Illustrated by Hu Jiaoqiang & Wang Zengqi 
Garden 

Garden is an essay composed by Wang Zengqi at an early age, was first published in Wenju (Volume II No. 3 in June 1945) with an original sub-title "Zhuyu Xiaoji II". In Garden, the writer recalls the garden of his family when he was a child and the scenario that he played in the garden. In the beginning, "That small garden is always the brightest place of our home at any time". The word "brightest" shows the bright color of the garden in the writer’s memory, and also indicates the emotion of the writer throughout the essay. The writer seems to know all. In Garden, he depicts various flows, grasses, trees, birds, animals, insects and fishes, and the depiction is combined with playing and games. Despite his plain and narrative description, the essay is still interesting and funny and excites readers as well. However, masters always compose their works in a unique way. In Garden, Wang Zengqi added some tranquil, cold and mysterious atmosphere into the seemingly happy and childish text. For example, when guests and friends gathered together in the garden at night, a young nun in the nunnery outside the garden is fetching water, lonely and gloomy. In the end, the writer encounters his father in the garden without saying a word. This is a stroke of genius and wins high recognition. In Garden, Wang Zengqi expressed his precise and profound understanding of life, affection between family members and everything in nature, making readers unwilling to close the book. When Garden is published, Wang Zengqi is only 25, but cannot help showing the potential of a talented writer.