Hangzhou

The Xilingshe Fraternity, part of the West Lake cultural landscape, is yet largely unfamiliar to tourists. Xu Junqian drops by.

They say while classic Cantonese catered to the merchants and their clients, Hangzhou cuisine was prepared for the literati, the poets and writers who had been flocking to the scenic West Lake in Hangzhou for as long as history can remember.

Part of this cultural scene were the seal carvers, who took pride in immortalizing their calligraphic skills on little seals of exquisite stone or wood. In 1903, members of this literary elite formed the Xilingshe Fraternity.

A full century and more later, the grounds of their clubhouse by the banks of the West Lake still stands, although it is just off the regular tourist routes and appreciated only by local visitors old enough and schooled enough to understand its significance.

To the adventurous tourist, it can offer an illuminating insight into Chinese culture, and a reprieve from the madding crowds at the more famous scenic sites.

Hangzhou is as much known for its literary visitors as it is known for their playmates - the courtesans. It is here, beside the tomb of China's most lauded courtesan Su Xiaoxiao, that Xilingshe established its base.

Out on a promontory, the fraternity club is just beside the equally famous Lou Wai Lou, one of Hangzhou's most recognized restaurants. Gourmets and gourmands travel far to pay homage to Hangzhou cuisine, which owed its publicity to the same elite scholars who patronized the restaurant and waxed lyrical about its food and setting.

So, Xilingshe is happily sited right beside the famous courtesan and the restaurant,

A pond full of water lilies is the first thing that greets visitors in a garden set against the magnificent backdrop of bamboo-clad mountains. A covered corridor is festooned with collections of calligraphy scrolls, paintings and stone carvings, leading to a bamboo pavilion which now serves as a bookstore.

Crazy paving leads to more corridors and more pavilions, decorating the whole stretch of foothills like emeralds on velvet.

Xilingshe was built by four eminent scholars who had the noble intention of reviving the Chinese arts at a time when the highly educated were trying to save the declining Qing Dynasty while advocating new ideology from the revolutionary thinkers.

The garden was at first intended for craftsman and collectors of seal carving, an art form born from a combination of calligraphy and carving, and required as one of the four essential skills for the traditional scholar.

The four motivators attracted support from many intellectuals, including shipping, banking and textile tycoon Sheng Xuanhuai, who donated a large piece of his property in Hangzhou to the society.

The society ground gradually expanded to include a park of more than 5,000 square meters with three differently landscaped sections at the bottom, middle and the top.

But for the intellectuals, the landscape was just eye candy that became backdrop for the tens of thousands of collected pieces in the showroom, now the China Seal Museum.

As you leave the viewing platform overlooking the West Lake, look out for a cream-colored villa.

It was once the holiday home of Du Yuesheng, the big boss who once ruled the gangs on the Bund in Shanghai.

Inside the exhibition halls, you will find all the implements of seal carving carefully displayed on the upper floor - jade, crystal, silver, ivory, bronze, mother-of-pearl, bamboo roots and walnut. Some glow with the patina of age that still shines through despite the dust of countless years.

Downstairs, the dimly lit exhibition hall is filled with history. Tiny coin-sized seals are topped with delicate carvings of a crouching tiger, a peony bloom or a fat-bellied baby. These used to belong to the scions of famous families, who used them as tokens of friendship and courtship, or as a sign of identity.

Larger ones, still no bigger than buttons, are for official use by businessmen sealing a deal or government officials issuing a decree.

These seals are especially rich in both forms and content, ranging from names, auspicious creatures and graphics, most of which are still recognizable.

There is also a collection of imperial seals, made from white jade, the ultimate symbol of power.

These seals may not be in common use anymore, but their legacy lives on in the Chinese cultural heritage. In Hangzhou, the visitor will be missing an important part of the West Lake experience if they do not visit the Seal Carving Society - Xilingshe.

(China Daily 12/05/2010 page15)