The Humble Administrator's Garden is located within the Loumen in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

The Humble Administrator's Garden is one of the four classical gardens in Suzhou. The original site of this garden was the residence of Lu Guimeng, a poet of the Tang Dynasty (618-907). It was changed into the Dahong Temple in the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). During the Zhengde reign (1506-1521) in the Ming Dynasty, a censor named Wang Xiancheng gave up his office and returned to his hometown. He bought the temple and spent 16 years building it into a residence with gardens, with the name the Humble Administrator's Garden. At that time, the garden covers an area of more than 200 mu (15 mu = 1 hectare), with few buildings and dense trees. Since then the garden has changed its owner several times. From 1860 to 1863, it was one part of the residence of Li Xiucheng, who was the King of Loyalty in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. In the 5th year (1879) of the Guangxu reign, the west part of the garden was integrated into the residence of Zhang Lüqian, and another garden named Buyuan Garden built at that time was later also integrated into the Humble Administrator's Garden after 1949. The east part named Guiyuan Tianju was desolated for a long time with the ruins preserved, which was integrated into the Humble Administrator's Garden in 1955. The extant garden was mostly built in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), consisting of three parts: the middle (the Humble Administrator's Garden), west (Buyuan Garden), east (the Guiyuan Tianju), which totally covers an area of 4.1 hectares and is regarded the best garden in Suzhou.

The general layout of the Humble Administrator's Garden is arranged according to water, which accounts for one third of the total area. The middle part is the cream of the garden with marvelous mountains, clear water, exquisite buildings and exuberant trees and flower reminiscent of the scenery in the south of the lower Yangtze River. The main structure in the part is the Yuanxiang Hall, which is a typical hall with four sides among the Suzhou gardens, three bays wide and a single-eave gable and hip roof, surrounded by the hills and ponds. Because of the masterly appliance of the mojiaoliang (a way of architecture), there is no pole blocking the sights in the hall. Through the clear glass windows around the hall, one can clearly see the surrounded scenery, just like appreciating a long scroll of painting. In summer, when the water lilies are in full bloom, the hall will be pervaded with faint scent. Therefore people named the hall after the famous verse from the Loving Lotus by Zhou Dunyi of the Song Dynasty (960-1279), which says the further the fragrance goes, the more faint and pleasant it will be.

On the east side of the hall there is a small hill. At the foot of the hill, there are three sequestered and beautiful small courtyards, the Pipayuan (Garden of Loquat), the Haitangchunwu (Spring Yard of Chinese Flowering Crabapple), the Tingyuxuan (Small Room of Listening to the Rain), each of which has its unique features. These three courtyards are respectively built to mainly appreciate loquat, Chinese flowering crabapple, bamboo, banana, and bamboo groves. The courtyards are carefully and exquisitely decorated. In the pool on the north there are two small islands, on each top of which there is a pavilion, respectively named the Xuexiangyunweiting (Pavilion of the Snow Fragrance and Colorful Clouds) and the Daishuangting (Pavilion of Waiting for Frost), among which there are groves of bamboos and plants, singing of birds and chanting of cicadas. It is really a place of interest to relieve summer heat.

On the northwest of the island there is the Jianshanlou (Pavilion of Enjoying Mountain), surrounded by water on three sides, where once was the office of handling the military affairs of Li Xiucheng, the King of Loyalty in the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. On the southwest of the pool is the sole corridor bridge in Suzhou gardens, which is named Small Rainbow. On the south of the bridge there is Canglangshuiyuan (Waterside Pavilion of Canglang), quiet and elegant, as if it was in the picture, in front of which are hills and pavilions such as Xiangzhou, Lotus Wind Pavilion with Four Sides, Jianshanlou (Pavilion of Enjoying Mountain) and so on. Xiangzhou, generally called Hanchuan (Boat on Dry Land), has veranda in the front and a storeyed building in the back, something that looks like a boat, exquisite designed and surrounded by water on three sides. Its design and position is representative in the Suzhou gardens. Hefengsimianting (Lotus Wind Pavilion with Four Sides) is situated at the southwest foot of the island, and in the middle of the pool. In summer, if coming to the pavilion, one will feel a kind of artistic conception that lotus on all sides while willows on three sides. The Yulantang (Hall of Jade Orchid) nearby, simple but elegant, is said to be the drawing room of Wen Zhengming when the garden was first built.

The Buyuan Garden in the west covers an area of 0.8 hectare. The general layout is centered on the water, compacted and well ordered. The main buildings are 36 Mandarin Ducks Hall and 18 Jimsonweed Hall. The Mandarin Duck Hall is divided into two halls and the north part that rises above the water is very novel with small rooms on four sides. On the east of the Mandarin Duck Hall is Yiliang Pavilion built on the top of hill, and is named after a poem written by Li Shangyin. In this pavilion, one can appreciate the scenery of the middle and western gardens. In the northwest of the hall is the Liuting Pavilion facing the water. Inside the pavilion, there are carvings of pine, bamboo and plum, and dragon in relief, which are said to be the relics of the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom. On the hill to the north of the pool, with the sun screened off by the shade of the tree, the Pavilion of Floating Green and House of Inversion both are the best places of scenery in the west of the Humble Administrator's Garden.

The east part of The Humble Administrator's Garden was rebuilt on the old site of Guiyuan Tianju in 1955. The layout not only followed the traditional style, but also made some innovations and therefore displayed a lot of imaginations. On the west is a hill, with lush green trees and surrounded by zigzagging waters on all sides that flow eastwards to the Qingchi (Clear Pool). A large area of lawn and a number of hills and pools, are integrated with the buildings such as Lanxue Hall, Furongxie (Lotus Pavilion), Linxiangguan (Fragrant Tree Hall), Fangyanting (Pavilion of Free Eyes), Tianhuangting (Pavilion of God) and so on. The eastern garden is clear and order in layout while the environment there is open and fresh, where is indeed an excellent work of Suzhou gardens.

Adopting the methods of dividing space, depending on nature and borrowing the scenery outside a garden to harmonize with that within, the layout of the Humble Administrator's Garden has assimilated the skills of traditional painting art and created natural scenery that waters reflect hills in accordance with the natural conditions, where the scenes change according to the movements of the visitors, and therefore the Humble Administrator's Garden has enjoyed the reputation of the best of Suzhou gardens. It is no doubt that the Humble Administrator's Garden deserves the reputation and can be regarded as the masterpiece of the classical gardens in the south of the Yangtze River.

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