Shiyuan Garden

Shiyuan Garden

Shiyuan Garden is a National Key Cultural Relics Protection Unit.

Period: Qing Dynasty

Address: Located on South Street in Jiangyin City, Jiangsu Province

The garden covers an area of over seven mu. It was built in the fourth year of the Xianfeng reign of the Qing Dynasty (1854) on a vacant lot next to his residence by Chen Shijin, a local resident. Originally named Shiyuan, it is commonly known as "Chen Family Garden."

The Chen family of Jiangyin was a prominent clan in the region. Chen Shijin was originally a landscape painter skilled in garden design. He claimed that he had no intention of building a garden, but one naturally came into being—hence the name Shiyuan. Part of it was destroyed during the military conflicts of the Gengshen era. His son, Chen Xitang (courtesy name Xieqing), who passed the imperial examination as a Jinshi in the year Bingxu of the Guangxu reign and served as an official in the Ministry of Works, was also good at painting landscapes, flowers, birds, and feathers. After retiring back to his hometown, he spent ten years repairing corridors, reinforcing buildings, transplanting trees, and dredging ponds, thus adding charm to the garden. The garden suffered damage during the Japanese occupation of Jiangyin. After the liberation, it underwent successive renovations funded by the government and gradually restored its former appearance.

The garden features an excavated lake and stacked hills. On the north side of the lake are two peaks covered in verdant greenery, on top of which stood the Chaoran Platform, now in ruins. To the south of the lake is the “Water Flows, Clouds Linger” Pavilion, which connects eastward to the Fragrance Corridor and a winding bridge, leading to the Autumn Sound Boat. In front of the boat is the “Echoes of Autumn” Pavilion, and behind it is the “Easy Painting” Pavilion. The name comes from the fact that anyone seeking a painting had to exchange a poem for it. Passing through a diagonal corridor leads to the “Refreshing Breeze Pavilion,” which contains a large mirror embedded in its wall, reflecting the panoramic views of the lake and hills. Moving north along the winding corridor leads to an open hall called the “Cloud-Shrouded Mountains and Eyelash-Catching Pavilion.” In the northwest corner is a small room named “Autumn Enters the Crystal Waves.” Nearby is the Shian Studio, which houses precious calligraphy and paintings from various dynasties, with 45 stone engravings compiled from them. The walls preserve stone engravings such as Wang Xizhi’s “Goose Exchange Stele” from the Jin Dynasty, Ni Zan’s landscape paintings from the Yuan Dynasty, and calligraphy works by Liang Tongshu and Dong Qichang from the Ming Dynasty. Outside the corridor in the east corner, along the wall and beside the water, a rockery tunnel is constructed from uniquely shaped stones, twisting and turning into profound depths. This garden is quaint and elegant, embodying the characteristics of classical gardens in the Jiangnan region.

Having withstood 150 years of vicissitudes and still well-preserved, Shiyuan Garden of Jiangyin, with its distinctive features of a Jiangnan-style garden, has been included in the *History of Modern Chinese Gardens*. It is also listed as one of China's hundred famous private gardens. Experts believe that Shiyuan Garden is a rare and precious garden treasure, of great value for the study of modern Chinese history and garden history.

Chen Shijin: Qing Dynasty, style name Yihé, alias Jifang. A native of Jiangyin, Jiangsu, he was appointed as a Tongzhi official to Zhejiang but did not take the post. Of a quiet and unassuming disposition, he owned a villa called Shiyuan. He collected many calligraphy works, paintings, and ancient inscriptions, demonstrating refined taste. He was good at painting landscapes, initially following the style of Wang Meng and later drawing close to that of Wu Li. (*Chinese Artists Dictionary*, p. 999)

Chen Shijin, a Qing Dynasty painter, calligrapher, and art connoisseur, was known as Mr. Jifang. His family was the wealthiest in Chengjiang, owning over a hundred houses. He was kind-hearted and fond of charitable acts. One year, when a neighbor faced an urgent crisis, Chen Shijin bought several acres of barren land outside the neighbor’s eastern wall at double the price, and with his own ingenuity and skill as a painter and… [More details about Chen Shijin]

Chengjiang Subdistrict: Chengjiang Subdistrict is located in the central urban area of Jiangyin City and serves as the seat of the Jiangyin Municipal Party Committee and the municipal government, as well as the city’s political, economic, and cultural center. Covering a total area of 124.3 square kilometers (including the Chengdong New District Office), it governs 49 community committees and 22 village committees. By the end of 2008, it had a registered population of 229,403 and a migrant population of 108,458.

Chengjiang has been home to many distinguished figures throughout history, producing the "Three Lius," educator Wu Yanyin, patriotic eminent monk Ju Zan, pioneer of Chinese herbal chemistry research Zhao Chengguo, the “Father of Chinese Robots” Jiang… [More details about Chengjiang Subdistrict]

Further Reading:

· Fifth Batch of Jiangsu Provincial Cultural Relics Protection Units

· Seventh Batch of National Key Cultural Relics Protection Units