Memorial Hall of Zhao Zhishen

Memorial Hall of Zhao Zhishen

The Memorial Hall of Zhao Zhishen (Yin Garden), located at the eastern end of Zhongxin Road in Boshan District, Zibo City, south of Houle Bridge and adjacent to the Fan Gong Ancestral Hall, is a municipal-level key cultural relics protection unit.

Zhao Zhishen, courtesy name Shenfu, art name Qiugu, and later known as Yishan Laoren in his old age, was born in the first year of the Kangxi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1662 AD) and passed away in the ninth year of the Qianlong reign (1774 AD). He was a native of Boshan, Zibo City, Shandong Province. He was a renowned realist poet, poetry theorist, and calligrapher of the Qing Dynasty. He passed the imperial examination for the xiucai degree at age 14, became a juren at 17, and earned the jinshi degree at 18. Later, he served as Right Attendant of the Right Spring Office and concurrently as an editor in the Hanlin Academy. At age 28, he was dismissed from office due to the "Changsheng Palace" case. Over the following 50 years, he traveled extensively across the country and wrote many outstanding poems reflecting social reality. His surviving works include the Collection of Yishan Poems, the Collection of Yishan Prose, On Dragons, and The Spectrum of Tones. In his later years, he retired to his villa, Yin Garden.

Yin Garden was originally built in the 24th year of the Kangxi reign during the Qing Dynasty (1685 AD) by Zhao Shuangmei, the grandfather of Zhao Zhishen. After over 300 years of vicissitudes, it had completely collapsed. In 1994, the People's Government of Boshan District invested over seven million yuan to rebuild Yin Garden based on historical records and established the Memorial Hall of Zhao Zhishen here to commemorate this accomplished and prominent realist poet of the Qing Dynasty.

The Memorial Hall of Zhao Zhishen (Yin Garden) covers an area of 15,640 square meters, with a building area of 3,970 square meters, green space of 6,940 square meters, and water surface area of 3,540 square meters. Its main structures include: Zhao Zhishen’s Former Residence, Shen Yue Hall, Green Quiet Pavilion, Void Rudder Tower, Autumn Viewing Terrace, Listening to the Spring Pavilion, West Smile Pavilion, Moon-Biting Pavilion, and more than ten other pavilions, corridors, and terraces. Other features include cliff inscriptions, stone-carved screens, rockeries and ponds, cascading streams, as well as exhibitions of literary stone potted plants, ancient and modern ceramics and glassware, famous calligraphy and paintings, and the life and academic achievements of Zhao Zhishen. The site lies against Jing Mountain, overlooking Qiugu Valley, with overlapping rocky outcrops and springs flowing around the residence. In spring, peach blossoms line the banks and stream water runs red; in summer, dense shade provides cool relief and willows sway green; in autumn, the sound of pine waves fills the ears and autumn flowers waft their fragrance; in winter, bamboo and rocks exude a wintry chill and steam rises from the springs. Here, “the landscape holds the charm of nature, with famous flowers among slender bamboos, fine fruits hidden in fresh shades, the land rich with colorful fish, and the woods alive with singing birds.”