Retreat & Reflection Garden
| Classical Gardens of Suzhou | |
|---|---|
| Name as inscribed on the World Heritage List | |
 |
|
| Location |
 China
|
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | i, ii, iii, iv, v |
| Reference | 813 |
| UNESCO region | Asia-Pacific |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 1997 (21st Session) |
| Extensions | 2000 |
The Retreat & Reflection Garden (Chinese: 退思园; pinyin: Tuìsī Yuán; Suzhou Wu: The sy yoe, IPA: [tʰe̞ sz̩ ɦyø]) is a notable classical garden in China. It is located in Tongli, Wujiang, Jiangsu, China. In 2001, it was recognized with other classical Suzhou gardens as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The garden was built in 1885 by Ren Lansheng, an imperial official working in Anhui province who was impeached. The name of the garden comes from a verse by Zho Zhuan in Zhuo Qiuming's Chronicles, "Lin Fu really is a gentleman when he forwards proposals, he shows loyalty to his country, when he retreats he reflects and mends his ways". The garden was designed by Yuan Long (袁龙), a painter of the Wumen school.
The 6,600 square metres (71,000 sq ft) garden is divided into an eastern residential area, a western main garden court with two minor courtyards attached to it. The design of this garden is innovative in that is uses an east–west axis as the main axis as opposed to the traditional north–south axis. The layout of buildings around the pool in the main courtyard uses the near-the-water style of placing the buildings back from the waters edge and keeping the water level high. This part of the garden is named: "The Garden Floating on Water."
A tower attached to the wall of the East Garden, without a first level. It is hexagonal and has a roofline with flying eves tapering to a single point.
Entry Gate on street in Tongli
Entry Hall and courtyard
A six bay hall with full gable roofline and portico facing into Reception Courtyard. The hall is sited opposite the Lasting Spring and Moon Viewing Tower.
A boat hall opposite the Leisure Snatching Round Gate used for music performances. It has a front portico with hipped gable roofline and flying eves.
A two story six bay structure with front portico facing into the Reception Courtyard on both levels and a roofline. This building has stairs which access the Tower of Gathering Beauty.
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