The shift from private gardens to urban public landscape

Xiao Garden, a famous garden of Yangzhou in 18th century, was originally a nursery for Chinese herbaceous peony that had been famous since 10th century. The land of the nursery was bought by Chen Meng-xing, a secluded member of Imperial Academy in 1716. Chen transformed the nursery into a private garden for clan use. The private garden was then turned into one of the three famous places for literati´ gathering in Yangzhou. In the middle of 18th century, the name of Xiao Garden was changed to ‘Xiao-yuan-hua-rui’. During that time, the garden was a key place along the landscape between Hong Bridge and Ping-shan Hall. The change of Xiao Garden from an economic nursery to an aesthetic private garden, such a process appears ubiquitous in the transformation of gardens of Jiang-nan. The rapid change from a private garden for clan to a scenic spot opening to city residents, however, occurred only in Yang-zhou of the middle of 18th century. How was a private garden built, transformed and integrated? What was transformed in its spatial structure? Whether the historical changes to Xiao Garden present any rules? Yet, the historical Xiao Garden no longer exists. This article integrates historical texts and pictorial records to represent the spatial structure of Xiao Garden in different periods. It hopes to identify the inherent rules of landscaping activities that transformed Xiao Garden.