Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty (Chinese: 环秀山庄; Pinyin: Huánxiù Shānzhuāng) is located on 262 Jingde Rd., inside the Embroidery Museum, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. In 1997, as one of Chinese classical gardens in Suzhou, it was recorded by UNESCO as a World Heritage site.

Contents

[edit] Overview

[edit] History

The history of Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty may date back to Jin Dynasty, when brothers Wang Xun(王旬) and Wang Min(王珉) donated their residential house to build Jingde Temple(景德寺). Later during Five Dynasties era, it became Jingu Garden (金谷园), owned by Qian Yuanliao (钱元璙), son of the emperor of Wuyue Kingdom, Qian Liu. In Song Dynasty, it was the pharmaceutical garden of Zhu Changwen(朱长文), a scholar. In following centuries, it was rebuilt several times. In Jiajing years of Ming Dynasty, it became Xuedao Academy of Classical Literature(学道书院), and later, the office of provisions supervisor. In Wanli years, it was the residence of grand scholar, Sheng Shixing(申时行). In late Ming Dynasty and early Qing Dynasty, his descendant, Sheng Jikui(申继揆), built "Qu Garden"(蘧园) here.

In Qianlong's years, Qing Dynasty, it was the residence of Jiang Ji(蒋楫), director of Jurisdiction Department. Jiang built "Qiuzi Tower"(求自楼), and piled stones to form a rockery behind it. He dug the ground to three feet, and a spring emerged and created a pond, called "Flying Snow"(飞雪). Other houses and pavilions were also erected. The garden subsequently was owned by Bi Yuan(毕沅), a minister, and Sun Shiyi(孙士毅), a grand scholar. Sun's descendants all loved gardening, and in Jiaqing 12th year, they asked rockery master Ge Yuliang(戈裕良) to rebuild this garden. Ge built the rockery within a field of half mu, or 0.08 acre, while the effect was overwhelming as if it spread miles. The garden gained its reputation for its rockery ever since.

[edit] Architecture

[edit] Scenic Spots

[edit] External links

Languages