Tangmo Tangan Garden

Tangmo Tangan Garden

Tangan Garden is a Major Historical and Cultural Site Protected at the National Level.

Tangan Garden is located in Tangmo Village, 10 kilometers west of Huizhou District, Huangshan City, Anhui Province. It was first built in the early Qing Dynasty and renovated during the Qianlong era. The site was originally the literary meeting hall of the Xu family in the village. It is a key cultural relic protection unit of Anhui Province. In October 2019, it was designated as part of the eighth batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level by the State Council.

Loyalty to the sovereign gave birth to Tangmo, while filial devotion created the renowned Tangan Garden. Legend has it that during the early Qing Dynasty, a wealthy merchant from the Xu family in Tangmo operated 36 pawnshops across Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Anhui, and Jiangxi, collectively known as the "36 Shops." His mother longed to visit West Lake in Hangzhou but found it difficult to travel due to the distance and her advanced age. To fulfill her wish, this devoted son spared no expense to dig a pond, build embankments, and recreate the scenery of West Lake near the village. He constructed pavilions, terraces, waterside pavilions, and long bridges, and planted rows of sandalwood and osmanthus trees along the lake dike for his mother’s enjoyment, as well as to repay the kindness of the local community. The garden is filled with sandalwood blossoms, and a gentle stream meanders through it. It was named “Tangan Garden” (Sandalwood by the Riverbank), inspired by a line from the Book of Songs: “Chop, chop the sandalwood, and place it on the river’s bank.” The restored garden now features the three characters “檀干园” (Tangan Garden) inscribed in April 1997 by Mr. Gu Tinglong, the then 94-year-old former director of the Shanghai Museum, in an elegant and vigorous calligraphic style.

Further Reading:

· Eighth Batch of Major Historical and Cultural Sites Protected at the National Level