West Garden

 

 

The West Garden was the mansion of Zhu's Family in Xitang during the Ming Dynasty. All the things that are often seen in Chinese classical gardens in eastern China are here, such as beautiful pavilions, bizarre rockeries and pretty goldfish.

Now there are exhibition halls of Zhu Nianci (朱念慈) Fan Calligraphy, Hundred Seals and South Society Showroom. Zhu Nianci (born in Jiaxing in 1920) is a great Chinese national artist. He mastered in drawing and calligraphy written in golden ink on Chinese fans. Now Zhu Nianci Fan Calligraphy Hall displays about a hundred pieces of his Chinese fan masterwork.

The Hundred Seals Museum collects a hundred seals and patterns made to reflect the beautiful natural and humanity scenery in ancient water town Xitang by a hundred artists, who organized by the Xiling Seal Society in Hangzhou. 

The South Society's foundation was under the background of Chinese people wanting to overthrown the feudal Qing Dynasty and the heat of democratic revolution in late nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The revolutionary society was aiming to build a new and democratic China. Secretly established in Suzhou, November 1900, the South Society had about 18 members from Xitang. They wrote many patriotic articles in helping Chinese democratic development.