Yu Building stands on the south side of Solitary Hill. Near the Liuyi Spring, the building and the garden is the former residence of Yu Yue, a great master scholar in Qing Dynasty.
The garden used to be a prototype of Chinese traditional gardening art.
There used to be rockworks imitating craggy peaks, a pavilion connected with verandas, a tiny pond crystal clear, and dotted with many flowers and trees. The garden used to be known for its quietness and elegance as an academic institution.
Yu Yue (1821-1907), alias Yu Quyuan in the literature world, was born in Deqing County of Zhejiang Province. In 1877 when Yu was serving as the master teacher at Solitary Academy for the 10th year, his students raised funds to build their teacher a house. With a generous donation from Peng Yuling, an old friend of Yu Yue, the Yu Building was finished in 1879.
Yu Yue wrote a couplet in memory of this event. “The eminent people and scholars have this house built for me, I don't have to wait 500 years; this house is near the hill and at the bank of West Lake, and it happened to be near the Liuyi Spring. How wonderful!”
Yu Pingbo, a great-grandson of Yu Quyuan was also a writer. The night of June 18th on West Lake, his famous prose, described his experiences at Yu Building. The Yu Building was rebuilt in 1998 and named as Yu Quyuan Memorial.
Yu Quyuan Memorial has plentiful written materials, pictures and material objects on display, depicting the whole life experience of Yu Yue, his academic achievements and cultural heritages and influences, and his contributions to West Lake. |
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