Objective  As one of the main types of classical Chinese gardens, government office gardens are usually built by government officials with their personal preferences, such as the Hu Garden in Governor-General’s Yamun in Canton in Late Qing Dynasty. Chang Shan (1829–1889) served as Tartar General of Canton in 1869 and subsequently built a Hu Garden as part of his residence. Chang Shan visited many gardens throughout his life and accumulated rich garden residence and garden tour experience, gradually forming his preference for traditional classical gardens, which contributed to his construction of the Hu Garden in his later life. The Hu Garden is centered on a pond, around which intricate stone scenery and many buildings, trees and flowers similar to those of the early Chishang Thatched Cottage are arranged. The Hu Garden inherits the typical style of traditional Chinese classical gardens in terms of gardening technique and is quite representative of the government office gardens in Canton and even in Lingnan area. Although some of the government office spaces were forcibly occupied by the British as consular offices after the Second Opium War, the site of the Hu Garden was still visited by many Chinese and Westerners in the mid-to-late 19th century, leaving behind precious historical materials, including the Scroll of Governor-General’s Yamun in Canton in Late Qing Dynasty, and the earlier images taken by William Floyd, John Thomson, and Afong, which makes it possible to review the spatial pattern of the Hu Garden and provides the basis for a deeper understanding of the garden’s construction ideology.

Methods  The rich garden residence and garden tour experience of government officials is crucial to the trace of the interest of government office gardens. However, at present, the scholars on government office gardens mostly focus on the discussion of their gardening concepts and relationship with urban space, and the research on their gardening elements, characteristics and heritage conservation, while seldom analyzing the source of their creation knowledge from the perspective of officials, thus hindering our in-depth understanding of the artistic connotation of government office gardens. In addition, due to the difficulty of finding relevant historical materials, there are only a few research findings about the Governor-General’s Yamun in Canton in Late Qing Dynasty, resulting in our limited understanding of the government office gardens in Canton. In view of this, this research reviews Chang Shan’s book titled Poems Written in Zhiyin Room (pronounced as “Zhiyinshishicun” in Chinese), traces his early garden life, discusses the spatial pattern of the Governor-General’s Yamun, and further recovers the layout plan of the Hu Garden. Besides, the research also analyzes the characteristics of the Hu Garden and sorts out activities ever taking place in this garden.

Results  The spatial pattern of the Governor-General’s Yamun is based on the “office” space in the central part and the “living” space in the west. The establishment of the Hu Garden undertakes the function of feasting and recreation, reflects Chang Shan’s consideration of closely linking “garden” space with the two functions of “administration” and “residence”. In the Hu Garden, Chang Shan integrated mountains and rocks, water and trees as well as pavilions into one, skillfully penetrating the miniature nature of the imagery of “Heaven and Earth in a Pot” and the imagination of embracing all things. The layout of “Heaven and Earth in a Pot” reflects the way that Chang Shan followed the traditional gardening method, and also shows the high-level gardening technique of Chang Shan. The functions of leisure and relaxation, educating relatives, and holding activities constitute the three levels of Chang Shan’s garden life. The social activities in the garden are diversified, and this diversification represents the transformation of the target audience from individuals to the public. This is a strong reflection of Chang Shan’s gentlemanly ideology of “happiness with people”. Although the Hu Garden was mainly used by local officials and gentries, the visits of westerners to the garden also shows Chan Shan’s openness to the world.

Conclusion  The construction of Hu Garden in Governor-General’s Yamun in Canton in Late Qing Dynasty presents a different technical line from the Thirteen Hongs Merchants’ gardens during the same period. Due to the early trade between China and the West, the prosperity of garden construction in Canton in late Qing Dynasty promoted the collision and intermingling between the East and the West in terms of of garden arts, and also promoted the emergence of new garden forms such as Thirteen Hongs Merchants’ gardens and public gardens. Supported by the knowledge system of traditional Chinese classical gardens, the construction of the Hu Garden reflects the typical characteristics of traditional Chinese classical gardens, which means using a highly sophisticated spatial model to respond to the spatial needs of garden owners. Chang Shan adopted the layout pattern of “Heaven and Earth in a Pot” to create a “pot-like” wonderland while implying a sense of helplessness and avoidance of the military regime. Unlike the earlier government office gardens, which were mainly for self-enjoyment, the service targets and functions of the Hu Garden are diversified. It not only served Chang Shan himself, but also treated Westerners from time to time. With the records of Chinese and Western painters and photographers, the images of the Governor-General’s Yamun in Canton and it’s Hu Garden in Late Qing Dynasty have been widely disseminated as public visual products. In a sense, through image dissemination, the Hu Garden completes its historical positioning in the modern transformation process of Lingnan gardens in late Qing Dynasty.