The opening ceremony of the Chinese History Museum of Private Gardens was held at the Songzhuang Art Zone in Beijing on 14th November. Yang Hongxun, President of the Chinese Society of Architectural History and the Zhao Meirong, Vice Dean of the Graduate School of Tianjin University launched theopeningceremony. Song Kun, the Vice President of the School of Architecture presided over the opening ceremony. Yang Hongxun personally inscribed the name of the museum and he hoped that it would become a base for popularizing traditional Chinese gardening cultures.
As the first museum that portrays the history of private gardens, the Chinese History Museum of Private Gardens is currently the smallest garden and may continue to be so in the future. It is also the first private garden that is located in the suburbs. It presents the results of endless research on garden theories and its history, and has become another practical base for Tianjin University that is used for teaching.
The exhibits of the history of the Chinese private gardens are on display throughout the year. There are five themes in the museum such as the gardens of eminent people, architecture of ancient gardens, ancient books and records of garden making, and garden characters.
Under the guidance of Professor Liu Tingfeng and the contribution by his hardworking students, the“Yi Mu Yuan” was completed in seven years. It has now become a great product for teaching and scientific research. It is another masterpiece of Liu Tingfeng; the other being Liu Tingfenghis Butterfly Garden which won a prize at the Hampton Court Gardening Exhibitions in 2005. One Mu Garden was designed according to traditional gardening styles of both an artificial and a literati garden. The size of the garden is an acre and the tourist route covers 200 meters. Walking along the secluded path people can see the pavilions, white walls, black roof-tiles, and delicate bridges over flowing waters set in a poetic atmosphere.
Specialists and scholars from various fields participated in the ceremony. Guests were leaders and experts from the British Embassy in China, China PLA General Political Department, State Administration of Cultural Heritage, and Chinese Garden Museum, Tianjin University, Beijing Forestry University, the China Central Academy of Fine Arts, and postgraduate and doctoral students from Tianjin University also attended.
