Huanghuazhen Labyrinth, Old Summer Palace, Beijing Xiyang Lou (literally “Western mansion(s)&r
Xiyang Lou (literally “Western mansion(s)”) are ruins of 18th-century European-style imperial buildings on the grounds of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. The Xiyang Lou were commissioned by the Qianlong Emperor and designed mainly by the Italian Jesuit Giuseppe Castiglione who was in his service as a court painter. Castiglione relied on the French Jesuit scientist Michel Benoist for the engineering tasks, in particular for the fountains, which were the chief interest of the emperor. Construction was carried out by Chinese craftsmen working under their supervision.
Planning of the gardens started in 1747 and four years later in 1751, the first waterworks were completed. Other milestones were the building of a large labyrinth in the years 1756 to 1759 and an observatory which was added in 1783.
Like the rest of the Old Summer Palace, the Xiyang Lou was destroyed in a fire laid by the Anglo-French allied forces in 1860 during the Second Opium War. However, since the masonry work was not consumed by the fire, significant ruins of many of the buildings can still be found on the site.
Some conservation work on the site was carried out between 1977 and 1992. The Huanghuazhen labyrinth was rebuilt during this time.
Huanghuazhen (literally “yellow-flower maze”) is a maze formed of 1.2 metre-high embossed-brick walls covering an area of 89 by 59 metres. The total length of the walls is 1.6 kilometres. In its centre sits a European-style circular pavilion. The emperor is said to have sat in this pavilion to watch his concubines competing in a race with yellow lanterns through the labyrinth on the occasion of the Mid-Autumn Festival.
It is tragic that the Old Summer Palace met its demise so brutally at the hands of Europeans. Visiting the gardens is a sombre experience. The ruins of the Western Mansions alone, although now pathetic, well-trodden and worn by swarms of tourists without any understanding of what they are visiting, conjures up visions of grandeur difficult to comprehend, and completely out of place in the sweeping traditional Chinese architecture which once surrounded them. I advise doing some research in advance to get your bearings and apply some educated imagination on such a visit to get a feel for what once had been.
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Beijing, China
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