| Garden of Harmony (1874 onward) other
sites in Suzhou |
Suzhou, China |
Click on the thumbnails to enlarge.
This garden was originally the site of the Fu Garden of Wu Guan, a minister during the Ming dynasty. Gu Wenbin, the Governor of Ningbo-Shaoxing region, purchased the site in 1874 and expanded it. The 0.6 hectare garden is divided by a double corridor into eastern and western sections. The eastern section, the original site of the the Fu Garden, features a compound of courtyards and delicate buildings such as the "Winding Jade Pavilion", the "All-season Grace Pavilion", "Su Dongpo's Lute Chamber", and the "Rock Fetish Pavilion". The western section, an expansion by the Gu family, is centered around a pond, with rocky hills and grottos on the west and a series of halls on the southwest.
Since it was built relatively late, features of the garden resemble elements found in other famous gardens in Suzhou, such as the double corridor modeled after the Surging Waves Pavilion and rockery following the design of the Mountain Villa of Secluded Beauty and the Lion Grove Garden.
According to the author's GPS, the Garden of Harmony lies at approximately 31 18.60553' north, 120 37.05524' east (WGS84 map datum).
Bibliography:
Image credits:
All images copyright 2008 Tim Ciccone. Photographed May, 2008.
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Pamphlets available
on site (site plan adapted from plan printed on entry ticket).
Cheng, Liyao.
Ancient Chinese Architecture: Private Gardens
New York: Springer-Verlag/Wein, 1999
Dong, Xiaoming.
Cultural Heritage: The Old City of Suzhou
China: Guwuxuan Publishing House, 2002
Feng, Chaoxiong
& Fan, Yiguang. The Classical Gardens of Suzhou
China: New World Press, 2007
Liu, Dunzhen.
Classical Gardens of Suzhou
China: China Architecture and Building Press, 2005