Garden of Zhi

Garden of Zhi

The Garden of Zhi is a cultural heritage site protected by Suzhou Municipality.

Garden of Zhi

Located within the First People's Hospital of Changshu City and commonly known as the "Weng Family Garden," it was built in the 26th year of the Guangxu reign (1900) by Weng Zenggui, a native of the area who served as the Provincial Administration Commissioner of Jiangxi and Zhejiang during the Qing Dynasty’s Guangxu era. The garden features winding waterways that flow in a “Zhi” (之) shape, hence its name. Originally covering an area of over 20 acres, the garden consisted of three parts: a water surface, residential buildings, and landscaped gardens. The pond connects to the city moat, and the garden is built around the water, centered on a small island and a four-sided hall. Structures include the Pine and Thatch Pavilion, Boat Hall, Hexagonal Pavilion, Curved Corridor, Rockery, Yishuang Pavilion, Banxi Pavilion, Greenhouse, Yilv Thatched Hall, Chuihong Bridge, Woodruff Canopy, Yangbi Bridge, and Lotus Pond. The residence is situated in the northeast corner and is divided into inner and outer sections. The outer residence includes a gate hall, main hall, study, flower hall, Western-style study, and sedan-chair hall, while the inner residence consists of three groups of single-story and multi-story buildings serving as bedrooms, connected by corridors leading to pavilions over the pond. Its brick-carved gate tower bears the inscription “Urban Mountain Forest,” flanked by the couplet: “Twenty years in construction, one stretch of clear water.” Inscribed plaques in the garden such as “Zhi Fu Hall,” “Garden of Zhi,” “Yishuang Pavilion,” and “Banxi Pavilion” were all calligraphed by Weng Tonghe, the garden owner’s uncle and imperial tutor to two emperors. During the Anti-Japanese War, most of the landscape was burned down by Japanese troops, leaving only the corridors, main hall, hexagonal pavilion, and waterside pavilion. After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, the site was repurposed as the First People's Hospital in 1953. On the basis of the surviving structures, the hospital carried out renovations and partially restored some of the original garden features. Today, the garden retains many ancient trees aged over 100 to 200 years, all remnants of the original Garden of Zhi. It was designated as a cultural heritage site of Changshu City in June 2009.