网师园 - The Master-of-Nets Garden

Nestled into the southeastern corner of Suzhou, the Master-of-Nets Garden (网师园) is quite small compared to the other classical gardens at only 0.6 Hectares (or 1 1/2 acres). A garden known as the Fisherman's Retreat was originally built on the property in 1140 A.D. during the Southern Song Dynasty. The current garden was constructed over 200 years ago during the Qing Dynasty by a retired government official who borrowed the fisherman theme from the earlier garden and named the new creation the Master-of-Nets Garden.



Though quite small, the Master-of-Nets Garden is known for its mastery of design principles such as depth, scale and relative dimension, and "borrowed scenery." The last concept is when a smaller space is made to feel larger by "borrowing" the view sheds (trees, mountains, architectural features, etc.) of neighboring properties in order to deceive the mind into believing the property continues into the borrowed spaces. This concept exists today as a testament to the foresight and planning of the Suzhou officials, since the planners early-on banned the construction of new, modern buildings in the old city areas. Thus, a new portion of the city outside the traditional city wall has been developed with modern skyscrapers and office buildings, while the traditional view sheds in the old city have remained intact and uncompromised. Compare this with the views of Liang's Garden in Foshan in which modern highrises can be seen eclipsing the traditional views of the historic garden.