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Reconstruction of the Masterplan of Jinmingchi Garden Shevchenko

300 steps equal to 1 li) equivalent to 4,245 m. away from the earth’s surface. The soil below
According to Liu Yingchun’s (刘春迎) book, the street was hard and layered [14] , and in all
the perimeter of the pond was 4,560 m [14] , but probabilities, it was the street between Baojin
in Li Hequn’s (李合群) book, the perimeter Tower and Xian Bridge depicted in the
was 4,940 m [10] . Therefore, Liu’s supposition painting of Jinmingchi Zhengbiao Tu. A
of perimeter was more accurate, which comparative analysis on the data from
indirectly proved the pond was in a different sources was needed to reconstruct
rectangular shape, with the length of 1,240 m the masterplan of Jinmingchi.
and the width of 1,020 m. The depth of the For determining the scale and
pond from the bottom to the sea level was dimensions of Jinmingchi, first of all, it was
about 12.5‒13.5 m, including a layer of essential to locate the original pond on the
sludge with its thickness of around 0.4‒0.7 m. map of modern Kaifeng city. Documentary
The layer of sludge consisted of oyster shells, records indicate Jinmingchi was opposite to
fragments of porcelain, putrid grass, and blue Qionglin Garden, in the west of the outer city
bricks. In the Northern Song dynasty, the wall. The location was marked clearly on the
pond depth from the bottom to the bank was map of Bianjing in the Song era [Figure 2A].
3‒4 m, with no stone pavement along the In Liu Yingchun’s book, a sketch map of the
bank detected, probably due to the destruction location of Jinmingchi marks the boundaries
after abandonment. Many blue bricks were of Jinminchi found in 1993[Figure 2B].
found in the center of the pond, 10 m away Evidently, the pond covered a large area,
from today’s earth's surface. The covered area equivalent to several blocks in modern cites.
was roughly 400 sqm, but no ruin of building Figure 3 shows the boundaries of Jinmingchi
foundations was found. The color of soil in and the inner-city wall of Bianjing in the Song
the center of the pond was more yellow than dynasty in a satellite image of Kaifeng,
the adjacent area, presenting the differences indicating the huge scale of the imperial
in texture with the surrounding soil, which garden, and it is no wonder that the pond
could be the evidence for the location of the could be used for dragon-boat racing.
Five Halls and the central island [14] . Nevertheless, in the painting Jinmingchi
After excavation, an ancient riverbed Zhengbiao Tu, the buildings rather than the
with a width of 11 m and an depth of 12 m pond occupy most of the garden land. The
was found from the north of the pond. Based painter intended to change the area ratio to
on the location, it can be inferred that the highlight the beauty and importance of the
riverbed used to be Bian River in the Northern imperial garden. A comparison was made
Song dynasty. From July to August 1996, between the sketch map of the location of
hydraulic drilling machine was used for the Jinmingchi and the masterplans of two
archaeological survey, and ruins of building, imperial gardens in Beijing at the same scale
inferred to be the foundations of the [Figure 4], for the purpose of highlighting the
Waterfront Hall, were found in the south bank scale of the pond.
of the pond. The Hall was abandoned after the The comparative study has proved that
destruction of the Garden. The length, width, the width of Jinmingchi is approximately
and height of the foundation was 20 m, 15 m, equal to the perimeter of Beihai Lake (北海)
and 9 m respectively [14] . Fragments of in Beijing, longer than the distance from the
porcelain, putrid wood, and marl were found well-known Seventeen-Arch Bridge (十七孔
in the foundation. In addition, marks of the 桥) to the north bank of Kunming Lake (昆明
street described in literatures, separating 湖) in the Summer Palace (颐和园). In reality,
Jinminchi and Qionglin Garden, were also looked from the Seventeen-Arch Bridge, the
found in a location opposite to the city gate in 60m-high Pavilion of the Fragrance of
the southwest corner of Shuntianmen. Buddha ( 佛 香 阁 ) in the north bank of
Through the field survey, it was discovered Kunming Lake does not show its grandness.
that the width of the street was 20 m, 7.5 m

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