Lingering Garden or Liu Yuan — Brilliant Qing Style Suzhou Garden

What Is Lingering Garden?

​

History and Name Changes.

​

Structural and Aesthetic Designs.

​

Poetic Nomenclatures and Literary Significance.

​

Important Data of Lingering Garden.

What Is Lingering Garden?

Lingering Garden or Liu Yuan in Suzhou is an exceptional representative of the classical private Southern Style garden of the Qing Dynasty (1636 — 1912). 

As a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Lingering Garden is famous for remarkably set exquisite sceneries in limited spaces, which realized "A Different View For Each Step",  and perfectly shows elegant intellectuals' aesthetic.

Besides, the garden is also renowned for its brilliant use of beautiful natural stones from Taihu Lake, a valuable decorative material in Chinese culture.

History and Name Changes of the Lingering Garden.

In 1593, a retired official named Xu Taishi firstly built the garden, with the help of a rockery master and artist named Zhou Shichen. 

Xu Taishi was a talented scholar and a brilliant designer, who had been involved in the restoration and construction of royal palaces and mausoleums before. 

He named his masterpiece Eastern Garden or Dong Yuan, which was once quite famous for its beauty, and had been recorded and eulogized by many intellectuals. 

The garden gradually fell into disuse after Xu Taishi passed away. 

​

In 1794, another intellectual and artist Liu Shu bought and renovated the garden, and renamed it Hanbi Shanzhuang.

Liu Shu carved many famous poems and articles, including his work, on the walls of a long corridor, and placed more valuable Taihu Lake stones in this garden. 

Since then, the garden has become more famous for its artful rocks, and people named it Liu's Garden.

In 1873, Sheng Kang bought the garden. He renovated and expanded Liu's Garden, and renamed it "Liu Yuan". 

This Liu is the same pronunciation as the family name of the last owner Liu Shu, but with a completely different meaning:  lingering and stay. 

Afterward, this garden has been called Liu Yuan or Lingering Garden.

During the embattled early-to-mid 20th century, the garden became obsolete. 

Until 1953, it was put under protection, when careful restorations were implemented gradually. 

Decades later in 1997, the Lingering Garden was listed in the UNESCO World Heritage Site, as an important Classical Garden of Suzhou.

Structural and Aesthetic Designs of the Lingering Garden.

The Lingering Garden consists of four sections, east, west, north, and middle, which are connected by a long corridor. 

The middle part was Liu Shu's Bihan Shanzhuang, the essence and most beautiful part of the garden.

The east, west, and north parts were added by Sheng Kang in 1873, who built a long corridor that connects these four parts. 

Hang on the walls of this long corridor are over 370 pieces of ancient tablet inscriptions. 

Among added sections by Sheng Kang, the western part is famous for its idyllic rockery views, the northern part today is mainly presenting potted landscapes (or Penjing), and the eastern section has the invaluable ancient building complex. 

Poetic Nomenclatures and Literary Significance of the Lingering Garden.

As an excellent representative of the aesthetic of intellectuals, every building in the garden has a beautiful, poetic name, most of which were from famous ancient poems or articles.

Important Data of Lingering Garden.

• Lingering Garden or Liu Yuan is in Suzhou city of Jiangsu Province;

• It is about 23,300 square meters large, and consists of four sections (eastern, middle, northern, and western);

​

• There are over 670 meters long corridors in the garden, and about 370 pieces of ancient tablet inscriptions are displayed on their walls;

​

• There are over 200 decorative lattice windows;

​

• There are over 500 potted landscapes (or Pen Jing);

​

• The tallest rockery Guanyun Feng is 6.5 meters high and is also the tallest rockery in Suzhou Gardens.