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Suzhou is well-known for its classical gardens but the last ancient garden of Suzhou was built in 1915. Jingsiyuan is the first classical garden in 100 years. The students of Silk Road School visited Jingsiyuan in April 22 after the generous invitation of the owner of Mr. Jingen Chen. He is well-known in Suzhou as the only person in Suzhou who owns a classical garden. The garden maintains traditional style and some modern elements.

Four commonly elements in Chinese gardens ——architecture, plants, water and bridges. There are these kinds of basic designs in the Chinese gardens. The first is that the main mansion in the East and the garden in the West. Another style is in the opposite. The remaining one with water in the center and surrounded by buildings. In traditional garden, H-shape building is the most common style and it is well-suited for places with limited space and land.

One of the first things that caught the attention of the students is the Honey-comb style decorative stone. Actually there's same conception on West and East garden. Both of them take nature into garden.It is widely accepted that the Chinese gardens were inspired by the nature and built as how nature works in real life.In that case, stone means mountains in the garden. This stone was discovered quite a long time ago. Because of technology, they cannot excavate it until the owner of this garden excavate it with modern technology. 

The students also learned about the reason why all classical Chinese gardens have garden stones and scholar stones. According to the myths and legends, the art of garden stones started in earlier Song Dynasty. Emperor of Song Dynasty did not have a son who will succeed him. After a few years, he received advice from a man of Suzhou about the Fengshui. He said you needs stone mountain to get a son. So, the emperor built a mountain to get a son in the end. Another legends says, Chinese people were born from stones or revive from stones. Like Sun Wukong transformed from stone to living beings. So, they have a great interests in stone shapes.

The garden took inspiration from some of the most famous ancient classical gardens in Suzhou. A replica of zigzag bridge or the nine-turn bridge of world famous Humble Adminstrator’s Garden can also be found in Jingsiyuan garden. Other famous designs from Lion Grove garden and Master of Nets garden are also present in Jingsiyuan. We have been told that the visitors can see the full moon reflecting in the lake in every 15th August. The fox shape stone nearby the nine-turn bridge is also reflecting in the pond as if a fox is eating the moon

The students also had a chance to learn about what actually Fengshui means. Most of the students understood Fengshui as a superstition of Chinese people when it comes to the buildings. It is indeed true that several traditional elements were considered before any types of construction. Especially the three gods - Longevity, wealth and auspicious. But Fensghui in reality is for health not really about the luck. The locations of ponds, mountains and plants will affect the resident of the house. Strategically placing them will help the health of the owner and his family which in turn naturally prolonging the life. It is not about the luck and superstition associated with the shape and design of the buildings.

We were also lucky enough to have a chat with the owner of the garden, Mr. Chen. He believes that the gardens are the symbol of prosperous times in Chinese history. The owner, Mr.Jingnen Chen, visited the humble administrator garden when he was 8 years old. Ever since that time, he dreamed about owning such a classical garden since his childhood. Because of Deng Xiaoping's economic reforms, Mr. Chen was finally able to build this garden. He personally thanked when daughter of Deng visited this garden for her father's reforms.

The owner's first major business was installing air conditioning system in the public places like subway system in Shanghai. He built this garden with his own money and this is like his own world. He believes this garden is a cultural contribution to the country. He also hopes that many more younger generation of China will also protect and preserves the tradition of China’s proud traditions and culture. It was a nice learning trip and we really appreciate we were given a chance to understand more about Chinese history and culture.

Written by: Kyi Sin