劉光廉生卒年考

Liu Guanglian, a historical figure from Xiangshan county, was not very famous during his lifetime, while the two private landscape gardens designed by him in Lingnan (嶺南) have long been listed as masterpieces of traditional Chinese architecture. Both Yu garden (娛園, today’s Lou Lim Ioc Park) of Macao, and Yu garden (愚園, also known as Hilly Park of Bamboo-and-Rock) of Zhuhai are not only well-known by locals, but they are the only gardens with the style of gardens from the South of the Yangtze River in the two cities. Since the late Qing Dynasty, there is no detailed record of Liu Guanglian himself, only that he was a calligrapher and painter or garden designer in Xiangshan. The dates of birth and death of Liu remain vague for a long time. Based on the prefaces, postscripts and seals he affixed both in his calligraphy and painting, this paper aims to explore Liu’s dates of birth and death through these extant works. In the meanwhile, it also examines his background, social network and contributions, with the hope that they will have some historical significance and academic value.