Shiyuan Garden is located in the southern street of Jiangyin city, covering an area of more than six acres. It was built by Chen Shijin, a native of the city, on the vacant land next to his residence in the fourth year of the Xianfeng period of the Qing Dynasty (1854), commonly known as ‘Chen’s Garden’. The Chen family is a prominent family in Jiangyin, and Chen Shijin, originally a landscape painter, was adept at garden design.
He unintentionally created this garden, hence the name Shiyuan Garden. This garden is simple and elegant, featuring the characteristics of Jiangnan gardens. It includes the Flowing Water and Cloud Pavilion, connected to the east by the Fragrance Corridor and a winding bridge, leading to the Autumn Sound Boat. In front of the boat is the Resounding Autumn Pavilion, and behind it is the Easy Painting Pavilion, named so because those who sought his paintings had to exchange them for poems. Passing through the oblique corridor, one reaches the Refreshing Pavilion, with a large mirror embedded in the center, reflecting the lake and mountain scenery. Following the corridor northward, there is an open hall named the Eyelash Cloud Mountain Pavilion. In the northwest corner, there is a small room named Autumn Enters the Jade Waves. Adjacent to it is the Shi’an Studio, which houses a collection of calligraphy and painting treasures from various dynasties, engraved on 45 stone slabs. The walls preserve the ‘Goose Exchange Stele’ by Jin Dynasty’s Wang Xizhi, landscape paintings by Yuan Dynasty’s Ni Zan, and calligraphic rubbings by Ming Dynasty’s Liang Tongshu and Dong Qichang. Outside the eastern corridor, against the wall and next to the water, there are peculiar rocks piled up to form a fake mountain tunnel, winding and profound. The garden is open all year round, accessible 24 hours a day.Shiyuan Garden
Shiyuan Garden is located in the southern street of Jiangyin city, covering an area of more than six[...]
