Tai Zhouwu and the Ancient Lotus

　　　　In the summer of 1984, a pond of lotus flowers suddenly bloomed in a pond in the northern part of Tai Zhouwu Village. No one had planted the lotuses there, yet the pond was densely covered with broad, thick leaves and large pink blossoms that were very appealing. For a time, the news of “Ancient Lotus Flowers Blooming in Western Beijing” became a sensational story. Both the Beijing Daily and the Beijing Evening News reported on it, accompanied by

　　photos. Visitors flocked to the site, coming in an endless stream. To protect the surrounding crops, the village had to put up ropes and start charging admission. People then recalled that this had been a reed pond for many years. A few years earlier, when there were plans to turn it into a fishpond, a large number of lotus seeds were unearthed during the expansion of the pond. Some granite slabs were also dug up. Elders then remembered old legends that this had once been the garden of a prince’s mansion during the Qing Dynasty, along with the folk rhyme “To become an official, find Suo San.” Experts came to investigate and determined that this was the site of Suo E Tu’s garden villa.

　　　　Suo E Tu was a favored minister of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, of the Manchu Plain Yellow Banner and the Heseri clan. He was the third son of Sony, the foremost of the Four Regents in the early Kangxi era, and the uncle of Empress Xiaochengren. Holding a prominent position, he participated in many major political decisions and events, and was regarded as a “pillar of support” during the Kangxi reign. At the time, he and Grand Secretary Mingzhu were the right and left hands of Emperor Kangxi.

　　　　In the early years of Emperor Kangxi’s reign, when Ao Bai wielded excessive power, Suo E Tu assisted Kangxi in organizing Manchu youths to practice “Buku” (wrestling), and devised a plan to capture Ao Bai, rounding up all his followers, thus earning great trust.

　　　　In the 27th year of Kangxi’s reign (1688), Suo E Tu was appointed as an imperial envoy and led a Qing delegation to Selenginsk to discuss border issues with Russian representatives. However, due to the attack on the Khalkha Mongols by Galdan, the leader of the Dzungar tribe, the route was blocked, and they had to turn back halfway. The following year, Russia proposed Nerchinsk as the negotiation site. Suo E Tu remained the chief representative of the negotiation delegation and led the group to Nerchinsk to negotiate with Russian representative F.A. Golovin. During the talks, Suo E Tu clarified that the Heilongjiang River basin belonged to China, and forcefully refuted Russia’s unreasonable demand to use the Heilongjiang River or Yaksa as the boundary. Eventually, the two sides signed the first Sino-Russian treaty—the Treaty of Nerchinsk—determining the eastern Sino-Russian border as the Argun River, the Kerulen River, and the Outer Xing'an Range to the sea. Suo E Tu participated in two military campaigns to suppress the Dzungar rebellion. In the 40th year of Kangxi’s reign (1701), he retired due to old age. Later, during the Qing court struggles, he sided with the Crown Prince Yinreng. In the 42nd year of Kangxi’s reign (1703), he was imprisoned by the Imperial Clan Court on charges of “discussing state affairs and forming illegal factions,” and later died in custody.

　　　　After Emperor Kangxi built the Changchun Garden near the current west gate of Peking University, he worked there for a long time. At the same time, he granted different plots of land near Changchun Garden to princes and ministers. The famous Old Summer Palace was a granted garden given by Emperor Kangxi to his fourth son, Yinzhen (later Emperor Yongzheng). When Suo E Tu accompanied Emperor Kangxi to stay at Changchun Garden, he lived in the Hanlin Apartment, Chenghuai Garden. This garden was located just north of Changchun Garden, just a stone’s throw away. According to Volume 18 of the Qing Dynasty’s “Yangjizhai Conglu”: “Chenghuai Garden is southeast of the Old Summer Palace, a granted garden of Grand Secretary Suo E Tu from the Kangxi era.” An imperial plaque inscribed with “Restrain Extravagance and Keep Measure” written by Emperor Kangxi hung in the main hall.

　　　　Suo E Tu held great power and influence in the court, and his household had hundreds of thousands of taels of gold and silver. After being dismissed from office, it was inconvenient for him to live in the city. For the sake of seclusion, he chose Tai Zhouwu, more than thirty li from the capital, and built his residence and garden in the northern part of the village. To the west of Suo E Tu’s garden was Black Dragon Pool, where mountain spring water was abundant and could be channeled into the garden. The garden covered an area of over 50 mu, with its western wall being the current road from northern Tai Zhouwu Village to Dongbutou Village. The location where the granite slabs were unearthed was precisely the site of a waterside structure in the garden. In front of the waterside building was the residential hall, beside which there was an auxiliary courtyard with rockeries and flower stands. The tranquil space featured the shadows of bamboo and fragrant blooms. At its peak, the small garden was a scenic landscape garden centered around waterscapes. Water from Black Dragon Pool flowed from west to east, reaching the front gate of Suo E Tu’s garden. Instead of flowing directly into the garden, the water turned north, crossing a small stream via a stone bridge. Then, the stream turned east again, with one branch flowing toward the rice fields of the Zhen family in the eastern part of the village, and 40% of it entering Suo E Tu’s garden. The second bridge ran north-south, where the stream bent eastward in a double curve, and a flat bridge was built. The water flowed under the bridge, then turned north to form a small arc called “Little Bend.” It then flowed east into the Yu River, eventually entering the Changle River via Tundian Village. A sluice gate was built on the northern wall of the garden to hold water within. Judging by the terrain of the pond site, stone bridge site, and the western wall site of the garden, it had a front residence–back garden layout. After Suo E Tu was executed, because it was far from the capital, it was no longer convenient to grant it to favored officials, so it may have lain vacant for a long time, and eventually fell into disrepair due to years of neglect. On September 23, 1730, the 8th year of the Yongzheng reign, a major earthquake struck the capital. Baijiatun Village was at the epicenter, and Suo E Tu’s garden may have been destroyed in this massive earthquake.