Retreat & Reflection Garden

The Retreat & Reflection Garden (Chinese: 退思园; pinyin: Tuìsī Yuán; Suzhou Wu: The sy yoe, Wu Chinese pronunciation: [tʰe̞ sz̩ ɦyø]) is a notable classical garden in China. It is located in Tongli, Wujiang, Jiangsu, China. In 2001, it was recognized with the other Classical Gardens of Suzhou as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Retreat & Reflection Garden
UNESCO World Heritage Site
The Retreat & Reflection Garden
LocationSuzhou, Jiangsu, China
Part ofClassical Gardens of Suzhou
CriteriaCultural: (i)(ii)(iii)(iv)(v)
Reference813bis-009
Inscription1997 (21st Session)
Extensions2000
Area0.421 ha (1.04 acres)
Buffer zone1.531 ha (3.78 acres)
Coordinates31°9′35.5″N 120°42′55.4″E
Retreat & Reflection Garden is located in Jiangsu
Retreat & Reflection Garden
Location of Retreat & Reflection Garden in Jiangsu
Retreat & Reflection Garden is located in China
Retreat & Reflection Garden
Retreat & Reflection Garden (China)

History

The garden was built in 1885 by Ren Lansheng, an imperial official working in Anhui province who was impeached. The name of the garden comes from a verse by Zho Zhuan in Zhuo Qiuming's Chronicles, "Lin Fu really is a gentleman when he forwards proposals, he shows loyalty to his country, when he retreats he reflects and mends his ways".[1] The garden was designed by Yuan Long (袁龙), a painter of the Wumen school.

Design

The 6,600 square metres (71,000 sq ft) garden is divided into an eastern residential area, a western main garden court with two minor courtyards attached to it.[2] The design of this garden is innovative in that is uses an east–west axis as the main axis as opposed to the traditional north–south axis. The layout of buildings around the pool in the main courtyard uses the near-the-water style of placing the buildings back from the waters edge and keeping the water level high. This part of the garden is named: "The Garden Floating on Water."

See also

Notes

  1. Yuan, 2004
  2. Yuan, 2004

References

  • Yuan (袁), Xuehan (学汉); Gong Jianyi (2004). The Classical Gardens of Suzhou (苏州古典园林). CIP. p. 217. ISBN 7-214-03763-7. Archived from the original on 2009-11-25.
  • Terebess LLC (June 24, 2004), The Retreat and Reflection Garden, retrieved 2009-12-27
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