Guyi Garden is located in Nanxiang, a famous historic and cultural town in China. It was first built in the early Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty (1522–1526) by the Min family from Huizhou, and was originally named “Jie Garden.” During the Wanli period of the Ming Dynasty (1573–1620), Min Shiji, the son of the garden owner Min Shanglian, invited Zhu Zhizheng (styled Sansong), a renowned Jiading bamboo carver, painter, and calligrapher, to plan and design the garden. With “one pond of water and a thousand stalks of bamboo” in the garden, and inspired by the line “Look at the banks of the Qi, how luxuriant the green bamboo grows” from The Book of Songs · Wei Feng · Qi Ao, it was renamed “Yi Garden.” In the early Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty (1628–1644), Yi Garden was transferred to Li Yizhi, the nephew of painter and calligrapher Li Liufang and a tribute student. In the eleventh year of the Qianlong reign of the Qing Dynasty (1746), Ye Jin, known as the Man of Dongting Mountain, purchased Yi Garden, expanded its grounds, and rebuilt its scenery, thereby establishing the basic layout of Guyi Garden that remained until the Republic of China period. After completion, because it was separated by one dynasty, it was renamed “Guyi Garden.” In the fifty-third year of Qianlong (1788), local gentry raised funds to purchase most of Guyi Garden and donated it to the City God Temple of Taicang Prefecture as a sacred garden. In the seventh year of Tongzhi in the Qing Dynasty (1868), the garden was restored and turned into a public park. Later, Guyi Garden gradually became a popular suburban excursion destination in Shanghai.
Further Reading: 【Shanghai Free Travel】The Ultimate 3 Days 2 Nights Travel Guide, Including Transportation, Itinerary, Accommodation, and Food
Guyi Garden, together with Qiuxia Garden, Songjiang Zuibaichi, Shanghai’s Yuyuan Garden, and Qingpu Qu Shui Yuan, is known as one of the five great classical gardens of Shanghai. It was designed and arranged by Zhu Sansong, a famous bamboo carving master of Jiading in the Ming Dynasty. Within the scale of “a ten-mu garden and a five-mu residence,” it contains pavilions, terraces, towers, and halls, while the pillars, rafters, and long corridors are all carved with bamboo-themed patterns in countless forms.
On October 1, 1959, Guyi Garden was repaired and opened to the public, and later underwent several rounds of expansion and reconstruction. Today, Guyi Garden covers a total area of about 98,200 square meters and is divided into four scenic sections according to different landscapes: Yi Garden (the old garden), Winding Creek and Crane Shadows, Flower Fragrance Fairy Garden, and Secluded Bamboo and Misty Moon. Its exquisite artistic conception, unique garden landscapes, and many ancient cultural relics recreate the historic appearance and graceful spirit of this old garden.
Attractions in Guyi Garden
Tang Sutra Pillars (Ushnisha Vijaya Dharani Sutra Pillars)
Built during the Tang Dynasty, there are two of these pillars, both originally relics from Nanxiang Temple. They were donated by a local man named Mo Shaoqing. Both are made of bluestone, with seven tiers and eight sides, featuring magnificent and elegant forms with exquisite carvings. The pillar bodies are engraved with the Ushnisha Vijaya Dharani Sutra, as well as motifs such as swirling clouds and lotus petals, while the tops are carved with lion heads and figures of the Four Heavenly Kings. They were restored successively in the fifth year of Taiping Xingguo of the Northern Song Dynasty (980), the second year of Yuantong of the Yuan Dynasty (1334), and the middle years of the Jiaqing reign of the Qing Dynasty. After the temple was abandoned in the late Qing Dynasty, the pillars had collapsed by the time of Liberation in 1949. In 1959, they were moved to Guyi Garden. One stands to the south of Weiyin Pavilion, and the other to the north of Nanting Hall.
Nanting Hall
Originally built in the Ming Dynasty. During the Chongzhen period of the Ming Dynasty (1628–1644), a bloody incident occurred here when servants demanded the return of their indenture contracts from the Li family, resulting in the deaths of dozens of family members. Therefore, it was also called the “Hall of Tragedy.” The original building was destroyed in the January 28 Incident of 1932 and rebuilt in the 1940s. Today, Nanting Hall faces southeast from the northwest, with a brick-and-wood structure, three bays wide and two bays deep, featuring five-beam construction, a hipped roof, bracket sets under the eaves, and a front veranda corridor.
Putong Pagoda
Built in the fifteenth year of Jiading in the Southern Song Dynasty (1222), it is also a relic from Nanxiang Temple. The pagoda is made of bluestone, hexagonal in shape with three tiers, and composed of a base, pagoda body, and finial. It was moved to Guyi Garden in 1959 and relocated into the lotus pond within the garden in 1987.
Buque Pavilion
Also known as the “Missing Corner Pavilion,” it is located on Zhuzhi Hill in Guyi Garden. After the September 18 Incident in 1931, when the three northeastern provinces were occupied by Japanese forces, the people of Nanxiang specially built this pavilion to commemorate the national humiliation. Buque Pavilion is a square brick-and-wood structure with a pointed roof supported by four pillars. One corner in the northeast is deliberately left incomplete, symbolizing the loss of the Northeast, while the other three corners are shaped like clenched fists. The indignation of the people is vividly expressed through these three raised fists, symbolizing their determination to recover lost territory and wash away humiliation.
Weiyin Pavilion
Built in 1947, this pavilion faces south from the north and is a two-story brick-and-wood pavilion-style building with an elegant and staggered design. It was funded through donations by the Weiyin Society, a progressive youth organization in Nanxiang, and was one of the activity sites of the Communist Party organization in Nanxiang.
Wan’an Pagoda
Originally located in Wan’an Temple of Nanxiang Town from the Yuan Dynasty, this is a five-story solid stone pagoda in pavilion style. Its base is octagonal, with a Sumeru pedestal. Each side of the first story is carved with a pot-shaped doorway, while stories two through five each feature carved Buddhist niches and Buddha statues. Every level has waist eaves, and the pagoda top is composed of an octagonal cap, stone drum, upward and downward lotus seats, and a finial. The eaves are engraved with the names, birthdates, and donation amounts of devotees. The temple was destroyed during the Battle of Shanghai in 1937, and Wan’an Pagoda was severely damaged and buried in the soil. In 1988, it was moved to the west side of the forecourt of Qingqing Garden.
Unmoored Boat
Also known as the Calligraphy and Painting Boat, and commonly called the Stone Boat. It was first built in the early Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and is located on the north bank of Xie’e Pond, bordered by water on three sides. The boat’s name comes from Bai Juyi’s poem Following My Heart: “How could I lack lifelong aspirations, yet remain constrained and not free? One day, returning to the Wei River, I would drift like an unmoored boat.” After its completion, Zhu Yunming, a famous Ming Dynasty calligrapher and one of the “Four Talents of Wu,” visited Yi Garden and inscribed the plaque “Unmoored Boat” for the stone boat, after which it became widely renowned. “Yi Garden Playing with Geese” and “Watching Fish from the Sampan” are two of the “Eight Scenic Views of Nanxiang.”
Value and Characteristics
The characteristics of Guyi Garden lie, first, in its literary artistic conception. From the beginning of its construction, it took Bai Juyi’s On the Pond as a reference, with “one pond of water and a thousand stalks of bamboo,” creating the literati ideal realm of “a thousand beautiful bamboos, pure green as if freshly wiped.” Second, in its conception of landscapes: the Yiyetang Hall, Little Pine Ridge, and Xie’e Pond area continue the early mountain-and-water layout, integrating landscape painting into garden-making art. Third, in its display of art: over its long history, Guyi Garden has accumulated a large number of artworks, especially plaques, couplets, stone inscriptions, and brick carvings within the garden. These are numerous and uniquely distinctive. Fourth, in the layering of value: the garden heritage preserved to this day is the result of continuous accumulation over a long historical development process. This dynamic process of change, combined with a traceable history spanning several hundred years and its continuing connection with reality, expands the overall understanding of gardens. Fifth, in the integration of flowers and trees: the trees and vegetation in Guyi Garden are also rich in pictorial beauty. From spring to winter, the garden offers different beautiful scenes in every season. In addition to the various kinds of bamboo planted since the garden’s founding, there are peonies in spring, lotus flowers in summer, golden osmanthus in autumn, and wintersweet in winter. Flowers, trees, and garden scenery are naturally integrated in both form and spirit, meaning and mood.
The Enduring Charm of Yi Garden
Looking back on the five-hundred-year history of Guyi Garden, it evolved from a classical residential garden that embodied literati taste, to a diverse and secularized City God Temple garden, and then into a modern garden blending elegance and popular appeal. After many transformations and repeated destruction by war, and after numerous restorations and reconstructions, Guyi Garden has come to bear the marks of different eras, social classes, cultures, and values. As a result, it has accumulated appearances that are at once traditional or altered, classical or modern, all blending into its unique charm.
Guyi Garden Tips
Ticket: RMB 12
✅️Ticket Booking: Trip
Transportation:
Take Shanghai Metro Line 11 to Nanxiang Station, exit from Exit 1, and walk about 1 kilometer along Jiatong Road and Huyi Highway to reach the south gate of Guyi Garden.
Take Shanghai Metro Line 11 to Nanxiang Station, exit from Exit 2, and take Jiading Bus 129 (one stop) directly to Guyi Garden.
