Guilin not only has the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world, but is also an ancient city with a long history of more than 2,000 years and has extremely rich cultural heritage. Yanshan Garden is one of the representatives of Guilin’s historical and cultural heritage.
Yanshan Garden is located in Dabu Township, Yanshan District, Guilin City, Guangxi. It is a classical private garden, formerly known as Yanshan Villa, and formerly known as Xilin Garden and Yanshan Park.
Yanshan Garden was built in the same year of Qing Dynasty and Xian Dynasty and has a history of more than 100 years. The first owner of the garden was Tang Yue, a squire from Dabu, Lingui County (now Dabu Township, Yanshan District, Guilin City) in the Qing Dynasty. Yanshan Garden was built by Tang Yue after referring to Shanghai's Yu Garden and being inspired by the Grand View Garden in "A Dream of Red Mansions". The entire garden is surrounded by mountains and rivers, with pavilions and pavilions built there. It was the largest in Guangxi at that time. The Yanshan Garden Villa period during the Yue Dynasty of Tang Dynasty was the most prosperous period of Yanshan Garden. In 1873, Tang Yue died of illness, and his descendants transferred Yanshan Garden to Cen Chunxuan, then governor of Guangdong and Guangxi. Cen Chunxuan was the son of Cen Yuying, the governor of Yunnan and Guizhou. He served successively as envoy to Guangdong and Gansu, governor of Shaanxi, governor of Sichuan and Guangxi, and minister of the Ministry of Posts and Communications. Cen Chunxuan renamed the garden "Xilin Garden" and renovated the main buildings in the garden. In 1929, Cen Chunxuan donated Xilin Garden to the Guangxi Provincial Government, and Yanshan Garden was renamed "Yanshan Park" and began to be open to the general public. During the Republic of China, Yanshan Park was mainly used for government schools. Guangxi Normal University, Guangxi University, Guangxi Agricultural College and other schools have successively set up schools here, and many famous cultural figures in my country have also worked or lived here. Therefore, some historians call Yanshan Garden "the birthplace of modern Guangxi culture". After the founding of New China, Yanshan Garden was under the jurisdiction of the Guilin District Administrative Office. In 1962, the Guilin City Garden Management Office took over Yanshan Garden. Now, Yanshan Garden is the creative base of the Chinese New Literary Painting School and the Chinese Lijiang School of Painting. It is also the location of Fengyi Academy, Guangxi University of the Arts Lijiang International Cultural College and the Affiliated High School Campus.
Yanshan Garden integrates Jiangnan gardens, northern Guangxi folk houses, and the architectural features of the Republic of China. It has become the first famous garden in Lingnan for its real mountains, real water, towering ancient trees, and profound humanities. Yanshan Garden condenses the natural beauty of Guilin's landscape. The natural landscape in the garden is beautiful and elegant, and it is a place that integrates "Feng Shui treasure land", "magical landscape" and "elegant residences of celebrities". It is Guilin's natural landscape. Out-of-print Jiangnan gardens in the landscape! The planning and architecture of Yanshan Garden reflect the founder's pursuit of traditional Chinese philosophical and aesthetic ideas, and reflect the life ideal of traditional Chinese intellectuals: "If you are poor, you can be alone, and if you are rich, you can contribute to the world." Yanshan Garden has a profound cultural heritage, and the garden is rich in cultural resources such as poems, lyrics, songs, poems, and couplets, which are of high research value. Yanshan Garden has extremely rich historical connotations. It was once a gathering place for many historical celebrities in the modern history of our country. They left many historical facts and stories and legends here, becoming the most precious historical and cultural relics of Yanshan Garden.
Guilin is a world-famous scenic tourist city and a famous historical and cultural city. As Guilin's development has become a national strategy, Guilin is further promoting the construction of an international tourist resort and vigorously implementing the project of "finding the power of Guilin culture and tapping the value of Guilin culture". We compiled this Guilin history and culture reader to systematically explore and organize the historical and cultural connotation and value of Yanshan Garden, so that people can have a deeper understanding of Guilin, protect and utilize this famous historical and cultural garden, and reshape and promote Guilin's uniqueness. The garden culture and historical culture of Guilin will prosper and develop Guilin's cultural undertakings, adding a rich and colorful page to the construction of international tourist attractions.
History is like a passing cloud. Yanshan Garden has witnessed the history of Guilin and the traces left by many historical figures in modern China in Guilin.
China’s modern times have been turbulent for a century!
A hundred years of ups and downs can be described in one garden!