The Top Garden of Late Qing Dynasty｜Does the Name He Garden Truly Deserve It?

He Garden in Yangzhou was first built in the first year of the Tongzhi reign of the Qing Dynasty. The original site was the Shuanghuai Garden from the Qianlong period of the Qing Dynasty. He Garden was originally named Jixiao Villa, inspired by Tao Yuanming’s "Return Home" with the meaning of "leaning on the south window to express pride" and "climbing the eastern hill to let out a whistle." ｜ In the ninth year of the Guangxu reign, He Zhidao resigned from his official post as supervisor of Hubei Hanhuangdao and Jianghan Customs and came to Yangzhou. He purchased the former site of the Wu family’s Pianshi Mountain House, later expanding it into a garden and building Jixiao Villa. The construction took 13 years in total. In 2005, He Garden was praised as the "Top Garden of Late Qing Dynasty" by Luo Zhewen, president of the Chinese Society of Cultural Relics and a master of garden art. ｜ The entire garden is divided into four parts: East Garden, West Garden, residential courtyards, and Pianshi Mountain House. / *East Garden The main building is a four-sided hall, shaped like a boat. It features a single-eave Xieshan roof with a corridor, resembling a ship. The ground around is paved with pebbles and tiles, patterned like water ripples, giving a sense of living on water. This building is the main scenic spot. On the southern-facing corridor pillars of the main room, wooden carved couplets hang: "The moon is the host, the plum blossom the guest; flowers form the four walls, the boat is home." A rockery is built against the northern wall of the hall. To the east is a small hexagonal pavilion backed by a white wall. Stone steps on the west side lead to a corridor with rooms. On the south side, there is a five-room hall with corridors on three sides, and a half-moon platform in the corridor. / *West Garden The space is open, with a large pond in the center, surrounded by buildings, halls, corridors, and rooms. The northern building by the pond is seven bays wide, with a roof of varying heights. The middle section has three slightly protruding bays, flanked by two slightly recessed bays, with slightly upturned eaves. Because it resembles a butterfly, it is called the Butterfly Hall. Next to the building is a corridor connected to the rockery, which divides and links the space. Between the corridor walls are lattice windows allowing views of both sides. To the east of the pond is a stone bridge connecting to a pavilion in the water’s center, which links southward to a platform. To the west of the pond is a rockery, behind which is a three-bay Flower Hanging Hall and a path flanked by yellow stone rockeries. South of the corridor is a two-story small building with three bays, occupying a corner of a small courtyard. ｜ Photo taken at He Garden, Yangzhou