Shuihui Garden 水绘园

About Shuihui Garden

Shuihui Garden (水绘园) is a garden begun in the Ming dynasty, at 299 Bixia Road (碧霞路) in Rugao (如皋), Nantong (南通), Jiangsu, in the northeast corner of the old town. It is known today as the former home of the writer Mao Xiang (冒襄) and his concubine Dong Xiaowan (董小宛).

A Qing edition of the Rugao county gazetteer records that the garden began in the Wanli era as a villa belonging to a local man, Mao Yiguan (冒一贯), and was only fully finished four generations later under his descendant Mao Xiang. The gazetteer names more than ten scenes laid out in it, among them Hanbi Hall (寒碧堂), Xibo Pond (洗钵池), Crane Islet (鹤屿) and the Yanshu Tower (烟树楼). English Wikipedia notes that the garden is known for the water that runs around it and that its layout used the rivers to make the grounds read like an ink painting.

Mao Xiang (1611–1693), also called Mao Pijiang (冒辟疆), was counted among the Four Lords of the late Ming (明末四公子); the Rugao city government says his name was known across the Jiangnan region. He studied under Dong Qichang (董其昌), took the Qinhuai courtesan Dong Xiaowan as a concubine, and refused office after the Qing conquest. In 1646 he built the Shuihui Hermitage (水绘庵) and spent the rest of his life reading and exchanging poems with friends. When he was 69, a fire in the garden's Ranxiang Pavilion (染香阁) and Jiangyun Tower (降云楼) burned his collection of bronzes, calligraphy and paintings.

After Mao Xiang the garden fell into decline. In the Qianlong reign Wang Zhiheng (汪之珩) added the Shuiming Tower (水明楼), and the garden has kept the plan set by that work. The tower is shaped like a painted pleasure boat and stands at the edge of Xibo Pond; its upper storey holds a guest room and a warm room. Shuihui Garden was placed on the fifth batch of national key protected heritage sites (全国重点文物保护单位) in 2001.

What to look for

• Shuiming Tower (水明楼), the two-storey Qianlong-era hall built in the shape of a painted boat
• Xibo Pond (洗钵池), the pond beside Shuiming Tower
• Hanbi Hall (寒碧堂) and Yimo Studio (壹默斋), two of the garden's named scenes
• Xiaosanwu Pavilion (小三吾亭)
• The stone bridges over the water that surrounds the garden

Location & getting there

Getting to Shuihui Garden

• Search for 水绘园 with 南通市 and 如皋市.