Huishan Rencao An

Huishan Rencao An

Huishan Rencao An is a cultural relic protection unit of Wuxi City.

Rencao An is located on the mountainside of Zhangjiawu at the head of Maofeng Peak in Huishan, within Xihui Park in Wuxi City, covering an area of about ten acres. In the tenth year of the Zhizheng era of the Yuan Dynasty (1350), Monk Yuanchuan built a thatched hut here; Rencao An was first constructed in the twenty-second year of the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty (1543) when Monk Daolin rebuilt the hut, initially naming it “Cao An” (Thatched Hut). In the first year of the Tianqi era (1621), Monk Hong’en, inspired by the line from Tang Dynasty poet Song Zhiwen’s poem “Visiting Famen Temple”—“Morning steps tread on Rencao, nightly chants yield spirit blooms”—added the character “Ren” (meaning endurance) to the name “Cao An,” renaming it “Rencao An” (Endurance Thatched Hut).

During the Kangxi period and again in the tenth year of the Xianfeng era (1860), the hut was twice destroyed by fire. Gu Zhenguan (1637–1714), a native of Wuxi and a literary figure of the Qing Dynasty, raised funds for its restoration. Gu Zhenguan, also known as Liangfen, achieved the status of a presented scholar in the eleventh year of the Kangxi era (1672) and served as an imperial scribe. He was a renowned ci poet of the early Qing period and was celebrated along with Chen Weisong and Zhu Yizun as one of the “Three Paragons of Ci Poetry.” The most notable feature of the temple is the Guanhua Pavilion, behind which lies the Songling Spring. The pavilion was originally built by Monk Youshu in the early Kangxi years. Perched on the mountainside and framed by green pines, the Guanhua Pavilion resembles a painting of an ethereal mountain pavilion. In the early Qing Dynasty, it served as a gathering place for poets and ci writers in the Jiangnan region. By the end of the Jiaqing era, the pavilion had been destroyed.

In 1925, Yang Weiyun, known as the “Autumn Grass Poet,” who served as Vice Minister of Finance during the Republic of China and was a native of Wuxi, rebuilt the Guanhua Pavilion on its original site. He invited the famed Jiangnan painter Wu Guandai to create a long scroll painting titled “Guanhua Pavilion.” At that time, many leading poets contributed inscriptions to the painting, making it a major event in the poetry world. On November 21, 1983, it was designated as a municipal-level cultural relic protection unit by the Wuxi Municipal People’s Government. In 1996, the city’s garden authorities conducted a comprehensive renovation of the remaining structures.