万方安和Wanfang AnhePeace and Harmony Everywhere

What it was

万方安和 Wanfang Anhe, "Peace and Harmony Everywhere", stood north-west of 杏花春馆 Xinghua Chunguan: a building raised in the lake on the plan of the sign 卍 (S05 j81:9a; E1447). It was built by 1727 (S361 v2 p.117; E1451; S310 rec. 7980). Each arm of the 卍 held named rooms; the main room, sunny and facing south, was at the south-east (S05 j81:10a-12a; E1442). Qianlong says his father liked to live here, warm in winter and cool in summer (S40; E1441). Malone: on a brick and stone foundation, entirely surrounded by water, with a much smaller cross-plan building at the south end of the lake (S02 p.81; E1450). 平安院 Ping'an Yuan lay north-east across a bridge, and a large double-eaved cross-shaped pavilion stood on the south shore (S361; E1451). It was lost when British troops burned the gardens on 18-19 October 1860 (E0485).

The leaf of 1744, its poem and preface

Leaf 13 of the 1744 album (P0013). Qianlong's preface: "水心架搆形作卍字畧彴相通" (built in the heart of the water in the form of 卍, joined to the shore by small plank bridges). From it one sees rare flowers on the far shore like brocade; on clear autumn nights under the moon "此百尺地寜非佛胸涌出寳光耶", these hundred feet seem the radiance from the Buddha's breast. His note says Yongzheng liked to live here, warm in winter, cool in summer (S40, printed in S05 j81:9b-10a; E1441).

How it changed before 1860

In 1764 Qianlong wrote nine poems on the four-character plaques, all in Yongzheng's hand, and his preface says the gallery runs round every side and each turn gives a different view (S05 j81:10a-12a; E1442). The 日下旧闻考 note reads the plaques arm by arm (S05 j81:9a-9b; E1447), which places each room on its arm: south main room 万方安和; east-west inner rooms 对溪山, 佳气迎人; centre 四方宁静; west 观妙音, 枕流漱石, 洞天深处; east 安然, 一炉香, 碧溪一带, 山水清音; north 涤尘心, 神洲三岛, 高山流水, all in Yongzheng's hand; on the west wing of the south arm 凝神, 静寄, and on the east 澄观, in Qianlong's hand. 端木泓 Duanmu Hong, in an article seen only as an abstract, reads the whole as a Buddhist cosmic diagram, with the 十字亭 and the long hall of 山高水长 as answering strokes (S357; E1453): an interpretation, not evidence.

The one plan found is 样053-1-2, 万方安和地盘全样 (NLC, 1650x744 mm, ink, light colour, red and yellow slips, paste-overs, presentation sheet, 乾嘉时期; E1456; S310 rec. 7980): earlier than 1860 by decades. The Palace Museum card model (烫样) of 万方安和殿, shown in Hong Kong in 2024, is reported to be of the Tongzhi repair (S326, search extract; S261; S920): a design of 1873-74, not the hall of 1860. The mhymy record calls the building 万字房 and says it stood by 雍正五年 (1727) (S310 rec. 7980).

Inside

Centre couplet (Qianlong): "四海昇平承帝眷 萬幾兢業亮天工" (S05 j81:9b; E1447). The poems give room features: the centre room square with galleries on all four sides ("四面尽通廊，中间正且方", E1462); the north room 神洲三岛 has a loft inside ("室中亦有楼", E1466); 高山流水 has a spring led in and rocks piled ("疏泉还叠石", E1467); 碧溪一带 looks east down a long stream with mist entering the low windows (E1463). 佳气迎人 is reached turning west then north to the middle ("向西旋转北，步近室之中", E1460).

The garden around it

Built in open water, joined to the shores by plank bridges (E1441); a brick and stone base (S02 p.81; E1450). Reed islets and willow dykes in the poems ("秋月芦花渚，春风柳线隄", E1463). Flowers on the far bank (E1441). A cross-shaped pavilion on the south shore (E1450, E1451).

P0013 shows the swastika building in the lake on high white stone bases with ochre inset panels and steps to the water, grey 歇山 roofs on each wing, red-brown columns, a white arched bridge at its east end and timber bridges with red railings elsewhere; a cross-plan pavilion with a gilt finial stands on the south-west shore. The 卍 plan is only partly legible from this angle; the woodcut P0096 shows how the wings meet. Autumn trees. (S08 P0013, crop ym13_c1; S76 P0096)

What survives

The cross-shaped 卍 platform stands in its pond, restored: its arms are paved terraces with stone edges at one level, with channels between them (P0381). A dig of 2003 found the original stone trough of the 响水 'sounding water' cascade on the west shore, where a Yangshi Lei drawing writes 响水; the cascade was repaired and set running again, smaller than the drawing shows (S944).