Prince Gong’s Residence and Gardens

Located at Qianhai Xijie in Xicheng District,Prince Gong’s Residence consists of two parts the living quarters and the garden.
The living quarters, containing an area of 46.5 mu, are laid out in three rowseast middle and west--of many quadrangle courtyards. At the end of the living quarters stands a two-storey building with a ridge beam that stretches 160 meters long.

Behind the building lies the garden that contains 38.6 mu of land. The buildings in the garden also lie along three rows, east, central, and west. Scattering around the residence are rockeries,windingcorridor,pavilion,ponds,flowers and trees.

Prince Gong’s Residence and Gardens

As Prince Gong’s Residence and garden were designed magnificently, they were believed to be the prototype of Rongguo Mansion and the Grand View Garden in the famous novel A Dream of the Red Mansions.

Emperor Jiaqing of the Qing Dynasty raised the status of Heshen’s residence to that of a prince’s,and bestowed it to Yonglin or Prince Qing. In the early years of Emperor Xianfeng, Prince Gong Yixin began to have his own home, and this was bestowed to Prince Gong as his residence.

In the period of the Republic of China, Prince Gong’s Residence, together with its garden, was mortgaged by the broth-ers of Pu Wei and Pu Ru (noted painter Pu Xinyu) to Xishiku Church in the 1920s. After 1932, the residence began to be owned by Furen University,which finally took hold of the residence and used it as the dormitory of girl students and Sifeng Library.