Suzhou Classical Gardens

Suzhou garden is the general name of Suzhou landscape architecture in Jiangsu Province. Among the Han architecture, the classical garden architecture is unique and has great achievements. Suzhou gardens, also known as "Suzhou classical gardens", are mainly private gardens. It began in the spring and Autumn period when the state of Wu established the capital of Gusu (the period of King Helu of Wu, 514 BC), formed in the Five Dynasties, matured in the Song Dynasty, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. By the end of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than 170 gardens of various colors in Suzhou, of which more than 60 are well preserved and 19 are open to the outside world. In 1997, as the representative of Chinese garden, Suzhou classical garden was listed in the world heritage list, and was praised as "rebuilding heaven and earth within a short distance", which is the leader and pride of Chinese garden culture. Suzhou gardens mainly include Canglang Pavilion, lion forest, Zhuozheng garden, Liuyuan garden, Wangshi garden, Yiyuan garden, etc.

Suzhou Classical Gardens

Suzhou classical garden, also known as "Suzhou garden", is the general name of Chinese classical gardens located in Suzhou City, Jiangsu Province.

Suzhou is known as "the city of gardens". The private gardens in Suzhou were built in the 6th century BC. In the late Qing Dynasty, there were more than 170 gardens inside and outside the city, and more than 50 are now. In 1997, Zhuozheng garden, Liuyuan garden, Wangshi garden and Huanxiu villa in Suzhou classical gardens were listed on the world cultural heritage list; in 2000, Canglang Pavilion, Shizilin, Liangyuan garden, Yipu garden and Tuisi Garden, as expansion projects of Suzhou classical gardens, were also listed as world cultural heritage.

Suzhou classical garden is a combination of house and garden, which can be enjoyed, toured and lived. The formation of this architectural form is a kind of creation of human beings' attachment to nature, pursuit of harmony with nature, beautification and improvement of their living environment in densely populated and lack of natural scenery cities. The Chinese philosophy, history and cultural customs contained in the classical gardens of Suzhou are a symbol and concentration of the history of the humanities and customs of the South China River, showing the essence of Chinese culture and having a unique historical position and great artistic value in the history of the world gardening. The classical gardens in Suzhou, represented by Zhuozheng garden and Liuyuan garden, are known as "rebuilding heaven and earth within a short distance", and are the leaders and pride of Chinese garden culture.

Development history

Suzhou is located in the water town, with numerous lakes, ditches and ponds. It is very advantageous to build gardens because of the water. Nearby, there are abundant Taihu Lake stones, which are suitable for stacking exquisite rockeries. Suzhou has been prosperous for many generations, and it has the conditions to pursue high-quality living environment. In addition, Suzhou's folk custom has always advocated art, pursuing perfection, inheriting through the ages, and enduring prosperity The design and construction of vernacular dwellings are meticulous and ingenious. These basic factors greatly promoted the development of Suzhou classical gardens.

The history of Suzhou classical gardens can be traced back to the gardens of the king of Wu in the spring and Autumn Period in the 6th century BC. Private gardens were first seen in the existing written records of the Bijiang garden in the Eastern Jin Dynasty (4th century), which was known as "the first garden in Wuzhong". In the late Qing Dynasty, there were more than 170 gardens inside and outside the city, and Suzhou won the title of "garden city".

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Suzhou became one of the most prosperous areas in China, with private gardens all over the city. In the heyday of the 16th-18th century, there were more than 200 gardens in Suzhou, and dozens of them were well preserved, which made Suzhou known as "paradise on earth".

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the feudal economic and cultural development of Suzhou reached its peak, and the gardening art also tended to mature. A group of garden artists emerged, which made the gardening activities reach a climax. At its peak, there were more than 280 private gardens and courtyards in Suzhou.

On December 4, 1997, the 21st plenary session of the World Heritage Committee of the United Nations approved the classical gardens in Suzhou, with Zhuozheng garden, Liuyuan garden, Wangshi garden and Huanxiu villa as typical examples, to be included in the world heritage list.

On November 30, 2000, the 24th session of UNESCO World Heritage Committee approved canglangting, Shizilin, Yipu, Liangyuan and tuisiyuan to be added to the world heritage list.

In 2003, Suzhou classical garden was named by the Central Committee of civilization as the national advanced unit of building civilization industry.

On May 30, 2017, the "World Heritage - Suzhou Classical Garden" tourism and cultural promotion conference was held at the Cultural Office of the Chinese Embassy in France on May 30. Through various forms such as tourism promotion videos, photo exhibitions, VR (Virtual Reality Technology) experience, the unique charm of Suzhou Classical Garden "multi scenery, close to the mountains" was displayed to the French people.

On August 7, 2018, the fourth batch of "Suzhou garden list" was officially announced. With the selection of 18 gardens including duanben garden, Quanjin guild hall and Moke garden, the total number of gardens in Suzhou has reached 108, and Suzhou has officially become a "city of gardens" from a "city of gardens".

Construction scale

According to Suzhou Fu Zhi, there are 6 gardens in Suzhou in Zhou Dynasty, 4 in Han Dynasty, 14 in southern and Northern Dynasties, 7 in Tang Dynasty, 118 in Song Dynasty, 48 in Yuan Dynasty, 271 in Ming Dynasty and 130 in Qing Dynasty. Most of the existing classical gardens in Suzhou are built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, including hundreds of classical gardens large and small. Up to now, dozens of them are well preserved, representing the style of gardens in the south of the Yangtze River in China.

The classical gardens in Suzhou are well preserved and open up to now, such as Canglang Pavilion and Wangshi garden, which were built in Song Dynasty, Lion Forest in Yuan Dynasty, Zhuozheng garden and Yipu garden in Ming Dynasty, Liuyuan garden, Liangyuan garden, Yiyuan garden, Quyuan garden and Tingfeng garden in Qing Dynasty. Among them, Zhuozheng garden, Liuyuan garden, Wangshi garden and Huanxiu villa were listed as "world cultural heritage" by UNESCO at the end of 1997 for their exquisite gardening art and distinctive artistic characteristics.

Main representatives

Canglang Pavilion

Canglang Pavilion is located in sanyuanfang in the south of Suzhou city. It is the oldest garden in Suzhou. It covers an area of 10800 square meters. There is a clear water running through the garden, reflected by the wave light, with thousands of scenes. Canglang pavilion was built by Qian Yuanliang, son of Qian Miao, king of Wu and Yue in the Five Dynasties. Su Shunqin, a famous poet of the Song Dynasty, bought the abandoned garden for 40000 yuan and built a pavilion near the water. He felt that "the clear water of the Canglang River can wash my tassels; the muddy water of the Canglang River can wash my feet". He was named "Canglang Pavilion" and named himself Canglang Weng and wrote Canglang Pavilion.

Ouyang Xiu was invited to write a long poem "Canglang Pavilion", in which he wrote about it with the title of "the pure wind and bright moon are priceless, and there is love in the near water and far mountain". Since then, Canglang pavilion has gained a great reputation. After the Su family, Canglang pavilion was abandoned several times. In the early Southern Song Dynasty (early 12th century), it was once the residence of Han Shizhong, a famous anti Jin general. In 1696, song Bi, governor of the Qing Dynasty, rebuilt the garden and built the pavilion near the water on the top of the mountain, forming the layout basis of Canglang Pavilion, with the inscription "Canglang Pavilion" written by Wen Zhengming. In 1873, it was rebuilt again and became what it is now. Although Canglang Pavilion is not the first appearance of the Song Dynasty because of the changes of the past dynasties, its ancient wood is old and gloomy, and it still keeps the old style, which partly reflects the style of the garden of the Song Dynasty.

The main scenic spot of Canglang Pavilion takes the mountain forest as the core, and is surrounded by buildings. The pavilion and the undulating corridor make use of the water painting outside the garden. Through the leakage of the window on the corridor, it connects the mountains and water inside and outside the garden, and integrates the water surface, pool bank, rockery, pavilions and pavilions. In the middle of the garden, the stone path is circling, the ancient trees are verdant, the Indocalamus is covered, the vines are hanging, the wild flowers are clumped, simple and natural, and the scenery is as verdant as the real mountain and wild forest.

The largest main building in the garden is Mingdao hall, which is three rooms wide in the southeast of the rockery. The name of Mingdao hall is "if you look at and hear without evil, then the way will be bright". It was a place for scholars of Ming and Qing Dynasties to give lectures. Under the background of rockery and ancient wood, the hall is spacious and solemn. There are three stone rubbings on the wall, which are astronomical map, song map and song Pingjiang map (Suzhou City Map). It is said that during Emperor Qianlong's tour to the south, Wang Zhoushi, a Suzhou Pingtan artist who was famous in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, was called to speak in this hall. In the south of the hall, there are several pavilions, such as "Yao Hua realm", "Yinxin stone layer" and "kan Shan Lou". To the north, there are three pavilions named cuilinglong, surrounded by green bamboo, which means "sunlight wears bamboo cuilinglong".

Bamboo is a traditional plant of Canglang Pavilion since Su Shunqin built the garden. It is also one of the characteristics of Canglang Pavilion. More than 20 kinds of bamboo are planted. "Cuilinglong" hall is connected with several side rooms of different sizes, which makes the small hall twists and turns, green all around, banana in front and back, bamboo and cypress in green, wind suddenly rises, ten thousand rods shake in the air, and green drops are even and refreshing. Adjacent to "cuilinglong" is the temple of five hundred sages, in which 594 flat stone statues of people related to the history of Suzhou are embedded on the three walls, which were carved by Gu Tingzhou, a famous scholar in the Qing Dynasty. Five hundred sages are just integers. Each of the five statues is carved with a stone, on which four lines of praise are engraved. We can know the general situation of these ancient sages. They are people related to the history of Suzhou from the spring and Autumn period to the Qing Dynasty. Most of them were Wu people, and some of them came to Suzhou as officials. Most of the famous sages are in ancient books, and some of them come from the descendants of famous sages.

There is a rockery cave in the southwest of the garden, named "Yinxin stone house". There is a small building on the mountain named "kan Shan Lou". You can enjoy the scenery of Suzhou. In addition, there are Yangzhi Pavilion, yubeiting Pavilion and other buildings. Canglang Pavilion is also famous for its fish watching place. There are 34 stone carvings, more than 700.

Humble Administrator's garden

Zhuozheng garden is the representative of Jiangnan garden,

Chinese PinYin : Su Zhou Gu Dian Yuan Lin