Qi Garden in East Suzhou
The famous Qi Garden in East Suzhou, built in the 1930s by the Xi family in memory of their ancestors' reception of Emperor Kangxi, is a classical private garden in China, also commonly known as Xi Family Garden. The builder of Qi Garden, Xi Qisun, the second son of Xi Zhengfu, in memory of his ancestor Xi's reception of Emperor Kangxi in 1684, spent 100,000 silver dollars in 1933 to select the site at Yejiabang, a low-lying area of more than ten acres where rice was grown and fish were raised by the Taihu Lake, and excavated 40 acres of soil to build the 'Qi Garden'.
During the construction of the garden, famous painters such as Cai Xian, Fan Shaoyun, and Zhu Zhuyun designed it according to the artistic conception of 'Zhao Yin Garden·Jing Guan Tower' built by Wang Ao, a scholar of the Ming Dynasty from East Mountain, 'overlooking 36,000 hectares of waves and experiencing the verdant of 72 peaks', implying the profoundness of the lake and mountain scenery. It took three years to initially form the scale of the garden.
Qi Garden is well-located, backed by mountains and facing the lake, situated between mountains and water. It is the only garden in Suzhou that is built by the mountain and by the water. The garden contains mountains and lakes, and the scenery changes with every step. It not only integrates the artistic features of Suzhou gardens, which are small and exquisite, and winding and deep, but also has the rough spirit of connecting 72 peaks and 36,000 hectares of waves. The halls, pavilions, corridors, and studios, the lake and rockery, the flower path and curved bridge, the flowers and trees are all balanced and scattered, very harmonious; the water in the pool in the garden is clear, and the fish can be counted; the bank of the pool is built with Taihu stones into a ring pool rockery, with different postures, vivid and lifelike; a 20-meter-long corridor runs through the garden, with a high wall built in the middle of the corridor, divided into two, with different patterns of leaky windows, vaguely seeing the separated garden scenery, giving people a sense of imagination and endlessness; the end of the corridor and both sides are decorated with pavilions, with high flying eaves, simple and dignified, more elegant; the whole garden is exquisite and beautiful, bright and beautiful, simple and elegant, winding and deep, using the towering Molifeng outside the garden and the boundless Taihu Lake, and contrasting with the islands rising and falling in the lake, blending with the natural mountains and waters, the scenery is beautiful, making people feel relaxed and happy, making people feel the infinite scenery.
The ancient bayberry tree, the ancient Liuyi well, and the imperial dock where Kangxi came to the East Mountain in the garden are known as the three treasures of Qi Garden. Two of them are related to Kangxi, one is the imperial dock in the garden. A small curved bridge brings Taihu Lake into view; a memorial archway brings the imperial dock 'Chong Er' pavilion, also known as the boundless pavilion, into view. What is called 'holding the mountain and swallowing the lake', what is called 'borrowing the scenery and taking the materials', is simply amazing, the imperial dock stretches straight into the water, embedded in the rippling Taihu Lake, with a magnificent momentum, full of poetic and picturesque. One is the ancient bayberry tree said to have been planted by Kangxi himself, but the once bayberry forest has long since died, only this one is still lush, indeed a bit incredible, it is said to be stained with royal qi.
Qi Garden can be said to occupy all the lake and mountain scenery, both the elegance of Suzhou gardens, small and exquisite, winding and deep, and the majesty of the waves of Taihu Lake and the misty peaks, can also be considered a rare mountain and lake garden in the south of the Yangtze River.