The rock in the middle of the corridor looks like a young lady. It serves to block the scenery behind. It is another technique in Chinese garden building.
The plaque above says “Gradually Entering the Wonderland”. It means that you should slowly follow the winding corridor in order to really appreciate the beautiful views ahead.
You can now see another brick carving on your left. The old man holding a walking stick is the God of Longevity. He is distinguished by an abnormally large, protruding forehead, which is deeply lined and crowned with snow-white hair. He is a legendary figure said to be in charge of the life span of mankind. Above the God of Longevity is the Goddess of Mercy.
This is Happy Fish Waterside Pavilion. Surrounded by water on three sides, it is a good place for enjoying goldfish swimming happily in the pond. The pavilion often reminds visitors of the dialogue between two ancient philosophers, Zhuang Zi and Hui Zi. Once they came to a pond like this, Zhuang Zi said, “The fish must be very happy.” Hui Zi asked him, “How do you know they they are happy since you are not fish?” The former answered, “How do you know that I do not know they are happy since you are not me?” Visitors do find themselves in a happy frame of mind when they hear the sound of flowing water and see the goldfish swimming freely in the limpid water of the pond.
This small area itself is a garden as it is completely with the basic elements called for by a Chinese garden: plant, water, building, and rock. The pond, partitioned in the middle by a crenellated wall with the water flowing through an arched opening at the foot of the wall, looking deeper and longer than itself. This is what we call creating the maximum space out of a small area. If your eyes follow the stream beyond the arch, you will see in the water the reflection of people and scenery on the other side of the wall. This is the technique of “scenery borrowing”. It means using the scenery “borrowed” from outside the wall as the setoff to enrich the views inside and make the two become one.
There is a 300-year old wisteria at the corner. It is said the tree once withered but came into bloom again. Some people regard wisteria as a symbol of welcoming guests. When summer sets in, the tree is laden with white, butterfly-like flowers, which give off refreshing fragrance.
This is the Double Corridor partitioned by a wall with open windows. When you look through the windows, you will see different views like traditional Chinese paintings in frames. This is another technique in Chinese garden building called “scenery framing”. One side of the corridor presents you with chambers, towers and a houseboat, which are all static. The other side provides you with the views of water, trees and flowers, which are all in motion. As you walk along, the pictures are changing like pictures.
At the end of the corridor is the Chamber of Ten Thousand Flowers. It is so called because there used to be fresh flowers here all the year round. Designs of plants and flowers are carved on the doors and windows. Particularly eye-catching are the designs on clay sculptures of the orchid, the bamboo, the chrysanthemum, and the plum at the four corners of the chamber, representing spring, summer, autumn and winter respectively. The furniture with carved flowers in the chamber are over 200 years old. In front of the chamber are many rocks brought here from Taihu Lake. Eroded by water, they are in different shapes, many, interestingly, resembling animals.
Here are two ancient trees: one gingko and the other, magnolia. It is said that Mr. Pan Yunduan’s father planted here 400 years ago two gingko trees, one male and the other female. Later the female gingko died and a magnolia was planted in its place. Known as “living fossil”, gingko trees used to grow profusely about 146 million years ago, but are now on the brink of extinction. It is also called “gongsun” tree because it grows so slowly that the grandfather plants the tree and the grandson picks the fruit. The tree looks like a large parachute because its dark green leaves resemble small fans. Its seeds and leaves can be used for medical purposes.
If you look up, you will see the second dragon on top of the wall. The dragon sprawls on the wall, with its head raised high, ready to mount the cloud. Hence the name “Dragon Mounting to the Clouds”. Dragon is a mythical animal. It is said dragon could call up wind and waves. Fairies rode on them or used them as messengers. Dragon is said to have horns like a deer’s antlers, the head of an ox, eyes of a shrimp, the body of a snake, scales of a fish, and talons of an eagle. Regarded as something sacred and the symbol of the emperor, dragons were used to consolidate the rule of the feudal rulers in ancient China.
The dragon has, in its mouth, a pearl which is its life-line. There is also a toad under its mouth. It is said that these two animals depend on each other for survival. The toad lives on the saliva of the dragon. The dragons in the garden all have three talons instead of five. It is said that the owner did this on purpose because the dragons in the imperial palace had five talons and he did not want to offend the emperor by having the same kind of dragons.
This is the Spring Hall (Dian Cun Tang). Being one of the three treasures in Yuyuan Garden, it was built around 1820. the name of the hall was derived from one of the poems by Su Dongpo, a great poet in the Song Dynasty. The name Dian Cun also means ordering one’s favorite theatrical work. In Chinese, Dian means ordering or choosing, while Cun means theatrical work. The Pans used to sit in this hall and appreciate the performances given on the stage just in front of it.
In 1853, people in Shanghai organized a secret society---the Small Sword Society---in response to the Taiping Heavenly Revolution, a peasant uprising against the corrupt Qing government. It was an uprising on the largest scale, with the longest duration and greatest number of participants in the contemporary history of Shanghai. The uprising army once headquartered its northern city command post in this hall. The army took the city and held out for one and half years before it was defeated by the reactionary Qing government in collusion with the foreign powers. However, the uprising dealt a heavy blow at the ruling class. It had remained desolated since the defeat of the uprising. However, after the founding of New China, this hall was restored by the Shanghai local government in 1956 and has been serving as a base for the patriotic education. There is, on the wall, a traditional Chinese painting named “Appreciating the Sword”. It was made by a famous Qing Dynasty painter Ren Bonian, who once took part in the uprising. The Spring Hall is now an exhibition hall, displaying some pictures, weapons, and coins used by the Small Sword Society.
The stage in front of the hall was built partly on water and partly on land. On the roof of the pavilion stage are some clay figures from the Chinese classic novel “The Romance of the Three Kingdoms”. The building on the left, when viewed from the front, is a stage but looks like a pavilion on the water when viewed from the back.
The two-storied structure over there is the “Tower of Happiness” built with Taihu rocks in the shape of clouds. The tower, like a “castle in the air”, seems floating amidst clouds. This scenic section, centered on the “Tower of Happiness” with other buildings around and dotted by rockery, water and “clouds”, presents a mythical touch. Arriving here, visitors feel like entering a fairyland.
This is the Hall of Mildness, located between a pond and a huge rock. The hall, bright and spacious, with windows on four sides, is cool in summer and warm in winter. Please have a look at the furniture on display in the hall. The furniture is made of banian tree roots with a history of over 200 years. The decorations in the hall are also made of banian tree roots---the phoenix on the right, a “Ru Yi” or say “As you wish”, an ornamental object in the middle, and a unicorn on the left.
On top of the wall here are the third and fourth dragons with a pearl between them. They are called “Twin dragons playing with a pearl”. On festive occasions streets packed with people present a bustling scene, whereby twin dragons manipulated by players dance and fiddle with a pearl.
Here is another famous piece of brick carving, “Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea”. Each of the immortals had some magic power and working together they managed to cross the rough sea. It implies the meaning that when people working together with concerted efforts, they will finally succeed.
This is the eastern part of Yuyuan Garden. It was leveled to the ground after the Opium War but has recently been restored. Following the Mind Dynasty-styled “Spring Corridor” flanked by green bamboo, visitors will see Huijing (Scenery Gathering) Tower, the center of one of the three scenic sections in the eastern part. The tower, built in 1870, commands an excellent view of the whole garden. Not far from it is the Nine-Lion Study erected in 1959. visitors may stop in front of the tower and enjoy the elegance of the pavilion in the distance. Or they may cross the stone bridge and following the stone path leading to it. Ascending the pavilion, they may enjoy the sight of the lotus blossoms in the pond or appreciate the tranquility of the pavilion tucked away amidst ancient trees.
Besides a rockery stands another pavilion called Liushang (Toasting). Its shadows are thrown onto the pond. It is recorded that on March 3rd of the lunar calendar every year, men of letters in Shanghai would gather here and compose poems over a glass of wine like Wang Xizhi (a famous calligrapher 1,700 years ago) and his friends did in Lanting Pavilion.
Next to the Liushagn Pavilion is a three-zigzag stone bridge spanning the water. Walking on the bridge, one feels like tiptoeing on water.