Artistic Features of Jiangnan Gardens During the Mid-16th Century as Reflected in the Picture of a Famous Garden in Jinchang

The mid-16th century is a pivotal moment in the transformation of Jiangnan gardens during the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty. This period is characterized by a gradual weakening of the connection between garden making and agricultural economy, the emergence of social functions of private gardens, and the infiltration of social atmosphere of entertainment and extravagance into the life of literati. Based on clarifying the overall trend of the transformation of Jiangnan gardens, it is necessary to further explore specific changes in garden elements such as rockeries, water, plants, and buildings by combining them with practical examples. The residence garden of Xu Feng, a wealthy merchant from Suzhou, is representative of the newly constructed Jiangnan gardens in the mid-16th century. The scenery of this garden is depicted in Wen Zhengming’s Picture of a Famous Garden in Jinchang (“Jinchangmingyuantu”). This painting vividly reflects many garden design techniques that were popular during the Jiajing period of Ming Dynasty and provides intuitive evidence to support the argument of the transformation of Jiangnan gardens in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty. It also helps to form a clearer understanding of the typical artistic features of Jiangnan gardens in the mid-16th century.

The research method of mutual verification of literature and image is employed to reconstruct the garden depicted in the Picture of a Famous Garden in Jinchang. The first step involves correlating the visual information in the painting with documentary sources to identify the correspondence between the scenery in the painting and the descriptions in the Record of Zizhi Garden (Zizhiyuanji). The second step is to cross-verify the visual information from the Picture of a Famous Garden in Jinchang with the textual information from the Zizhi Garden in order to determine the orientation of the scenery and the overall layout of the garden. This process ultimately yields a partial plan of Xu Feng’s garden, making the visual image of this renowned Jiangnan garden from the mid-16th century more intuitive. Furthermore, by analyzing the garden elements and design techniques based on the reconstructed plan of Xu Feng’s garden, and comparing it with other Jiangnan gardens from the mid-16th century and its surrounding periods, the main trends in the transformation of Jiangnan gardens since the Jiajing period can be explored.

The Picture of a Famous Garden in Jinchang does not include the panorama of Xu Feng’s garden, and Wen Zhengming chose to depict the core area of the garden. This handscroll depicts scenic spots such as the garden gate, Five Old Men Peaks (“Wulaofeng”), teahouse, Wohong Bridge (Wohongqiao), square pool, Dongya Hall (“Dongyatang”), Taiyi Study (“Taiyizhai”), curving stream, Qianxin Railing (“Qianxinjian”), Baixue Tower (“Baixuelou”), and Qingxiang Pavilion (“Qingxiangting”) from right to left. This garden was renowned for its luxurious style and served as a place for celebrities to engage in social activities. The garden elements such as rockeries, water bodies, plants, and buildings within the garden exhibit features that are distinct from the traditional literati gardens before the mid-16th century, while also showing continuity with the peak period of garden making from the mid-16th century to the early 17th century. The Five Old Men Peaks, which rose during the Jiajing period, continued to be popular until the late Ming Dynasty. The changes in literati's livelihood were manifested in the enhancement of the aesthetic function of plants; buildings with increasing number and diverse forms were gradually replacing plants as the main scene of gardens. In addition, this handscroll shows the combination of square pool and curving stream, providing valuable visual documentation for distinguishing the differences in waterscape design during the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty.

The comparison of Xu Feng’s garden with other Jiangnan gardens from the mid-16th century and its surrounding periods reveals two major trends in the transformation of garden making since the Jiajing period: The application of standardized techniques in rock-piling and water management, and the functional shift of plants and buildings. The application of standardized techniques in rock-piling and water management reflects the gradual maturation of garden making art after the mid-16th century. It indicates that, after a long period of exploration, garden makers in the Jiangnan region gradually established a set of commonly accepted and widely used design paradigms. As a representative of the symbolic landscape-making techniques of that time, the combination of the Five Old Men Peaks and the square pond reveals the convergence of garden makers’ aesthetic concepts within a specific historical period. The functional shift of plants and buildings can be seen as a manifestation of the transformation of social trend from frugality to luxury in the mid-to-late Ming Dynasty. In the early 16th century, Jiangnan gardens were primarily used for the daily life and literary gatherings of literati, while also accommodating self-sufficient agricultural production. The development of the commodity economy highlighted the social attributes of gardens as venues for social interaction, stimulating garden owners’ attention to the aesthetic functions of their gardens. This also led to a continuous change in the criteria by which Jiangnan literati evaluated “frugality” and “luxury”.