During the reign of Emperor Zhengde in the Ming Dynasty (1506 A.D.), the Assistant Prime Minister Wang Xianchen returned to his hometown and built the garden after he resigned from office.

He named the garden of the Humble Administrator to indicate that he was humble in officials. The name of the garden expressed his complicated feeling that he did not do well in the court. This is an alternative for him to better himself. Although the Garden has weathered through wind and storm for hundreds of years and has become the possession of numerous people, its style of the Ming Dynasty has remained.

Nowadays the Garden of the Humble Administrator ranks first among the four classical gardens in Suzhou.