Ke Yuan
Encyclopedia
Keyuan located at Boxia (博厦), Guancheng District, West Dongguan
city, is one of the Four Great Gardens of Guangdong
in China. Ke Yuan represents the Lingnan
garden architecture.
Keyuan was built during the Qing Dynasty
by Zhang Jingxiu. Construction started in 1850 and was finished by 1858. After that, Keyuan has been expanded and reconstructed a few times.
Zhang Jingxiu was first and second assigned as Anchashi (按察使) of the Guangxi
and Jiangxi
provinces by a Qing dynasty emperor. (A Qing officer rank which corresponds to a vice governor nowadays.) After he retired and returned to his home town Dongguan he lived in Keyuan.
Zhang was good at and fond of Chinese writing, painting, chess, poetry, antiquing, stone collecting, etc. He invited friends, poets, scholars and painters to gather in Keyuan. And that’s how Keyuan became one of the origins of Guangdong culture.
Compared with the other three gardens, the significance of Ke Yuan is far beyond just being a private own garden. Keyuan could be considered the origin of Lingnan culture
, for example, the famous lingnan
style painting (a major branch of Chinese painting) was originated in Keyuan.
Dongguan
Dongguan is a prefecture-level city in central Guangdong province, People's Republic of China.An important industrial city located in the Pearl River Delta, Dongguan borders the provincial capital of Guangzhou to the north, Huizhou to the northeast, Shenzhen to the south, and the Pearl River to...
city, is one of the Four Great Gardens of Guangdong
Guangdong
Guangdong is a province on the South China Sea coast of the People's Republic of China. The province was previously often written with the alternative English name Kwangtung Province...
in China. Ke Yuan represents the Lingnan
Lingnan
Lingnan is a geographic area referring to lands in the south of China's "Five Ranges" which are Tayu, Qitian, Dupang, Mengzhu, Yuecheng. The region covers the Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of modern China and northern Vietnam...
garden architecture.
Keyuan was built during the Qing Dynasty
Qing Dynasty
The Qing Dynasty was the last dynasty of China, ruling from 1644 to 1912 with a brief, abortive restoration in 1917. It was preceded by the Ming Dynasty and followed by the Republic of China....
by Zhang Jingxiu. Construction started in 1850 and was finished by 1858. After that, Keyuan has been expanded and reconstructed a few times.
Zhang Jingxiu was first and second assigned as Anchashi (按察使) of the Guangxi
Guangxi
Guangxi, formerly romanized Kwangsi, is a province of southern China along its border with Vietnam. In 1958, it became the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of the People's Republic of China, a region with special privileges created specifically for the Zhuang people.Guangxi's location, in...
and Jiangxi
Jiangxi
' is a southern province in the People's Republic of China. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze River in the north into hillier areas in the south, it shares a border with Anhui to the north, Zhejiang to the northeast, Fujian to the east, Guangdong to the south, Hunan to the west, and Hubei to...
provinces by a Qing dynasty emperor. (A Qing officer rank which corresponds to a vice governor nowadays.) After he retired and returned to his home town Dongguan he lived in Keyuan.
Zhang was good at and fond of Chinese writing, painting, chess, poetry, antiquing, stone collecting, etc. He invited friends, poets, scholars and painters to gather in Keyuan. And that’s how Keyuan became one of the origins of Guangdong culture.
Compared with the other three gardens, the significance of Ke Yuan is far beyond just being a private own garden. Keyuan could be considered the origin of Lingnan culture
Lingnan culture
Lingnan culture refers to the culture of Guangdong and the nearby provinces in southeastern China, consists of Cantonese culture, and Teochew culture,Hakka culture. It is the subject of research at institutions such as the Center for Lingnan Culture...
, for example, the famous lingnan
Lingnan
Lingnan is a geographic area referring to lands in the south of China's "Five Ranges" which are Tayu, Qitian, Dupang, Mengzhu, Yuecheng. The region covers the Guangdong, Guangxi, Hunan and Jiangxi provinces of modern China and northern Vietnam...
style painting (a major branch of Chinese painting) was originated in Keyuan.