Asia Images / John Lander Photography

Chinese Garden Images
Image 4 of 13
Less

Humble Administrators Garden Suzhou

humble-administrators-garden-6.jpg

Add to Cart Add to Lightbox Download

The Humble Administrator's Garden or Zhouzheng Yuan is considered to be the finest garden in southern China. In 1997, along with other classical gardens of Suzhou was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The garden's site was initially the residence and garden of Lu Guimeng, a Tang Dynasty scholar. Later it became monastery garden for the Dahong Temple. In 1513 CE, Wang Xiancheng an Imperial Envoy and poet of the Ming Dynasty took over the temple when he retired to his native home of Suzhou after long service in the East Imperial Secret Service, and began work on the garden. This garden was designed in collaboration with the renowned artist Wen Zhengming. The garden was named after a verse by Pan Yue's Idler's Prose, "I enjoy a carefree life by planting trees and building my own house...I irrigate my garden and grow vegetables for me to eat...such a life suits a retired official like me well." This verse symbolized Wang's desire to retire from politics and adopt a hermits life.

Copyright
©John Lander
Image Size
5400x3600 / 14.3MB
https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license
https://asian-images.photoshelter.com/contact
Keywords
The Humble Administrator's Garden or Zhouzheng Yuan is considered to be the finest garden in southern China. In 1997, along with other classical gardens of Suzhou was named as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The garden's site was initially the residence and garden of Lu Guimeng, a Tang Dynasty scholar. Later it became monastery garden for the Dahong Temple. In 1513 CE, Wang Xiancheng an Imperial Envoy and poet of the Ming Dynasty took over the temple when he retired to his native home of Suzhou after long service in the East Imperial Secret Service, and began work on the garden. This garden was designed in collaboration with the renowned artist Wen Zhengming. The garden was named after a verse by Pan Yue's Idler's Prose, "I enjoy a carefree life by planting trees and building my own house...I irrigate my garden and grow vegetables for me to eat...such a life suits a retired official like me well." This verse symbolized Wang's desire to retire from politics and adopt a hermits life.