Suzhou
situated in the
southeast of Jiangsu
Province, occupied an
area of 119.2 square
kilometers with a
population of 880,000,
between latitude 31?’
north and longitude
120?’ east. The climate
is mild with an annual
rainfall of 1100 mm, an
average annual
temperature of 15.7°C,
the frost-free period of
230 days and the
sunshine time is 2000
hours.
Suzhou boasts favorable
location, mild climate,
convenient traffic, and
a large number of
classical gardens. It
has been a famous
historical and cultural
city in China, an ideal
place where many
officials and scholars
in times past purchased
and planned their
garden-residences as
retreats for their
retirement years.
Suzhou was mentioned in
484 B.C. since it was,
for a few years, the
capital of the State of
Wu during the Period of
the Warring States
Period (403-221 B.C.).
It flourished as a
trading and silk center
in the early sixth
century, linked with the
capital through the
Grand Canal.
Encircled by the Grand
Canal, Suzhou has its
unique scenery of
crisscrossing waterways
and streets lined with
houses and stone
bridges. It was called a
"Paradise on Earth" in
ancient times and is
known as the "Venice of
the East" today.
During the Ming and Qing
Dynasties, Suzhou saw a
period of feudal
economic prosperity and
cultural flowering.
Consequently, the number
of privately-owned
gardens in the city of
Suzhou and its environs
increased a great deal,
mounting to 280 odd. A
galaxy of great masters
emerged and the art of
landscape gardening
reached its apogee. Many
have survived to the
present day and are open
to the public such as
the Blue Wave Pavilion
and the Garden of the
Master of the Nets first
built in the Song
Dynasty, the Lion Grove
in the Yuan Dynasty, the
Humble Administrator’s
Garden and the Garden of
Cultivation in the Ming
Dynasty, the Garden for
Lingering In, the
Coupling Garden, the
Garden of Harmony, the
Zigzag Garden and the
Listening to Maple
Garden in the Qing
Dynasty. The Humble
Administrator’s Garden
and the Garden for
Lingering In, noted for
their artistic
perfection and
individual
characteristics, are
known as China’s four
most famous gardens
along with the Summer
Palace in Beijing and
the Imperial Mountain
Resort in Chengde. A
Suzhou garden is the
"origination of urban
scenery", a microcosm of
the world made of the
basic elements of water,
rocks, plants and
buildings, which are
arranged in such a way
that they reflect the
sequential beauty in the
garden, the passage of
time, the dissimilarity
between mornings and
evenings, and the
succession of the
seasons within the
boundary of the wall and
lead a sequestered life
amongst the bustling
city.
Ancient Chinese garden
builders were all highly
educated and good at
verse and painting. Rich
in literary allusions
and analogous with the
freehand brushwork in
traditional Chinese
painting, the classical
gardens of Suzhou are
the re-creation of
nature through the
processes of the
decoration of land by
planting trees, shrubs
and flowers, and
designing and
materializing mountains
and watercourses.
Sometimes they are
called "a silent poem
and the
three-dimensional
painting". Strolling
through a garden is like
appreciating the poetic
works of great master or
unrolling a long scroll
of Chinese landscape
painting. Distinctively,
garden buildings and
beauty-spots have
plateaus, inscribed
stele are of great
antiquity and parallel
couplets in excellent
calligraphy and tonal
arrangement with the
purpose of expressing
owner’s temperament,
moral worth, deep
feeling or noble
thought. There are many
instances in
illustration of Chinese
ethical, ideological and
intellectual pursuits.
The Hall of Drifting
Fragrance in the Humble
Administrator’s Garden
indicates that the owner
wants to be as pure and
clean as lotus blooms,
and the Fragrant Isle,
named after fragrant
herbs, is emblematic of
noble sentiments. Like
an ancient hermit boat
sailing about freely and
happily, the Fancy Boat
Study in Garden of
Harmony is symbolic of
the freedom of the will.
The True Meaning in the
Garden of the Master of
Nets and the Small
Utopia in the Garden for
Lingering In are
suggestive of the rustic
simplicity of country
life. Interwoven with
these ideas, every rock,
every waterway, every
plant, and every part of
the garden affords much
food for thought.
Indeed, the classical
gardens of Suzhou are
the places where people
can cultivate their
minds and take great
pleasure in studying
Chinese aesthetics.
Employing extraordinary
methods and techniques
in older days, the
garden builder
successfully created
within limits endless
varieties of
perspectives, dazzling
the eye as well as the
mind. The garden is full
of surprises. The view
is changing at every
step. On a garden walk,
there are countless
different
incidents-garden courts
in succession, small
bridges, murmuring
brooks, white-washed
walls, gray roof-tiles,
numerous latticed
windows with intricate
patterns, pathways
winding up and down
hills, and leading to
places of quietude,
mosaics and pavements
with all kinds of
delicate geometric or
representations of
brocade, mini-gardens in
out-of-the-way places,
etc. It is impossible to
explore and learn about
them all. "With mountain
chains and rivers ahead,
you might think that
there’s no way through.
Why, shady willows and
brilliant flowers keep
one more village out of
sight". In a word,
there’s an enchanting
impression of
infinitude.
Other scenic spots in
Suzhou include the West
Garden Temple, Garden of
Harmony, North Temple
Pagoda and the Temple of
Mystery, all well -known
in China. |