| He Garden | |
|---|---|
| 何园 (Hé Yuán) | |
He Garden |
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| Location | Yangzhou, Jiangsu |
| Created | 1883 |
| Website | http://www.he-garden.net |
He Garden (Chinese:何园; Pinyin:Hé Yuán) is a park in Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, China. Located on Xuningmen Street, it's one of the most important heritage sites under state protection as well as a National AAAA tourist scenic spot. It enjoys the reputation as the most famous Private Garden in late Qing dynasty, and is one of the 20 first-class Key parks in China.
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The name of He Garden came from a poem written by Tao Yuanming, a famous Chinese poet. Also, the first name of the owner was "He".
The He Garden is a typical residential garden, which was built in the ninth year of the reign of Emperor Guangxu (1883). Its original name is "Mountain Villa for Ease of Singing". The owner was He Weijian, who is also known as He Zhidao. He Zhidao was born in Wangjiang, Anhui. Under his father’s blessing, he began to take office and retreated in Yangzhou city, where he bought the site of the former Sliced Stone Mountain Villa and then rebuilt and expanded it. When it was finished, the owner named the garden "Ease of singing" which was borrowed from two lines of a poem On Returning Home written by Tao Yuanming(365-427). Since the owner was surnamed "He", the garden was also called "He Yuan".[1]
He Garden is recognized as one of the most remarkable private gardens and the most lately created in Yangzhou. In 2005, Luo Zhewen, the leading authority in the field of Classic Chinese Gardens, commended He Garden as "the best classic Chinese garden in Qing Dynesty" for its excellent combination of western architectural civilization and the brilliant features of China loyal garden as well as private gardens in Jiangnan.[2]
The Heyuan Garden is a large-scale private garden which is combined with residence for the purposes of both dwelling and sightseeing. The garden covers an area of 14,000 square meters, of which 7,000 square meters are used for architecture. In terms of a garden, the level of architectural density is high; however, when a visitor stands in the garden, he will not feel it is cramped. On the contrary, the whole garden, neither narrow nor hollow, is appropriate arranged. Around the garden, there’s nothing but folkhouses. Lack of mountain in distance and water in the vicinity makes it impossible for the garden to borrow a landscape. However, absorbing the essence of the traditional Chinese gardening arts, He Garden introduced the western architecture style and has successfully established its own style. For a rather long period of time, many Chinese experts on ancient gardens have sung high praise of the gardening arts employed in building the He Garden arts employed in building the He Garden and titled it "a single case of gardens in South of the Yangtze River area".
The whole garden falls into three parts: the west and east gardens, the residential area and courtyard, and the Mountain Villa. These three parts, as separate units, are laid in a chain. With both Chinese and western features, the garden can be used as both residence and a scenic spot. The designer endeavored to create a satisfactory and ideal dwelling place and all the efforts have been realized by the book of The Wonders of Yangzhou City. He Garden is regarded as "the first celebrated garden in the town after the Emperors Xianfeng and Tongzhi Resigns".[3]