Lion Grove Garden
The Lion Grove Garden is one of Suzhou’s four most famous gardens. It is the most unique traditional Chinese garden in Suzhou. The garden is famous for its rockery labyrinth constructed from taihu stones. A number of stones are naturally shaped like lions and it is this that gave the garden its name.
China had many famous rock gardens and the Lion Grove Garden is the only one that has survived. The garden occupies an area of over 10,000 square meters and was built in 1342, during the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) by Buddhist Monk Wen Tianru. He built the garden in memory of his teacher. When it was built, the garden was part of a Buddhist Monastery. The lion-shaped stones were chose because they symbolize the Lion Peak of Tianmu Mountain, where his mentor Abbot Zhongfeng attained Nirvana. When the garden was built, it occupied an ara of 6,670 square meters and was decorated with rocks and bamboo groves. After Wen Tianru died, the garden fell into decay until 1589, when another Buddhist Monk, Mingxing, rebuilt the garden. It was at this time that the garden was separated from the monastery. The local magistrate bought the garden and in 1771 and renamed it She Garden. His son, Huang Xi rebuilt the garden and then renamed it the Five-Pine Garden. The garden then again fell into decayuntil, when in 1917, the garden was purchased by Bei Runsheng who restored the garden and changed its name back to the Lion Grove Garden. In 1949, his descendents donated the garden to the country and it was open to the public in 1954. The garden’s unique design attracted many famous visitors, including the Emperors Kangxi and Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. The Emperor Qianlong was so impressed with the garden that he visited it 6 times and personally inscribed a tablet as a gift to the garden. The tablet is hung in True Delight Pavilion which was built over the garden’s pond.
The garden is split into two main sections, the residential area and the garden. The garden main feature is the labyrinthine rockery maze. The maze was so ingeniously created that it is surprisingly easy to get lost in it. The maze occupies an area of 1154 square meters and has 9 paths which wind through 21 caves and many levels. The grotto has a two storey pavilion in the center where people could sit and watch people try to figure their way out of it. The garden exits on the gardens main pond. Although the garden has fewer pavilions than most of Suzhou’s famous gardens, each one is beautifully ornamental and is a work of art.
