Keyuan

Keyuan(simplified Chinese:Đông hoàn khả viên;traditional Chinese:Đông hoàn khả viên;pinyin:Dōngguǎn kěyuán;Jyutping:Dung¹gun²Ho²jyun²;lit.'Dongguan Ke Garden'), located atBoxia(Bác hạ),Guancheng District,WestDongguancity, is one of the Four Great Gardens ofGuangdongin China. Ke Yuan represents theLingnangarden architecture.

Keyuan was built during theQing Dynastyby Zhang Jingxiu.^[1]Construction was completed in 1850.^[1]After that, Keyuan has been expanded and reconstructed a few times.

Zhang Jingxiu was first and second assigned as Anchashi (Án sát sử) of theGuangxiandJiangxiprovinces by a Qing dynasty emperor. (A Qing officer rank which corresponds to a vice governor nowadays.) After he retired and returned to his home town Dongguan he lived in Keyuan. Zhang was good at and fond of Chinese writing, painting, chess, poetry, antiquing, stone collecting, etc. He invited friends, poets, scholars and painters to gather in Keyuan. And that's how Keyuan became one of the origins of Guangdong culture.

Compared with the other three gardens, the significance of Ke Yuan is far beyond just being a private own garden. Keyuan could be considered the origin ofLingnan culture,for example, the famouslingnanstyle painting (a major branch of Chinese painting) was originated in Keyuan.