Why is Garden of Master of Nets special?
Although as the smallest of the Suzhou residential gardens, the Garden of Master of Nets (in Chinese known as Wangshiyuan) is a most impressive one for its efficient spatial arrangement of original limited area.
With its initial garden firstly constructed over 800 years ago, the Garden of Master of Nets demonstrates Chinese garden designers’ adept skills for synthesizing art, nature, and architecture to create unique metaphysical masterpieces.
Master of the Nets Garden Highlight
Enjoying another name Fisherman's Garden, this garden is an elegant garden where Song Zongyuan, an early Qing-dynasty official used to live. This garden is built where a Song Dynasty official's mansion called "Fisherman's Retreat" used to be, giving the present garden its name.
Covering 5,400 sq. m, the Garden of Master of Nets is divided into two parts: the eastern house and the western garden. The eastern part consists of residential quarters while the western part is made up of various gardens
Eastern section is the residential area and it is a linear sequence of four halls one tower and three courtyards. The western garden is an ensemble of buildings around the 334 m² Rosy Cloud Pool.
Eastern Garden
Beauty Within Reach Tower
Used as the women’s meeting room, this two-lever tower enjoys a special name that refers to the view of distant hill and suburbs from the top lever.
Grand Reception Hall
Also called the Hall of Accumulated Benevolence and Ten Thousand Volume Hall, the Grand Reception Hall is a three-bay hall with front portico and was used for meeting guests.
Western Garden
Branch Beyond Bamboo Porch
With other two names of the Belvedere of Magnificent and Bright Waters, this pavilion was used for tea ceremony.
Cool Springs Pavilion
Named for the adjacent Azure Spring, which was named after a verse by Zhu Xi, "A spring inside is full of clean water". It is a square pavilion with hipped gable roofline and flying eves attached to the wall of the Inner Garden courtyard.
Inner Garden
Late Spring Cottage
Late Spring Cottage was named after a verse by Su Dongpo, a famous poet in Song Dynasty, “Only the peony is still flowering in the late spring”. It was used to model the “Ming Hall”, which is used in creating an area of display for Ming Dynasty artifacts.
Washing Ribbon Pavilion over Water
It is a three-bay terrace with gable roofline and flying eves, named after a verse by Chu Ci in the Fishermen (Chu Ci is a famed Chinese poem written by Qu Yuan in the Warring States period).