Lingering Garden - Jinchang, Sozhou, China.
Posted by: MeerRescue
N 31° 18.931 E 120° 35.595
51R E 270965 N 3467071
The Lingering Garden is one of nine UNESCO World Heritage listed Classical Chinese Gardens in Sozhou, China.
Waymark Code: WME7NX
Location: China
Date Posted: 04/15/2012
Views: 12
Occupying an area of 23,300 square meters (about 5.8 acres), the Lingering
Garden is located outside Changmen Gate in Suzhou, Jiangsu Province. Originally
a classical private garden, it is one of the four most famous gardens in China.
Possessing typical Qing style, it is well-known for the exquisite beauty of its
magnificent halls, and the various sizes, shapes, and colours of the buildings.
In 1997, the garden was recorded on the list of the world heritage by UESCO.
With a history of more than 400 years, the Lingering Garden has changed hands
several times. Each owner did his best to perfect the garden. It was first built
in 1593 during the Ming Dynasty (1368 - 1644) by a retired official named Xu
Tai. During the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911), it was bought by Liu Shu. As a
calligraphy lover, he carved masterpieces on both sides of the corridors of the
buildings. He had also collected unusually-shaped stones in the garden. The
succeeding owners followed his model when doing restoration work. Almost
demolished in the 1930s, the garden was repaired sponsored by the government and
then opened to the public.
Like other famous gardens in
Suzhou, the Lingering Garden seeks to create stunning natural landscapes within
limited space. In this garden, domiciles, ancestral temples and private gardens
are included. Buildings, trees, and flowers blend harmoniously with their
surroundings. The garden can generally be divided into four parts: the central,
eastern, western and northern parts according to the style of the buildings.
Of the four parts, the central part is the essence of the whole complex. This
part was the original Lingering Garden while the other three were added during
the Qing Dynasty. After going through winding corridors from the gate of the
garden, one reaches the central part. The central part is divided into two
parts: the western part and the eastern part. The former features in pools and
hills while classical buildings dominate the latter. The Celestial Hall of Five
Peaks in the eastern part of the garden is the largest hall in the garden. The
western part is enchanting for its natural scenery. It is a large rockery built
from stacked stones and soil during the Ming Dynasty and Maples cover the hill.
When all the leaves turn red in autumn, it is extraordinarily beautiful. The
northern part used to be a vegetable garden, but now is used to exhibit potted
plants of which the Suzhou people are quite proud.
These four parts are
connected by a 700-meter (about 0.4 miles) long corridor on the wall of which
calligraphy carved on the stone can be found.