LITMIR.BIZ

Figure 18. Painting of the Singing Crane Garden (Ming He Yuan) executed for the author by Jiao Xiong, former archivist at the Bureau of Antiquities, in 1998. (1) Main entrance to Singing Crane Garden—close to the entrance of residence 75, home of Wang Yao. (2) Marble bridge leading to inner gate of Singing Crane Garden, most likely moved to the other side of the moat in front of Residence Number 75. (3) Studio for Rethinking One’s Career (Tui Sheng Zhai), also the site of the western wall of the library/sitting room of Wang Yao. (4) Pavilion of Winged Eaves (Yi Ran Ting) first celebrated in an eighteenth-century poem by the Qianlong emperor, later glimpsed with longing by intellectuals imprisoned in the “ox pens” of the Cultural Revolution (1966–69). (5) Secondary entrance to the Ming He Yuan, currently the site of residence 79, several doors down from the more elaborate entrance to the former home of Wang Yao. (6) The Hall of Azure Purity (Cheng Bi Tang)—this was the main center for entertainment (opera, poetry recitals, musical performances with singing girls, and so on) of the Singing Crane Garden. (7) Crane’s Nest (He Chao) courtyard for housing cranes and the gamekeeper of the Singing Crane Garden. (8) Garden of Delight in Spring (Chun Xi Yuan)—a courtyard designed for savoring early blossoms in the Ming He Yuan. (9) Flourishing Deer Island (Fu Lu Dao)—one of the most remote corners of the Singing Crane Garden designed to symbolize the owner’s hopes for longevity and prosperity.

      The centerpiece of Mianyu’s garden, in the eyes of most guests, was Cheng Bi Tang. With its triple roof, this was an impressive structure that housed a well-designed stage surrounded by five magnificently carved columns. An outspoken critic of the elite’s indulgence in Peking opera (and the sexual favors of theater entertainers), Mianyu nonetheless displayed the cultured taste of an educated gentleman. It was in this part of the garden that he hosted lavish banquets, family ceremonies, poetry-writing feasts attended by Manchu noblemen and Confucian scholars alike. These grand events impressed upon the guests the high social status of the man who was a favored younger brother to the Daoguang emperor. The Hall of Azure Purity was thus a morally lofty name capacious enough to house Mianyu’s most physical pleasures.

      A less grandiose but nonetheless important structure was situated close to Cheng Bi Tang. This was the library “For the Cherishment of New Learning,” (Huai Xin Shu Wu).³⁶ The idea of huai xin—literally, “cleaving to the new”—might at first glance seem odd for a man who was a tireless advocate of traditional virtues. Living in a time of rapid change, however, Mianyu appreciated the value of innovation. He was well aware that the foundations of Confucian learning had been challenged by Western technological expertise. He grasped the limitation of classical learning and worked to keep his outlook fresh. The goal of this kind of learning (like that of the garden as a whole) was not novelty per se. It was to engage with fresh vision the master texts of a time-tested tradition. Upon this site, Beijing University developed its first archaeological exhibitions, before establishing the independent archaeology department currently housed in the Sackler Museum.

      “New Learning” and “Azure Purity” were not rigid, walled-in concepts on the grounds of the Ming He Yuan. They conveyed Mianyu’s fluid, earthy approach to both power and culture. Similarly, the idea of “singing cranes” was both physical and metaphorical at once. Behind the dilapidated gate to residence 79 was the Crane’s Nest (He Chao), an enclosure for Mianyu’s gamekeeper and several pairs of cranes. Mating season was an occasion when the garden and its name became one—blending public ceremonies with a symbolic appreciation of solitude and shadows.