The Gardens of Suzhou

Master of the Nets Garden (Wangshi Yuan)

WA NGSHI Y UA N MASTER OF THE NETS GARDEN The Master of the Nets Garden is a finely detailed small garden whose origins extend back to the Song Dynasty. The three-courtyard residence elegantly exemplifies the social and familial order of the retired scholar. The relationship between the halls and pavilions in the garden to the square-shaped pond is noted for their variety of being “on, against, near, overlooking, and secluded from” the pond itself. SONG DYNASTY HALL OF TEN THOUSAND VOLUMES The desire for the beauty of nature and to retreat from city life—especially the treacherous imperial bureaucracy—motivated Shi Zhengshi to retire from his Southern Song Dynasty bureaucratic post and build his Hall of Ten Thousand Volumes and the adjacent garden, “Fisherman’s Retreat.” He cultivated flowers and read books in the garden where he modeled himself as the content fisherman, the Chinese equivalent of the arcadian shepherd of the West, often depicted in Chinese philosophy and paintings . The Song Dynasty painter Guo Xi (c. 1020–c. 1090) wrote, “Always prefer a garden to cultivate the mind and to live in, lofty mountains and waters to inspire the heart, seek the pleasure and comforts of the fisherman and woodcutter, and stay away from the hectic city life that imprisons the mind.” 66 the gardens of suzhou A HISTORY OF NEGLECT AND RECONSTRUCTION A short review of the garden’s ownership will illuminate similar histories of early established gardens of Suzhou—where the vicissitudes of dynastic change, bureaucratic savviness, and fluctuating prosperity all contribute to the rise and fall of the gardens. Around 1785, during the reign of Qianlong and centuries after Shi Zhengshi built his Hall of Ten Thousand Volumes, another minesterial official, Song Zongyuan, built his courtyard residence on the site and named it the Master of the Nets Garden to express his desire, like Shi 1 2 3 4 5 6 Figure 42. Plan of the Master of the Nets Garden 1. Entrance 2. Hall of Ten Thousand Volumes 3. Small Hill and Osmanthus Hall 4. Rosy Clouds Pool 5. Peony Terrace 6. Watching Pines Studio master of the nets garden 67 Zhengshi, to lead a hermit-like life. He organized the residence around twelve scenes, including the Washing My Tassels in the Water Pavilion and the Small Hill and Osmanthus Fragrance Pavilion, which established the south side of the garden as the focus for entertainment. The northern side of the garden, the historic location of Shi’s Hall of Ten Thousand Volumes , was the focus for scholarship. A wealthy merchant from nearby Taicang, Qu Yuancun, purchased the garden ten years later in 1795, and added halls, pavilions, and terraces. When the peonies were in bloom in the spring and summer, Qu invited scholars to enjoy the aroma and sight of the flowers. Passersby could hear them playing music and reciting poems behind the high white walls of the garden. The garden returned to another administrative official, Li Hongyi, in 1868 following the Taiping Rebellion. Li owned an extensive library and was also skilled at calligraphy. Many of the inscribed stelea in the garden are his copies of Wei and Jin Dynasty inscriptions. The last private owner, He Cheng, restored parts of the residence and garden during the optimistic time between the fall of the Qing Dynasty in 1912 and the Japanese occupation in 1936. During part of this time, the Zhang brothers, both famous painters, had their studio in the Peony Terrace . The garden was donated to the government after He’s death in 1946 along with a notable collection of calligraphy, paintings, and furniture. In the 1970s, the garden was purportedly occupied by Kang Sheng, a powerKang Sheng, a power- , a powerful intelligence specialist and important figure in the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976. The garden, thus embodies common histories of the Suzhou gardens. A small early pavilion and garden in the Song Dynasty was expanded in the Ming Dynasty by successful scholars who had performed well on the imperial exam in their youth and later retired from court life in Suzhou. Periods of destruction were experienced during the upheaval that led to the rise of the Qing Dynasty. The mid-Qing era was marked by prosperity, and the gardens of Suzhou and elsewhere flourished. The nineteenth and twentieth centuries, however, brought foreign armies, the internal Taiping Rebellion, the fall of the Qing Dynasty, a world war, and...