Location Tainan, Taiwan | Phone +886 6 390 1341 | |
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Built c. Daoguang Year 8 (1828), Qing Dynasty Address No. 30, Section 2, Minquan Rd, West Central District, Tainan City, Taiwan 700 Hours Open today · 8AM–8PMSaturday8AM–8PMSunday8AM–8PMMonday8AM–8PMTuesday8AM–8PMWednesday8AM–8PMThursday8AM–8PMFriday8AM–8PMSuggest an edit Similar Former Tainan Assembly, Hayashi Department Store, Fort Provintia, Taiwan Confucian Temple, National Museum of Taiwan Li | ||
Tainan Wu Garden (Chinese: 臺南吳園; pinyin: Táinán Wú Yuán), known at the time of its creation as "Purple Spring Garden (紫春園)," is located in Zhongxi District, Tainan, Taiwan (once part of Tainan (府城)'s Pang-kiô-thâu (枋橋頭) area). Built during the reign of the Daoguang Emperor, by local gentleman Wu Shangxin (吳尚新), it is included among Wufeng Lin Family Mansion and Garden (霧峰萊園), Hsinchu Beiguo Garden (新竹北郭園), and Banqiao Lin Family Mansion and Garden (板橋林本源園邸) as the Four Great Gardens of Taiwan (台灣四大名園).
History
Wu Garden was built in the eighth or ninth year of the Daoguang Emperor (1828 or 1829). Salt magnate Wu Shangxin bought and built his estate to the north of the garden of He Bin (何斌), an interpreter during the era of Dutch rule who played a role in the fall of Fort Zeelandia, at the time also called "lâu-á lāi (樓仔內)". Because at that time, the wealth of the Wu family was considered the greatest in Fucheng, so there was a local saying "If you have the wealth of lâu-á lāi, then you don't have the lâu-á lāi estate; If you have the lâu-á lāi estate, then you don't have the wealth of lâu-á lāi 「有樓仔內的富，也無樓仔內的厝；有樓仔內的厝，也無樓仔內的富」".
It remained this way until the era of Japanese occupation, when the fortunes of the Wu family began to decline, and its property rights were confiscated by the Tainan Office (臺南廳). In Meiji 44 (1911), it constructed Former Tainan Meeting Hall along the Garden's southern edge, as well as the then-famous Four Seasons Inn (四春園旅館) on its southeastern side, the Tainan Library (臺南圖書館) in Taishō 9 (1920) on its northwestern corner , and Tainan Municipal Swimming Pool (臺南市水浴場) in Taishō 11 (1922) on its northern edge. In 1974, Four Seasons Inn, Tainan Library, and Tainan Municipal Bathhouse were sold to Far East Department Store, and is now the home of their Park Branch store.
In 1994, after the Social Education Building was moved out from the Former Tainan Meeting Hall, there was a proposal to build a commercial building on this area, but afterward the plans were scrapped and the Garden has been preserved to this day.