Research On The Merchant Gardens In The Qing Dynast

In the early and middle Qing Dynasty,Guangdong developed economically and commercial agriculture.Besides,after 1757,Guangzhou became the main trade port between China and the West,Hong merchants accumulated a lot of wealth in foreign trade.In Guangzhou and its suburbs,the caravan groups have purchased house land and built gardens,forming a unique caravan garden landscape.There are plenty of academic achievements on the study of the gardens of Hong merchant,but few people pay attention to the systematic study of the gardens of Hong merchant.This paper attempts to make an analysis of the distribution,development and function of the garden by using the relevant historical materials recorded in the local Chronicles,the poems of the merchants’ families and the travelogues of foreigners.On the basis of clarifying the concept of gardens of Hong merchant,this paper explores the differences between gardens of Hong merchant and other Lingnan gardens,and finds that gardens of Hong merchant are mainly distributed in Henan,Huadi,Liwan and Xiguan areas of Guangzhou through sorting out the main merchant gardens.These areas are located in the suburbs of Guangzhou,either as the gathering place of rich and wealthy people in Guangzhou at that time,or because of their beautiful scenery,they are favored by merchants and built here.Among gardens of Hong merchant,the Lei garden built by the Yan family of Taihe has always been little known,so the Lei Garden is included in the research scope and elaborated in detail.Hong merchants pay attention to practical benefits.Under the influence of Chinese and Western artistic concepts,Hong merchants’ gardens give consideration to practicality and aesthetics,and have functions of life,education,tourism,printing and external communication.In order to improve the social status of the family,the merchants invited many scholars to educate the family members.In the long-term communication,the merchants’ children formed a relationship with the scholars as teachers and friends.Therefore,the Hong merchants’ family had a closer relationship with the local scholars,and the social status of the family was improved accordingly.On the other hand,traders are the specialized organizations responsible for foreign trade under official control.Traders are closely connected with foreign businessmen,so the gardens of Hong merchant have become the main sightseeing places for restricted foreign groups in Guangzhou.Traders take this opportunity to hold a banquet and invite their partners to visit the gardens to further strengthen their business ties.Before and after the Opium War,the merchant’s garden played an important place of negotiation between China and foreign countries.Chinese and foreign officials conducted diplomatic negotiations in the garden.However,with the development of treaty ports,Hong merchants lost their dominant position and lacked financial resources to support garden construction.Most of the gardens built by merchants were lost to their native land and eventually disappeared.Through export paintings and travel notes,diaries and letters written by foreigners,gardens of Hong merchant were spread overseas,which had a certain influence on the art theory and architecture of European gardens and promoted the transformation of European gardens from artificial regularity to natural simplicity.In the Qing Dynasty,gardens of Hong merchant gradually developed on the basis of the economic development and foreign trade in Guangdong,absorbed some western elements and formed a unique artistic style of merchant gardens.