9. Gardens in Suzhou

9. 苏州园林

Just as there is paradise in heaven, there are Suzhou and Hangzhou on earth.

上有天堂，下有苏杭。

Suzhou, the famous historical and cultural city, is world-famous for a lot of extremely elegant gardens. Suzhou is located in the Yangtze River delta¹ with a moist climate and convenient transportation². Public officials in the old times inclined to build gardens in Suzhou to spend their late years.

苏州，中国著名的历史文化名城，素以众多精雅的园林名闻天下。苏州地处长江三角洲，地理位置优越，气候湿润，交通便利，旧时官宦名绅晚年多到苏州择地造园、颐养天年。

In the Ming and Qing dynasties, the feudalistic economy and culture in Suzhou reached its summit, leading garden art to maturity³. A large number of garden artists came into being, causing the upsurge of the construction of gardens. During the prime time, there were 280 private gardens and courtyards in Suzhou，among which the well-preserved and opened to the public now a days are the Canglang Pavilion and the Wangshi Garden in the Song Dynasty, Shizilin in the Yuan Dynasty，Zhuozheng Garden, Yipu in the Ming Dynasty, Liuyuan, Ouyuan, Yiyuan， Quanyuan，Tingfengyuan in the Qing Dynasty, etc. Zhuozheng Garden，Liuyuan, Wangshi Garden and Huanxiu Villa⁴ are incorporated into the "World Cultural Heritage" in the late 1997 by UNESCO for their elaborate art and explicit⁵ characteristics.

明清时期，苏州封建经济文化发展达到鼎盛阶段，造园艺术也趋于成熟，出现了一批园林艺术家，使造园活动达到高潮。最盛时期，苏州的私家园林和庭院达到280余处，至今保存完好并开放的有建于宋代的沧浪亭、网师园，元代的狮子林，明代的拙政园、艺圃，清代的留园、精园、怡园、曲园、听枫园等c其中，拙政园、留园、网师园、环秀山庄因其精美卓绝的造园艺术和个性鲜明的艺术特点于1997年底被联合国教科文组织列为"世界文化遗产"。

The gardens in Suzhou are the "mountain forests in cities with natural beauty." with profound cultural implications. When people in the downtown enter the gardens，they would joy the beauty of the nature in the concentrated" natural world" with the changes of time and seasons, where, one spoonful of water means lake and one fist-size stone stands for a hill. People can" enjoy the beauty and quietness of the mountain forests and the pleasure of spring and brooks⁶ in the downtown."

苏州园林是城市中充满自然意趣的"城市山林身居闹市的人们一进入园林，便可享受到大自然的"山水林泉之乐"。在这个浓缩的"自然界一勺代水，一拳代山园内的四季晨昏变化和春秋草木枯荣以及山水花木的季相变化，使人们可以"不出城郭而获山林之怡，身居闹市而有林泉之乐"。

The gardens in Suzhou are the "Gardens for man of Letters". The garden builders in the ancient times well-educated. They could both write poems and draw paintings. The gardens based on the paintings and poems, look like vivid pictures through the ponds and hills and are regarded as "Soundless poems and three-dimensional paintings" Visitors wandering in the gardens feel as if they are appreciating a poem or a painting. In order to show the interests, temperament⁷ and ideals of the owners of the gardens，there are also tablets and couplets, such as "Yuanxiangtang which means the fragrance⁸ of the lotus symbolizing⁹ human character，"Xiangzhou" , which means the elegant sweet grass symbolizing noble temperament and "Huafangzhai", which describes the crave¹⁰ for the lives of the ancient people drifting like a boat, and "Zhenyi", "Xiao taoyuan" in Wangshiyuan，which reflect the longing¹¹ of the garden owner for an idle life in the countryside, etc.

These inscriptions¹² are integrated naturally and harmoniously¹³ into the archiectures, hills and rivers, flowers and trees in the garden, endowing them with far-reaching prospects¹⁴. Accordingly , visitors can derive¹⁵ the enjoyment of beauty and the relish¹⁶ of soul when roaming in the garden.

苏州园林是文化意蕴深厚的"文人写意山水园"。古代的造园者都有很高的文化修养，能诗善画，造园时多以画为本，以诗为题，通过凿池堆山、栽花种树，创造出具有诗情画意的景观，被称为是"无声的诗，立体的画"。在园林中游赏，犹如在品诗，又如在赏画。为了表达园主的情趣、理想、追求，园林建筑与景观又有匾额、榷联之类的诗文题刻，有以清幽的荷香自喻人品(拙政园"远香堂") ，有以清雅的香草自喻性情高洁(拙政因"香州") ，有追慕占人似小船自由漂荡怡然臼得的(怡园"画肪斋") ，还有表现园主企慕恬淡的四园生活的(网师园"真意"、留园"小桃源")等等，不一而足。这些充满着书卷气的诗文题刻与园内的建筑、山水、花木自 然和谐地棵和在一起，使园林的一山一水、一草一木均能产生深远的意境，1尚祥其中，可得到心灵的陶冶和美的享受。