Master of the Nets Garden, Classical Chinese garden in Suzhou, China

The Master of the Nets Garden covers 5,400 m², split into an eastern residential strip of four halls, one tower and three courtyards, and a western garden grouped around the 334 m² Rosy Cloud Pool. Buildings sit close to the water on rocks or piers, while larger halls stand behind tree-planted yards. A Ming-dynasty cypress and a centuries-old pine are the two dominant elements.

Shi Zhengzhi, Deputy Civil Service Minister of the Southern Song, built the garden in 1140 as Ten Thousand Volume Hall, naming its first form Yuyin after a fisherman's solitary life. It decayed through successive owners until 1785, when retired official Song Zongyuan rebuilt it, added buildings and renamed it Master of the Nets. Scholar Qu Yuancun bought it in 1795; calligrapher Li Hongyi acquired it in 1868, and He Chang, who restored it in 1940, left it to the state, his daughter He Zehui transferring it to Suzhou in 1958.

The garden's name refers to the fisherman (wangshi) of Suzhou dialect, adopted by Song Zongyuan in 1785 to evoke a simple life. In the 20th century He Chang restored it and his daughter He Zehui gave it to the city in 1958. Today evening performances combine traditional music with the garden, and the 'Shi' character is sometimes miswritten as 'lion'.

The garden is at No. 11 Kuojiato Alley in the Gusu district of Suzhou, entered through the residential halls on the east side before reaching the western garden. The Rosy Cloud Pool, 334 m2, sits at the centre, with the southern halls used for gatherings and the northern rooms for study. The garden covers 5,400 m2 in all.

The garden's name comes from an old Chinese saying about a poor fisherman who found happiness in simplicity. This link between the fisherman's humble life and the refined garden space suggests that true wealth comes from inner contentment rather than material possessions.