Introduction to Kaiping Garden

The Kaiping Liyuan Garden is located in Beiyi Township, Tangkou Town, Kaiping. It was built by Mr. Xie Weili, an overseas Chinese from Tangkou Town, who returned to the United States in the 1920s. It absorbs the Western sentiments of European and American architecture and skillfully combines them. It is the first-class private garden built by overseas Chinese in China. It is also a famous garden with a relatively complete combination of Chinese and Western styles found in China.

Introduction

The architectural style of Kaiping Liyuan is based on the "Grand View Garden" in "A Dream of Red Mansions", absorbing Chinese classical garden architectural art, and adapting to the popular villa architectural features in Europe and the United States. It is integrated with Eastern decorative art and is one of the more complete famous gardens in China that combines Chinese and Western architectural art. Kaiping Garden

Kaiping Garden has a history of nearly 80 years since its construction started in 1926. Kaiping Liyuan is located in Genghua Village, Tangkou Town, Kaiping City. It is a private garden built by Mr. Xie Weili, a local overseas Chinese in the United States, which took ten years to build. The Kaiping Garden is named after a person's name and covers an area of ??about 19,600 square meters. It integrates traditional gardening, Western architecture, and the characteristics of Jiangnan water towns. Its unique architectural art style that blends Chinese and Western styles is unique among Chinese gardens. This unique private garden for overseas Chinese in China has both the most popular architectural styles in the West at that time and the most traditional pavilions, terraces, towers and pavilions of Chinese gardens. It combines Chinese and Western culture into one, naturally blending, unique and grand. It is actually A treasure of Chinese garden architecture.

Edit this history

The Kaiping Garden was built by Mr. Xie Weili, an overseas Chinese in Tangkou Town, who came back in the 1920s. The ancient furniture in the garden was initially built in 1998. Before liberation, Liyuan suffered many misfortunes. It was ravaged by the Japanese Japanese devils, who violently bent the 30 mm thick iron window pillars. Bandits came in and looted property and then gradually fell into desolation. After liberation, the county people's government allocated funds for repairs many times to preserve the full picture. In 1957, Tao Zhu, the first secretary of the Central and South Bureau, and others visited Liyuan and instructed to protect every plant and tree in Liyuan. Liyuan once became the "sanatorium for veteran cadres of the Central and South Bureau". On March 23, 1983, the Kaiping County People's Government listed Liyuan as the first batch of county-level cultural relics protection units. On October 10, 1999, the owner's wife, Ms. Xie Yuyaoqiong (Xie Weili's widow), happily signed a contract with the Kaiping Municipal People's Government in the United States, and sincerely entrusted the municipal people's government to manage the park for 25 years, and later agreed to host it for another 25 years. 1*** The custody period is 50 years. From now on, the Kaiping Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government have decided to carry out large-scale comprehensive renovation and expansion of the Liyuan Garden. This purpose is to protect the "Liyuan Garden" painstakingly built by the overseas Chinese Mr. Xie Weili - a precious heritage that integrates the essence of Western architecture and has a unique style. Preserve its original appearance and make it intact; carry forward the purpose of Mr. Xie Weili's founding of the garden and the spirit of traveling with Zili and having fun together, and further develop it into a first-class overseas Chinese garden attraction in the country for people to visit, and develop Kaiping's tourism industry .

Edit the origin of the name of this paragraph

The owner of Liyuan is named Xie Weili. It is understandable that the garden is named after the owner. Everyone thinks so. However, most people ignore the deeper meaning of Kaiping Liyuan Evening Fragrance Pavilion, which is the meaning of "erecting people". As the saying goes, "It takes ten years to grow trees and a hundred years to cultivate people." Gardens are inseparable from trees, but it is rare to see tree figures in gardens. One of the three islands in Liyuan is specially used for planting fruit trees, including longan, lychee, star fruit, etc., which symbolizes the flowering and fruiting, and the part that is cultivated is the part that is harvested. There are many other tree species in the garden: the vigorous kapok, the graceful phoenix, the fragrant plum blossoms, the tall and bright bamboos, the shady osmanthus trees, the lingering flower vines... everything. In fact, the most eye-catching thing in the garden is the palm trees. This kind of tree is planted the most, and most of them are in pairs, standing prominently and symmetrically on both sides of the big archway. They are rarely planted alone on both sides of the main road. After more than 70 years of wind, rain, thunder and lightning, the trunks of these palm trees have become quite rough, but they are still tall and straight, with no side branches or bends. They are still full of life, towering above the ordinary trees in the garden, like waist poles. Upright, magnanimous, and awe-inspiring, the upright man stands in the garden.

This kind of intention of the owner of the garden can be seen everywhere in the couplets on the terraces in the garden, such as "Practice sincerely to be able to uphold oneself, and be determined to be strong and achieve others", "Being clean and seeking high scholars, being kind and benevolent is a good person", "Being virtuous and meritorious is a good person" Good deeds are immortal, and the plum garden, pine garden, and bamboo garden are endless.” The owner of the garden not only had this intention in naming and layout when building the garden, but also had the ambition to implement it. It is said that there is a plan to build a school behind the Liyuan Garden so that all the children of the clan can receive a good education, revitalize the national industry, serve the country, and become pillars of society. However, due to the Japanese invasion of China, this plan was ruined by the war, and the owner of the garden was unable to fulfill his wish. Therefore, the fact that the name of the garden is the same as the name of the owner cannot be said to be just a coincidence, but a match made in heaven.

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The layout of the garden can be roughly divided into three parts: villa area, large garden area, and small garden area. The three areas are separated by artificial rivers or walls, and the bird's nest is ingeniously connected to the ground with bridge pavilions or sky-wide corridors, making people feel that there is a garden in the garden and a scenery in the scenery. , pavilions, terraces and pavilions, with elegant layout and originality, giving people a sense of ingenuity. The main entrance of Liyuan is at the south corner of the villa area. Next to the door (to the south) is the "Liyuan Canal". The two characters "Li Yuan" above the center of the gate are soft yet strong, smooth with wine. They were written by calligrapher Wu Daorong in the 23rd year of the Republic of China (1934). Enter from the main entrance, go west along the canal corridor for about 100 meters, and then enter the villa area. There are six villas and one ancient watchtower in the villa area. Among them, the two villas "Panli" and "Panwen" are the most gorgeous and spectacular. Their roofs are built in the ancient Chinese "double eaves" style, covered with green glazed tiles and cleverly elevated. , becomes a practical thermal insulation layer. The indoor floors and stairs are all polished with colored Italian stones, which are still radiant after more than 60 years. This is the pinnacle of skill of skilled craftsmen, which is breathtaking. The indoor walls are decorated with large-scale color murals, reliefs and large-scale gold-painted wood carvings based on ancient Chinese characters and stories; the colorful relief is "Liu Bei visited the thatched cottage three times", and the gold-painted wood carving is "The Great Prime Minister of the Six Kingdoms", creating realistic and lifelike characters. , with exquisite carving and unique composition. Western-style fireplaces are installed on the walls of each floor; mosquito screens are installed on all windows; antique lighting is suspended from the ceiling; rosewood furniture with exquisite craftsmanship is displayed on each floor, making it look simple, elegant, noble and antique. Water and bathroom facilities, such as water pumps, bathtubs, toilets, water tanks, etc., are purchased from abroad. The heavy door and deep lock at the door make people feel more mysterious. This can be seen from the home anti-theft facilities at that time. If visitors can go up a level and climb to the fourth floor, they can have a look at Mr. Xie Weili’s "ancestral shrine". Not only is the construction technology unique and unique, but the couplet of the shrine also reads: "Great achievements and great virtues revitalize the nation." , Zude Fenglong protects the country." This shows that the garden owner’s spirit of loving the nation and the country is indeed admirable. To the west of the villa area is the large garden. Its layout is north-south (that is, sitting north to south). It is mainly laid out with the large archway of the Liyuan Garden and the large archway of "Benli Daosheng" as the axis.

Edit this section to introduce the attractions

Yupei Villa

There is a tower-style villa named "Yupei" in the southwest corner of the large garden. The villa is small and exquisite, and the construction craftsmanship is top-notch. There are four-story Yupei Villa

buildings, which were ingeniously conceived by the owner of the garden. Some of them imitate ancient Chinese, Japanese sleeping styles, Italian Tibetan style, and Roman palace style. The patterns on each floor are carefully selected, and four "red hearts" are cleverly connected together. The circular pattern is uniquely loving, and is inlaid with colorful Italian stones in the middle of each hall and room. It is speculated that it is the owner of the garden. My heart-to-heart feelings for the four ladies. This villa was built by the owner in memory of his beloved concubine, and it can be described as a masterpiece of ingenuity.

The archway

Built between 1926 and 1936, the archway covers an area of ??69 square meters (the auxiliary building is 5 meters wide) and 4.3 meters high. The main building is 4 meters wide and 6.5 meters high. The top of the rice adopts the traditional Chinese green tile roof structure, with two ao competing for pearls on the beam ridge and four dragons on the hypotenuse. The shape and layout are extraordinary. It means to be the best, encourage future generations to study hard, stand out, strengthen the country and enrich the people. At the back is the book-drying table, with an area of ??260 square meters. It is surrounded by washed stone rice forms, built with fences, and the tops of the columns are decorated with inverted lotus flowers.

Across Hongqiao and Wanxiang Pavilion

Built in 1936, the bridge is 10.5 meters long and 5 meters wide, spanning from north to south. The Wanxiang Pavilion is built on top, 5 meters wide and 4.6 deep. meters, with a projected area of ??22.5 square meters. The pavilion is two stories high, with a glazed tile roof and stone-meter walls. Because both sides of the bridge are oriented east-west, it is surrounded by fruit trees and fragrant flowers, which are fragrant in the morning and evening. Mr. Wu Daorong, a calligrapher of the late Qing Dynasty, wrote "Wanxiang Pavilion", and the word "wan" is written in a word that can be read as both "wan" and "xiao": when the sun rises in the east, it is called Xiaoxiang Pavilion, and when the sun sets in the west, it is called Wanxiang Pavilion. The fusion of ideas and scenery is amazing. Wind and Fire Towers Built between 1926 and 1936, the Wind and Fire Towers are a pair. The diameter of the base of the tower is 1 meter, the height is 6.5 meters, and it has five floors. It has a glazed tile roof, a hexagonal tower body, light mud yellow, arched tower windows, and white trim. It is surrounded by a round pool with a diameter of 4 meters and plants in the pool. There are water lilies and goldfish. It is said that this pagoda is based on the pagoda in the hands of Li Jing, the king of pagodas in "The Legend of the Gods", which means that the pagoda holds the place and prays for peace.

Hushan and Dahubian

Built between 1926 and 1936, the steel pole is 18 meters high and the cement embossed base is 2 meters high. The tiger whip is a pair of feng shui rods. According to legend, when the owner of the garden, Mr. Weili Hushan, returned to his hometown to build the garden, his business in the United States declined for a time, so he invited Mr. Feng Shui to inspect the garden. He said: The Tiger Mountain opposite the big archway is in conflict with the Liyuan Garden, so a pair of tiger whips must be erected at the current site to restrain the tiger's power. The garden owner then ordered a pair of tiger whips in West Germany and sent them to Hong Kong, where they were then shipped back for installation. God followed people's wishes, and after the tiger-beating whip was erected, the owner's business became increasingly prosperous.

Lotte Tower

Built around 1926, Lotte Tower is a watchtower with a projected building area of ??37 square meters, 6.5 meters by 5.7 meters, and a height of 5 floors. The entire building is made of cement. The walls are about 30 centimeters thick. It is a square column with bullet holes all around. It is a public shelter built by villagers to prevent floods and bandits, so it is named "Lotte Building".

Yicui Pavilion

Built between 1926 and 1936, with a projected area of ??20 square meters, it is a traditional Chinese hexagonal pavilion-style building. The columns and railings are all made of washed stone, and the breathable windows on the top floor are slanted with glass, making them bright and breathable. There is a golden dragon hanging in the center of the inner roof, with a jade pendant in its mouth, and its scales are shining. On each of the six sides are sculptures of folk legends: Penglai fairy scene, the moon palace of the Ming emperor, the queen mother congratulating her on her birthday, the birthday star entering the peach, the jade Xiao Lang, the goddess scattering flowers. The characters in the picture are lifelike.

Huateng Pavilion

Built between 1926 and 1936, it covers an area of ??150 square meters. The top is built in imitation of the Queen of England's golden crown, and the four walls are made of reinforced concrete into flower cages. It is said that there are various vines and flowers in the four corners of the garden in spring, summer, autumn and winter. On the climbing pavilion, flowers bloom all year round. Back then, guests could smell the fragrance of the flowers before entering the garden. There is a pond in the pavilion, which is said to be a pond for raising turtles. It is connected with the bird's nest on the side of the pavilion, which means birds singing, flowers blooming and wealth.