Zen Garden, The Kingdom of Rockery: The Lion Grove Garden

Suzhou's gardens are plentiful in 'gardens' but scarce in 'groves', with the Lion Grove Garden being the only one named 'grove'. 'Grove' refers to mountain forests, and can also mean 'jungle', which is the pure land of Buddha in the human world. Suzhou's gardens have always been private gardens for the enjoyment of the wealthy and officials, but the Lion Grove Garden is a Zen forest, which attracted the arrival of emperors from two generations. Emperor Qianlong, yearning for it day and night, spent 200,000 taels of silver to replicate two Lion Grove Gardens in Beijing. The charm lies in the rockeries of the garden. But speaking of rockeries, the first thing that comes to mind is this garden, as it possesses the largest existing ancient rockery group in China. The Lion Grove Garden is located at No. 23 Yuanlin Road, in the northeast corner of the ancient city of Suzhou, and is one of the four major gardens of Suzhou. The entire architectural complex is a slightly wider rectangle from east to west, covering an area of 15 acres, which is only one-fifth of the Humble Administrator's Garden. The Lion Grove Garden is adjacent to the Humble Administrator's Garden and the Suzhou Museum, and it only takes a few minutes to walk between them. The small square hall of the Lion Grove Garden is a transparent corridor hall with a square colored glass lattice window in the center, which is a place for guests to gather, sing, and watch operas. Behind the small square hall is the Contrast Pavilion, where two half-pavilions are built opposite each other in the east and west of the courtyard, also known as the East and West Half-Pavilions. Between the two pavilions, there is a majestic stone peak with nine lions of different postures frolicking on it, hence the name Nine Lions Peak. Although it is artificially constructed, it leaves no trace and is truly a fine work. Behind the peak, there are four flower windows with themes of zither, chess, calligraphy, and painting, which are very artistic. The rockery group of the Lion Grove Garden covers an area of more than 1,100 square meters, divided into dry and water rockeries, with 9 paths and 21 cave entrances, and some rockeries are divided into three layers: upper, middle, and lower. Walking on the rockeries, you will find yourself climbing to the top of the mountain and then down to the caves, but the process of winding around the rockeries is very interesting and joyful, like playing hide and seek in a maze. Following the winding paths of the rockeries, you can enjoy the scenery of the garden, which is quite pleasant indeed. The Lion Grove Garden