ABSTRACT
Let us take an imaginary tour of Harmony Garden as it was in the last years before Yuan Mei's death.1 Our guide is a rather portly middle-aged man surnamed Wang, who is one of the chief servants in the family. In spite of his low position in society, he is quite conversant with Chinese culture and can even write fairly good classical verse. 2 We are all sweating under the hot late June sun, as we wait just inside Brushwood Portal (Chaifei ~Jif.,) a romantically rustic entrance with a bamboo-lined pathway leading to the main gate (Damen *- r,) of Yuan's garden.3 Some of us are still out of breath, since the walk up the hill has been rather taxing. Those who are wealthy enough to have come with retainers have had to leave them one Ii outside of the garden, an exception being made only for officials above the rank of general or Prefect of a Prefecture (Zhifu {ji-rJ Jf.J-,) who are permitted to ride in a single carriage.4
