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From imperial glory to modern office complex
By Lin Jieyu and Dai Yiyun |
October 26, 2009, Monday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
IT'S hard to imagine that 272 Nandajie Street used to be the site of a garden of an emperor's father-in-law.
In Jiading, folklore has it that Qinjia Garden once belonged to the family of the wife of Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). She was surnamed Zhou, Zhou was an elegant and refined woman, according to history records, and her father envisaged her future as a well-off lady, which turned out to be true as Ms Zhou became the queen.
At the time, the Qing Dynasty's northern invaders launched a war and the farmers joined a widespread revolt. Due to the dangerous situation, Queen Zhou told Emperor Chongzhen that she had a residence in Jiading, hoping that he would move there, but he decided not to abandon his ancestors' tombs in Beijing.
After the fall of Beijing, Chongzhen became desperate and committed suicide, and Queen Zhou hanged herself.
Travails of Qin family
The garden later belonged to a Zhang family and was named the "little hill garden."
It was also owned by the Qin family, according to archives, who bought it in the Qianlong years of the Qing Dynasty. The Qins are descendants of Qin Shaoyou, a famed writer of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).
Qin Fuzhi, the first of the family to move to the garden, used it as a haven to flee war with the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Qin Fuzhi was also the first writer of the local chronicles of Jiading.
In the early Qing Dynasty, Qin Shijin, the eldest member of the seventh generation of the family, died in the battle against the Qing government.
Later on, the Qin's family members were mainly doctors who loved doing charity work and were highly praised by Jiading citizens.
It was Qin He, a sinology student who later studied business, who brought the family wealth and prosperity, becoming a rich squire in the area and bought the garden.
After the Qin's moved into the garden, the family had good results in the imperial examination.
One of the most famous was Qin Shouzhang, who had proposed quite a lot of reforms to the emperor. The proposal of adding Western cultural studies to the curriculum framework later had a great impact on the development of Chinese modern education.
Qinjia Garden was named after the Qin's bought the garden. Qin Shuoxuan, the grandson of Qin He, who became wealthy through shipping, rebuilt the garden in 1849.
Apart from the residence, the 2.02 hectares included a lotus pond, marble boat, zigzag bridge, rockery hill, dragon wall and more than 10 pavilions and pagodas. There were even stages in the garden for Kunqu Opera.
In the late Qing Dynasty, there were 12 famous landscapes in Jiading. Qinjia Garden ranked first, and was as famous as the Zhuozheng Garden, Liu Garden and Yi Garden in Suzhou.
Warfare destroyed the modern Qinjia Garden. When Qin Shouzhang returned to see the garden in 1916, the pavilions and buildings were all destroyed and famous handwritings were impossible to identify.
But the garden still retained its beautiful style. Rare flowers and exquisite rocks spread all over, camellias were as red as fire, magnolias were as white as snow and the branches of china firs reached into the sky.
There were even thousands of bamboos and hundreds of ancient trees. Qinjia Garden was later adapted for children's playgrounds and other cultural activity.
Hills were flattened, the lotus pond was filled in and a new office building constructed on top of it. All the ancient vestiges of past glory were erased.
In Jiading, folklore has it that Qinjia Garden once belonged to the family of the wife of Chongzhen, the last emperor of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). She was surnamed Zhou, Zhou was an elegant and refined woman, according to history records, and her father envisaged her future as a well-off lady, which turned out to be true as Ms Zhou became the queen.
At the time, the Qing Dynasty's northern invaders launched a war and the farmers joined a widespread revolt. Due to the dangerous situation, Queen Zhou told Emperor Chongzhen that she had a residence in Jiading, hoping that he would move there, but he decided not to abandon his ancestors' tombs in Beijing.
After the fall of Beijing, Chongzhen became desperate and committed suicide, and Queen Zhou hanged herself.
Travails of Qin family
The garden later belonged to a Zhang family and was named the "little hill garden."
It was also owned by the Qin family, according to archives, who bought it in the Qianlong years of the Qing Dynasty. The Qins are descendants of Qin Shaoyou, a famed writer of the Northern Song Dynasty (960-1127).
Qin Fuzhi, the first of the family to move to the garden, used it as a haven to flee war with the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368). Qin Fuzhi was also the first writer of the local chronicles of Jiading.
In the early Qing Dynasty, Qin Shijin, the eldest member of the seventh generation of the family, died in the battle against the Qing government.
Later on, the Qin's family members were mainly doctors who loved doing charity work and were highly praised by Jiading citizens.
It was Qin He, a sinology student who later studied business, who brought the family wealth and prosperity, becoming a rich squire in the area and bought the garden.
After the Qin's moved into the garden, the family had good results in the imperial examination.
One of the most famous was Qin Shouzhang, who had proposed quite a lot of reforms to the emperor. The proposal of adding Western cultural studies to the curriculum framework later had a great impact on the development of Chinese modern education.
Qinjia Garden was named after the Qin's bought the garden. Qin Shuoxuan, the grandson of Qin He, who became wealthy through shipping, rebuilt the garden in 1849.
Apart from the residence, the 2.02 hectares included a lotus pond, marble boat, zigzag bridge, rockery hill, dragon wall and more than 10 pavilions and pagodas. There were even stages in the garden for Kunqu Opera.
In the late Qing Dynasty, there were 12 famous landscapes in Jiading. Qinjia Garden ranked first, and was as famous as the Zhuozheng Garden, Liu Garden and Yi Garden in Suzhou.
Warfare destroyed the modern Qinjia Garden. When Qin Shouzhang returned to see the garden in 1916, the pavilions and buildings were all destroyed and famous handwritings were impossible to identify.
But the garden still retained its beautiful style. Rare flowers and exquisite rocks spread all over, camellias were as red as fire, magnolias were as white as snow and the branches of china firs reached into the sky.
There were even thousands of bamboos and hundreds of ancient trees. Qinjia Garden was later adapted for children's playgrounds and other cultural activity.
Hills were flattened, the lotus pond was filled in and a new office building constructed on top of it. All the ancient vestiges of past glory were erased.
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