[Explanation] Along the trails and steps, you can stroll among the petal-shaped lotus ponds and admire the lotus leaves.
On September 22, a reporter from the China News Agency saw at the site of the Lotus Pond of Li Hongzhang's ancestral hall in Nanjing that the repairs had been completed, and the scenery of the Lotus Pond of the year was reproduced on the principle of not changing the original state of the cultural relics.
[Explanation] Li Hongzhang Ancestral Hall is located at No. 77, Sitiao Lane, Qinhuai District, Nanjing City. It was built in the Qing Dynasty and was listed as a cultural relics protection unit in Nanjing in 1992.
In 2018, the protection and display project of Li Hongzhang's ancestral hall was officially launched. Relevant departments carried out relevant archaeological work in conjunction with the implementation of the project, and discovered a lotus pond site during archaeological exploration.
[Concurrent] Shen Yang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Architectural History and Theory, Southeast University
After the land was cleared, we began to excavate. After excavation, a house with 5 bays and a shape similar to a pond appeared. We saw some wooden stakes supporting the foundation under the pond wall. Personal judgment, although it was built relatively late, but in other ancestral halls of Li Hongzhang, there will also be ponds and lotus flowers.
[Explanation] According to Shen Yang, when the lotus pond site was discovered by archaeology, the lotus pond was in a landfill state and consisted of brick pond walls, wooden piles, pond bottom and soil from the building foundation.
There is no obvious protrusion of the pool wall, and a small amount of bricks have fallen off. It can be seen that the top of the lower wooden pile is exposed, and the soil layer at the bottom of the pool and the building foundation has no obvious collapse.
[Concurrent] Shen Yang, Deputy Director of the Institute of Architectural History and Theory, Southeast University
Because it is a redesigned steel basin, it provides a new spatial experience for people. When the pool is full of water, it can maintain a certain temperature in the microenvironment. Whether it is winter or summer, this microclimate The adjustment of the site also helps, and it is also a way to protect the site.
[Explanation] The reporter saw at the scene that a giant steel pot with the exact same shape as the lotus pond was placed in the pool against the brick wall of the site, and the lotus was planted in the steel pot.
Visitors can also walk into the lotus ponds, appreciate the lotus at close range, and watch the pond walls and wooden stakes a hundred years ago, providing the public with a new viewing experience.
[Same period] Zhang Guoxiang, a third-level researcher of the Cultural Relics Protection Office of the Nanjing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism
What we retain are the buildings from the late Qing Dynasty to the period of the Republic of China, which are the value of our research and the value of display. It is also a historical inheritance process for our youth.
[Explanation] Zhang Guoxiang told reporters that the activation and utilization of the lotus pond site restored the garden art from the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China.
It is understood that the lotus pond site will be open to the public after the repair of Li Hongzhang's ancestral hall is completed.
Reporter Ge Yong reports from Nanjing, Jiangsu
Responsible editor: [Chen Wentao]