Liyuan Boat Hall

Liyuan Boat Hall

The Liyuan Boat Hall is a protected cultural heritage site of Jiangsu Province.

Liyuan is located on the west side of Wu’an Street in Xinghua City. Built during the Xianfeng reign (1851–1860) of the Qing Dynasty, it was originally a private garden of Li Xiaobo, a wealthy merchant from Yangzhou, and is a water town garden noted for its unique design style, exquisite craftsmanship, and distinctive regional character. Due to its elongated layout, it is also known as “Yu Garden Half Mu.”

During the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1851–1860), Li Xiaobo, a wealthy merchant from Yangzhou, opened the “Deben” pawnshop on the east side of Sipailou in Xinghua, and built a backyard garden on a long and narrow plot behind the shop—now known as Liyuan.

The Liyuan gatehouse (which had been renovated when it served as a chamber of commerce in 1934) faces east. Passing through the entrance hall leads to an inner courtyard with southern and northern flower halls. To the west past the “Liyuan” scenic gate, the garden consists of three interlinked yet distinct courtyards arranged from east to west.

The buildings in the eastern courtyard mainly include a square pavilion, a boat hall, and a square hall. The square pavilion is located at the southeast corner of the courtyard and is connected to the boat hall by a single-slope roof, linked underneath by a corridor.

The northern part is the boat hall, which is the most distinctive classical structure in the garden. Shaped like a boat with its bow facing west, it has an “L” shape, comprising seven bays with a rolled shed hip-and-gable roof. Above the hanging railings at the bow hangs a plaque inscribed with “Zizai Liuxing” (Free and Unfettered Flow). The cabin is divided in the middle by a large double-sided carved wooden screen. At the eastern end and rear cabin, there is a partitioned platform with a plaque inscribed “Canglang Painting Boat,” written by Wang Xun, a calligrapher from Changzhou. The rear cabin has three rooms on the north and south sides, with a circular wooden screen separating the two southern rooms from the single northern room, and a small plaque inscribed “Liangzhai” (Honest Studio) by the famous Qing Dynasty calligrapher Yang Xian hanging above the screen. On the south side of the exterior of the boat hall is a sloped ramp in the middle, resembling a gangplank.

To the west of the boat hall, separated by a tall wall, was originally a prison built during the Ming Dynasty (“0”). To counteract the inauspicious sound of shackles, Li Xiaobo hired renowned garden designers from various places, incorporating the essence of gardens from Gusu and Weiyang, to construct this uniquely styled boat hall. The bow of the boat faces the direction of the prison, transforming the clinking of chains into the sound of an anchor chain on a smooth-sailing voyage.

The square hall faces north and is three bays wide, offering a spacious and square layout. Inside hangs a plaque inscribed “Songyun Shan Guan” (Pine Cloud Mountain House), written by Mr. Lai Shaoqi.

To the north of the square hall is a rectangular courtyard, with a wavy brick flower stand along the base of the northern wall. The stand is planted with ancient and precious trees such as wintersweet, white magnolia, and yulan magnolia, all lush and green.

Walking west along the northern corridor of the square hall leads to the southern and northern courtyards respectively. In the southern courtyard, the southern side of the courtyard features the Guihua Tower, which faces north. It is three bays wide and has two stories. Inside hangs a plaque inscribed “Guihua Tower,” written by Mr. Peng Guoliang. On the northern side beneath the flower wall is a tall flower stand planted with ancient and precious trees such as osmanthus, pomegranate, and boxwood. Above the staircase door of the Guihua Tower is an embedded stone inscription carved with the words by Liu Yong (Shi’an), a famous Qing Dynasty calligrapher: “Terraces and pavilions are as rich as Fuchun; they appear when the time is right; plants and trees are known for their integrity; their virtue accumulates over time.”

In the northwest corner of the square hall courtyard, there is a small gate leading to the northern garden. The lintel of the east-facing gate is embedded with a stone plaque inscribed “Yinchun” (Spring Chant), written by the Qing Dynasty calligrapher Ruan Yuan. Passing through this gate leads into the northern garden, where there used to be an earthen mound with a pavilion on top. Under the eastern eave of the pavilion hung a wooden plaque inscribed “Qie-” (meaning “and/then”), written by Xu Tui, a Qing Dynasty calligrapher from the area. The pillars of the pavilion once displayed a couplet written by Zheng Banqiao: “Better to cultivate virtue than to plant flowers for ten miles; better to cultivate oneself than to build mansions for ten thousand rooms.” The earthen mound and pavilion in the garden were demolished in the 1950s and no longer exist.

Liyuan is a product of the commercial economy of the late Qing Dynasty and also a witness to the rise and fall of Xinghua’s commercial economy throughout history. In 1934, Li Xiaobo’s son, Li Meige, sold Liyuan to the Xinghua County Chamber of Commerce for 5,800 silver dollars due to family decline. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, Liyuan served as the office of the Xinghua County Federation of Industry and Commerce. In 1989, the prison in the northwest corner of Liyuan was demolished and converted into a museum. In 1993, after the museum was expanded, it was harmoniously integrated with Liyuan. Currently managed by the museum, Liyuan is an important cultural tourism attraction in Xinghua.

The boat hall was twice designated as a provincial-level cultural heritage site by the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government—in 1957 and 1982. In 2002, the Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government again listed Liyuan as a provincial-level cultural heritage site.