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Tragedies of Guyi Garden
By Ji Ming and Dai Yiyun |
October 26, 2009, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
LEGEND has it that Guyi Garden in Nanxiang was once an official's private domain. He built Guyi Garden to mirror the imperial garden in Beijing to fulfill his old mother's wish.
The construction took years to finish because he set up waterside pavilions, terraces, towers, delicately decorated boats and a "Four Sides Hall" with nanmu (a type of wood) log pillars. He even planted a pair of pagoda trees.
When the garden was finished, the emperor heard about it and the official was accused of "seeking hegemony" in southern China. As a result, the whole family was killed and buried at the foot of the bamboo hill in the garden.
The official was wronged for fulfilling his duty as a son. So the bamboo leaves on the hill were all bordered in white, which people named "condolence bamboo," or "injustice bamboo."
The northeast region of China became a colony of Japan after the invasion on September 18, 1931. People in Nanxiang Town built a pavilion in Guyi Garden on bamboo hill, with one corner purposefully missing on the northeastern side, and the other three showing three fists.
The pavilion was built to reflect local hatred of the Japanese invasion and the pavilion was named the Corner Missing Pavilion, or Que Jiao Ting.
The Japanese invaders raped and killed people, set fire to property and looted the area, making Nanxiang a total mess. When they needed firewood, they cut down trees and tore down houses.
After they'd cut down all the old trees in Guyi Garden, they started to break down pavilions and eventually, only the "Corner Missing Pavilion" remained.
Legend says that when the Japanese army tried to break down the pavilion, the tiles and fittings fell to the ground and started chasing the soldiers, frightening them away and driving some into the pond at the foot of the hill.
It was not until the soldiers knelt down and begged for mercy that the building components flew back onto the roof. The Japanese soldiers never returned to the pavilion.
The construction took years to finish because he set up waterside pavilions, terraces, towers, delicately decorated boats and a "Four Sides Hall" with nanmu (a type of wood) log pillars. He even planted a pair of pagoda trees.
When the garden was finished, the emperor heard about it and the official was accused of "seeking hegemony" in southern China. As a result, the whole family was killed and buried at the foot of the bamboo hill in the garden.
The official was wronged for fulfilling his duty as a son. So the bamboo leaves on the hill were all bordered in white, which people named "condolence bamboo," or "injustice bamboo."
The northeast region of China became a colony of Japan after the invasion on September 18, 1931. People in Nanxiang Town built a pavilion in Guyi Garden on bamboo hill, with one corner purposefully missing on the northeastern side, and the other three showing three fists.
The pavilion was built to reflect local hatred of the Japanese invasion and the pavilion was named the Corner Missing Pavilion, or Que Jiao Ting.
The Japanese invaders raped and killed people, set fire to property and looted the area, making Nanxiang a total mess. When they needed firewood, they cut down trees and tore down houses.
After they'd cut down all the old trees in Guyi Garden, they started to break down pavilions and eventually, only the "Corner Missing Pavilion" remained.
Legend says that when the Japanese army tried to break down the pavilion, the tiles and fittings fell to the ground and started chasing the soldiers, frightening them away and driving some into the pond at the foot of the hill.
It was not until the soldiers knelt down and begged for mercy that the building components flew back onto the roof. The Japanese soldiers never returned to the pavilion.
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