Yongcui Villa

Yongcui Villa

Yongcui villa, built in the second gate of Yunyan temple in Huqiu during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, covers an area of more than one mu. It is a four storey villa built from south to north by taking advantage of the mountains. The entrance has high walls and feldspar steps. After passing the baoweng Pavilion in the front hall, you can climb up the stairs from the northeast corner of the backyard to the Wenquan Pavilion, where you can overlook the ershan gate and the East scenery. On the west side of the wall, there are yuejiaxuan and two small buildings on the left and right. The main hall is Linglan jingshe in the north of Xundeng. There are platforms in the front and east of this hall. Linglan jingshe and Songqing form a courtyard with simple and neat layout. Through the west gate of the hall, you can get to the foot of Huqiu tower. There is no water in the garden, but depending on the high terrain, the layout of buildings, stone peaks, Dengdao, flowers and trees is tortuous. It can also take advantage of the garden to have a close view of tiger hill and a distant view of lion mountain. It is a successful example of building a garden in a scenic spot.

Architectural features

Suzhou Yongcui villa is a small garden in the mountains. It is built according to the ups and downs of the mountains. It used to be the site of yuejiaxuan. There are baowengxuan, Linglan jingshe and Wenquan Pavilion in the villa, which are small in scale but exquisite in construction.

Out of lengxiangge southbound, winding down the mountain road, you can reach Yongcui villa. Huqiu integrates landscape, temple and garden. It has both the beauty of spring and stone and the beauty of garden. Yongcui villa is one of the small mountain gardens. Although the area is not large, only more than one mu, but the overall landscape is different from the city garden, suburban garden, and temple garden, which is unique in many Suzhou gardens.

historical background

The construction of Yongcui villa was related to Hong Jun, the number one scholar in Suzhou in the late Qing Dynasty. Hongjun (AD 1839-1893), with the name of pottery and the name of Wenqing, was born in Wuxian county. He was the number one scholar in the seventh year of tongzhi (1868). He was the Minister of the Ministry of military affairs and the Minister of the state affairs. During the reign of Guangxu, he was sent to Russia, Germany, Holland and Austria. He was a diplomat and historian in the late Qing Dynasty. He pioneered the use of Western works to study history and made remarkable achievements. He was praised for his erudition. Similarly, his romantic affairs are also talked about by the world. The love story between him and Sai Jinhua, a famous prostitute, that "No. 1 man marries No. 1 woman" was written in the novel "flowers of the evil sea", which made him even more famous and became the No. 1 romantic scholar.

Villa Landscape

Yuanmen

The garden gate of Yongcui villa is located in the south, and the stone steps in front of the gate are well arranged. The lintel "Yongcui villa" is written in regular script. The white walls on the left and right sides of the gate are inlaid with the characters of "dragon, tiger, leopard and bear". The stone carvings are vigorous, powerful and majestic. It is said that it was written by Tao Maosen of Guilin in the eighth year of Xianfeng in the Qing Dynasty (1858 A.D.), and was moved here in other places. According to Li Genyuan's "eye record of Hufu Jinshi scripture", the two characters "dragon" and "tiger" were written by Jiang Zhikui in the 50th year of Qianlong's reign. They were originally in the east Jiang Shenyi temple in the tomb of five people.

Yuanji

The base of the garden is in the shape of a platform, which is divided into four levels according to the mountain potential, and rises layer by layer. The general plane is a vertical rectangle. Although the scope is small, the layout of each level of the platform is different, so the scenery is very rich.

Baowengxuan

The entrance to the villa is the first floor of the garden, with the lowest terrain. It is also the main building of the whole garden. Outside the wall is the ancient Hanhan spring, behind which there is a side door to open the well. Well spring is like a water urn, so it is famous for holding urn. Inside the pavilion, Liu Yong wrote a couplet, which said: fragrant grass and beautiful neighbors, a hundred generations of gorgeous names, Qi Xiaoxiao; Maoting flower and shadow Hostel, a clear and simple taste. It means that opposite the Xuan is zhenniang's tomb. I'm lucky to be a neighbor because zhenniang is as famous as Su Xiaoxiao, a famous prostitute. I have to ask monk Hanhan where the pure and sweet spring comes from.

Ask about the spring Pavilion

Along with the mountain, the second floor is a quadrangular spring Pavilion. The pavilion is open on three sides, facing the ancient Hanhan spring in the southeast. There are stone tables, stone benches, hanging screens of "waste mountain waterfall" and stone tablets of poem. In the northwest of the pavilion, Taihu stone pseudo rockery is stacked on both sides, which is similar to dragon, tiger, leopard and bear, and echoes the inscription on the outer wall. Between the peaks and the stones, the road is full of twists and turns. Along the road, Pinus bungeana, pomegranate, myrtle and Euonymus japonicus are arranged, and flowers are planted in scattered places, so it is natural to have a good effect. The wall is hidden among the trees, and the trees inside and outside the wall complement each other, showing a vivid picture of "embracing green".

Yuejiaxuan

On the west side of the pavilion, there is a Xuan. The north and south of the Xuan are connected by Xiaoxuan. The whole shape of the pavilion is like a boat. Therefore, the sentence meaning of "peak in Yuejia" in shuijingzhu is called Yuejia Xuan. This is the third floor landscape. There is a couplet written by Lu Runyang, the number one scholar in Suzhou, which says: "when the spring is clear, the spring is turbid; when Lu lives in a house, the water lives in a boat. The first couplet is about Han Han spring, which is natural and lovely from the clear and turbid points, while the second couplet is about Han Han spring, which is natural and lovely from the clear and turbid points, and the second couplet is about Yue Jia Xuan, which looks like a house but not a house, a boat but not a boat, whether it is on land or in water. The couplets are popular and witty. The stone tablet of Qian Daxin's official script "haiyongfeng" in the first year of Jiaqing (1796 A.D.) is embedded in the inner wall of the pavilion. The calligraphy style is simple and elegant, worthy of your hand. Guangxu 13 years (AD 1887), the monument was found in the foot of Huqiu mountain built in this.

Linglan jingshe

From yuejiaxuan up to the fourth floor garden view. At this time, the main building of huiyongcui villa was Linglan jingshe. "Linglan" is "meiquan", which means Hanhan spring of course. There was a couplet written by Hong Jun in xuannei, which said: if you want to go back to the bottom of Mount Shishi, you will not only be able to use the magic power of Ganquan; if you want to make a new life for Hufu, you can see the picturesque mountains and wash the noise by robbing fire. The first couplet tells three stories about Huqiu, the story of the lion looking back at Huqiu, the story of Shenggong, the story of stubborn stone nodding his head, and the story of hanhanquan, which are both empty and real. The second couplet describes the unique natural landscape of Yongcui villa, which sets off the superior position of the villa. On the east side of Linglan jingshe, there is a platform protruding from the garden wall, surrounded by a low fence of bluestone, which is simple in shape. You can not only look at the foot of Huqiu mountain, but also look up at the ancient pagoda of Huqiu. Under the stage is the way up the mountain. Visitors come in an endless stream. It's interesting to watch the movement.

Address: Huqiu Park, Huqiu Road, Huqiu District, Suzhou

Longitude: 120.582308

Latitude: 31.322746

Tel: 0512-67232305

Chinese PinYin : Yong Cui Shan Zhuang