Disillusionment is a byproduct of a political life, and that is not limited to the current century. However, rarely is it expressed so beautifully as in the finest garden in southern China, known simply as The Humble Administrator’s Garden.
Though its roots can be traced back more than 500 years when it initially served as the residence and garden of Lu Guimeng, a scholar in the Tang Dynasty, its re-birth started in 1510 when it was appropriated by a retired and long persecuted civil servant named Wang Xiancheng. Wang teamed up with his friend, artist Wen Zhengming, in creating a legacy so rare and delightful that in 1997, it was given world heritage status by UNESCO.
The name was appropriately coined from a line from the famous poet and official Pan Yue of the Jin Dynasty who wrote: “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.”
A place for quiet contemplation
Situated in the heart of the beautiful city of Suzhou, it is a place for socializing mingled with quiet contemplation that every retiree would covet. It took 16 years to create and covers 13 acres divided into an eastern, middle and western part.
“Chinese gardens have four elements: rocks, beauty, water and lastly plants,” says tourist guide “Billy” who takes hundreds of tourists through the grounds each week. He won’t say his Chinese name, selecting an English name instead that he says tourists find easier to pronounce.
Lotus beds have special meaning
Even though the garden is crowded with people, there are many spots to stand and take in the expansive beauty of lotus beds, picturesque structures, and luxurious and thick vegetation. For the visitor from another culture, there is time to marvel at how one man could be so motivated to create this legacy that has stood for centuries. Each plant in each area seems to be selected for a reason. The lotus, for example, is considered the “fairy of flowers” and has unique connections to Chinese folklore, in which it represents peace, purity and sincerity.
“The lotus comes out of the mire but stays pristine,” according to experts from the East China University of Science and Technology writing in A Bird’s-Eye View of Chinese Culture, a book acquainting foreigners with China’s ways and released to coincide with Shanghai’s hosting of the World Expo in 2010. “It is inwardly empty yet outwardly upright. Its noble image is very much respected and admired by people.”
Although the lotus blooms in the summer, the garden in winter is charming and full of blooms as well.
Seasonal changes thrill visitors
“It changes every season,” Billy says, each one bringing unique beauties for the visitor. Walking through the lingering garden, the lion forest garden, the garden of cultivation, the garden of essence, and even the ladies’ garden, one is struck by the original architect’s commitment and skill at illustrating the best in nature that could be appreciated generation after generation.
Ancient trees spread their limbs to shade and sooth the weary; 48 buildings ignite the visitor’s imagination to consider shared confidences of ancestors, and the still-standing house in the south part of the garden capture’s the style and culture of its era.
Treasure lost in gambling debt
Though the beauty has lasted through many generations and changes of hands, the garden’s owners have not all benefitted from the many reference points for reflection that it offers. Wang’s son, for example, lost his father’s legacy to gambling debts, and the garden went from owner to owner for many years after that, and it was split into three parts with three different owners earlier in the 20th century.
It was only in 1949 that it came together again and massive restoration was completed by 1952.
Inspiration and irony
Wang Xiancheng left his position tired and depleted from years of struggle. But in the second phase of his life, he found a new purpose and created a garden that is far better known than the original work of his life that once seemed so important to him.
There are many things to reflect upon in his garden, but the irony of its inspiration is not lost on its many visitors.
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