Suzhou Gardens
![]() The earliest
gardens of Suzhou ,which belonged to the King of Wu, can be traced far back
to the Spring and Autumn period in the 6th century B.C. The Pijiang Garden
was recorded as the earliest private garden--house dating from the 4th
century Eastern Jin Dynasties. More gardens were built in the centuries that
followed. During the prosperous Ming and Qing Dynasties, from the 16th to
the 18th centuries that followed. During the prosperous Ming and Qing
Dynasties, from the 16th to the 18th century in particular . Suzhou saw a
booming economy . Consequently, the number of gardens in the city of Suzhou
and its environs increased a great deal ,mounting to 200 odd. Dozens of them
have survived to the present and are kept in a good state of preservation.
With their numerical superiority and artistic perfection ,the classical
gardens of Suzhou has had a good reputation in this part of China, popularly
known as "the earthly paradise". Laid out within a limited area by the house, a classical garden of Suzhou is a microcosm of the world made of the basic elements of water, tones, plants and different kinds of buildings with literary allusions. Like a freehand brushwork in traditional Chinese painting, it is the creation of "urban scenery" or an amicable environment that brings man into harmony with nature. Built in a period when privately-owned gardens were most flourishing, the Humble Administrator's Garden, the Lingering Garden ,the Master-of-Nets Garden and the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty, noted for their beautiful scenes, elegant buildings and literary connotations, represent the concentrated essence of wisdom of the Chinese and the finest specimens of all classical gardens of Suzhou. Like Fish Watching Spot ( The Cang Lang Pavilion) shining pea Firstly, they set fine examples of how garden spaces are ingeniously handled.
Interwoven with Taoist metaphysics of Laozi and Zhangzi, the classical
gardens of Suzhou were laid out in imitation of natural scenery to meet the
intellectual and emotional needs of the Chinese. The terrestrial contours of
the site is always made good use of. Methods and techniques are numerous,
including borrowed views, barred views, opposite views, framed views, the
decorative and functional alteration, and the abstract and concrete
alteration. The stress is put on meandering through a labyrinth of
complexity and continuous surprises. Within limits the garden spaces are so
ingeniously handled that the effect of infinitude is produced . In the
Humble Administrator's Garden ,the Lingering Garden, the Master-of -Nets
Garden and the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty, there are many
instances in illustration of traditional Chinese aesthetics. Secondly, they are the re-creation of the splendors of natural scenery through the processes of the decoration of land by planting trees, shrubs and flowers, and designing and materializing mountains and watercourses. The classical gardens of Suzhou were designed and built by
great masters of different dynasties, employing extraordinary methods and
techniques. AS a result, they are unnaturally natural. Noted for their
wonderful landscapes and waterscapes, the Humble Administrator's garden, the
Lingering Garden, the Master-of-Nets Garden and the Mountain Villa with
Embracing Beauty are the vivid re presentation of natural scenery easy to be
found locally. The miniature mountains made of yellow stones in the
Master-of-Nets Garden or from earth with stones sticking out of them in the
Humble Administrator's Garden and the Lingering Garden look so natural and
spontaneous that they seem to be rendered without human aid. A number of
fine limestone hauled from Lake Tai to the Lingering Garden, some of which
are believed to be left behind by the imperial collector from the Song
court, have the qualities of being slender, wrinkled, pierced with holes,
yet capable of draining by themselves. The best lime stone mountain designed
and piled up by the great master Gu Yuliang in the Qing Dynasty is to be
found in the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty. Great attention is paid
to sequential loveliness. An abundant variety of flowers and trees are grown
in the gardens. Valued highly for their several hundred years of age are the
ginkoes in the Lingering garden, the wisteria in the Humble Administrator's
Garden and the Sabina chinensis in the Master-of-Nets garden. Thirdly, they are an epitome of exquisite and multifarious buildings of old times in the south of the Lower Yangtze . The classical gardens of Suzhou have many varieties of little pavilions and large constructions with their basic beam--framing systems such as Ting, Tang, Xuan, Guan, Lou, Ge, Xie, Fang, Ting (rising tone), and Lang, to satisfy the needs of reading, writing, painting, resting, viewing, meditating, playing chess, performing on a musical instrument, sipping tea, holding banquets and so forth. With traditional Chinese furnishings, these buildings richly ornamented with exquisitely carved door frames, windows, hangings, balustrades and screens inside and many kinds of lattic--windows,pavements and moon gates outside, have harmonized impeccably with functional, structural and aesthetical considerations. Fourthly,they are rich in literary connotations ,carrying a tremendous amount of information about Chinese culture. Intertwined with ancient Chinese philosophy ,ideology and aesthetics , the classical gardens of Suzhou are noteworthy places with unique architectural forms carrying poetic names in plateaus and parallel couplets in excellent calligraphy with literary allusion which help to enhance the beauty of the whole property .Also, there are numerous inscribed steal of great antiquity celebrated for their delicate workmanship and literary connotations .Indeed the classical gardens of Suzhou are the invaluable reservoir from which we can draw cultural substances. To sum up, he classical gardens of Suzhou in the course of over two millennia have experienced many ups and downs, and gradually reached a state of artistic perfection. The sublimities of the classical gardens of Suzhou will endure forever and ever.
|
Holy Cross English Gallery Pilgrimages Index Espaņol English Index