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Architecture and Lay Out
of Taoranting Park

Index | Architecture | Historys

During the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty, the Black Kiln was still in operation and there were two supervisors, one Manchurian and one Han. The Han supervisor was Jiang Zao, a native of Hanyang, Hubei province, a Minister of Industry of the court. He was a poet and calligraphic master.

At the gate of the temple was a calligraphic work in gold of Taoran by Jiang Zao and on the temple wall were inset with a rock carving, “Ode to Taoranting” that sang in the last two verses:
　　Sorry that I'm not a painter
　　To draw a picture of listening to the cascading spring
　　In deep Autumn night.
　　The temple wall was also inset with the calligraphic work “Urban Forest” by Wang Yushu.

Most outstanding of the garden’s sights was the grotesque formation of Taihu Lake rocks designed by Zhang Ran. Zhang Ran desiged the rock formations at such famous imperial gardens as the Yingtai at Zhongnanhai, Changchunyuan (later the Summer Palace) and Yuquan Hill.

Southwest of the gourd-shaped islet was a two-storied pavilion, respectively named Cloud-painted Tower and Pure-sound Chamber. The pavilion, built during the reign of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing, was originally at the eastern bank of Nanhai, the southern lake. Zhou Enlai suggested moving the pavilion out of Nanhai to Taoranting Park in 1954.

On the northern side of the Central Island, there is a grave of Gao Junyu, a labor movement agitator during the period of the Northern Warlords, who died at the age of 30. The grave stone is inscribed with a poem by his girlfriend Shi Pingmei:
　　I'm the sword,
　　I'm the fire,
　　I will live like a lightning,
　　Die like a fleeting star.
The couple were buried in the grave when Shi Pingmei died.