping Rebellion. He was born to a peasant family. In 1864, he was captured and interrogated following the third and final Battle of ...
, and it was remodelled, and the current aspect of the garden is said to be inherited from this period. Also in 1738 the Western Garden was purchased by Ye Shikuan Chief Histographer, and renamed The Garden of Books. The Garden of Books was purchased by a Suzhou merchant, Zhang Lüqian, in 1877 and renamed The Subsidiary Garden. In 1949 all three parts of the garden were rejoined by the Chinese government and subsequently opened to the public, then restored in 1952. In 1997 the garden was given
UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO ) is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and International secur ...
World Heritage status.
Cao Xueqin Cao Xueqin ( ; 4 April 171010 June 1765Briggs, Asa (ed.) (1989) ''The Longman Encyclopedia'', Longman, ) was a Chinese novelist and poet during the Qing dynasty. He is best known as the author of '' Dream of the Red Chamber'', one of the Four G ...
, author of the ''
Dream of the Red Chamber ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' or ''The Story of the Stone'' is an 18th-century Chinese novel authored by Cao Xueqin, considered to be one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature. It is known for its psychological scope and it ...
'', is supposed to have lived at the garden during his teenage years – around 1735. Among Chinese scholars, it is believed that much of the garden in his novel ''Dream of the Red Chamber'' was inspired by the scenery of the Humble Administrator's Garden.


Design

The garden contains numerous pavilions and bridges set among a maze of connected pools and islands. It consists of three major parts set about a large lake: the central part (Zhuozheng Yuan), the eastern part (once called Guitianyuanju, Dwelling Upon Return to the Countryside), and a western part (the Supplementary Garden). The house lies in the south of the garden. In total, the garden contains 48 different buildings with 101 tablets, 40 steles, 21 precious old trees, and over 700 Suzhou-style
penjing ''Penjing'', also known as ''penzai'', is the ancient Chinese art of depicting artistically formed trees, other plants, and landscapes in miniature. Penjing generally fall into one of three categories: * Shumu penjing (樹木盆景): Tree penji ...
/penzai. According to , compared with the layout from the Zhenghe period in the Ming dynasty, the garden "now has more buildings and islets", and although lacks a "lofty" feeling, it is "still a masterpiece of meticulous work". Liu Dunzhen judged that the arrangement of rocks and water in the ponds of the central third may have its origins in the early Qing. The western third retains the late nineteenth-century layout, while the eastern third has seen several renovation since. But Clunas believes that even this is unreasonably optimistic, and he underlines that Liu Dunzhen and others tend to imply that, "despite the vicissitudes of history, there is continuity at the much more important level of essence". Xue Zhijian, the curator of the garden and of the Suzhou Garden Museum, explained the exquisite design and aesthetic value of the Humble Administrator's Garden, the largest of Suzhou's gardens. "This style of Suzhou old style garden has numerous layers," Xue says. "There are four particular components: the stone, the plant, the architecture and the water." And these are woven together in endless combinations. At one corner in the Humble Administrator's Garden, rocks cutthrough the wall, making viewers feel like they are exploring a mountain, despite the fact that they are in the middle of the city. The plants here represent various seasons, peonies for spring, lotus for summer, osmanthus in the winter time and plum blooms in winter. Eastern Garden: Composed of a few buildings around a central great lawn and pond combination. The lawn is ringed by a grove of crape myrtle trees in allusion to the Tang dynasty State Secretariat which was nicknamed the Crape Myrtle Department. Central Garden: This section is composed of many scenes arranged around the "Surging Wave" Pond. Within the pond three islands recreate the scenery of the fairy islands of the east sea (see Penglai). Western Garden: This part is only half the size of the central part, and is also mainly dominated by water. The pond runs from north to south, and at the central part rises an islet. Although small, it is planned with meticulous care and precision. The buildings, though numerous, do not clutter; small mountains and ponds do not give a cramped impression.


See also

*
Chinese garden The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Emperor of China, Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and t ...
*
Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...
*
World Heritage Sites in China The world is the totality of entities, the whole of reality, or everything that exists. The nature of the world has been conceptualized differently in different fields. Some conceptions see the world as unique, while others talk of a "plu ...


Notes


References


Sources

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External links


Bibliography on Gardens in China: Sources in Western Languages
{{Classical Gardens of Suzhou Classical Gardens of Suzhou Major National Historical and Cultural Sites in Jiangsu AAAA-rated tourist attractions