The Ming and Qing dynasties were the integration period of the art of garden architecture in my country. Garden architecture is equivalent to our current private gardens, mostly built in cities or suburbs, and connected with residences. In a small area, we pursue changes in spatial art, with a simple, elegant and exquisite style, to achieve the artistic conception of seeking interest in the ordinary and extracting beauty from the humble, and meet the requirements of enjoying the taste.
Most of the residential gardens are "urban forests" planted with trees, flowers and plants due to Fudu Mountain, low and sparse land, numerous pavilions, terraces, buildings and pavilions. In terms of number, they can be found almost all over the country. The most concentrated places include Beijing in the north and Suzhou, Yangzhou, Hangzhou and Nanjing in the south. Among them, private gardens in Jiangnan are the most typical representatives. Suzhou has the most private gardens. For this reason, Suzhou is also known as "the gardens south of the Yangtze River are the best in the world, and the gardens in Suzhou are the best in the south of the Yangtze River".
In the ancient cultural city of Yangzhou, during the Kangxi and Qianlong reigns of the Qing Dynasty, there were more than a hundred gardens, large and small. For this reason, there is a saying that "Yangzhou is famous for its gardens". Because Yangzhou is located between the north and the south, it combines the artistic techniques of gardening from the north and the south, forming a unique style of Yangzhou gardens that is both beautiful in the north and south. Starting from the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Yangzhou's economic prosperity, the concentration of wealthy businessmen, and the gathering of literati and refined scholars played a great role in promoting the development of Yangzhou gardens.
Private gardens are mostly built in cities and are connected with residences. The land area is very small, the small ones are one or two acres, and the large ones are dozens of acres. In the treatment of landscape, he is good at making large changes in a limited space and skillfully forming ever-changing scenic spots and tourist routes. Commonly used white walls, flower windows or corridors are used to divide the garden space, but they are separated and continuous to create interesting scenes. Through the picture frame-like leaky windows, different pictures are formed, which are endlessly changing and profound, stimulating visitors' interest in exploring. There is virtuality and reality, the scenes change with each step, the priorities are clear, the scenes are many and have deep meanings, and the interest is endless.
For example, in the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou, there is the Yuanxiang Hall in the center of the garden. It is surrounded by tall windows, like a painter's viewing frame. People can enjoy the garden scenery through the windows in the hall. Opposite the Yuanxiang Hall, on the mountain covered with green leaves, there is a pavilion with fragrant snow and clouds. Wintersweet is planted all around the pavilion; in the east, graceful magnolias and bright peach blossoms are dotted between the pavilions and rockeries; looking to the west, the vermilion pillars are The lotus breeze surrounds the pavilion, the wicker swaying on the edge of the pavilion, the spring moonlight night, it feels elegant and quiet. There are many varieties of domestic plants and flowers, planting trees and flowers is full of interest, and the buildings are exquisite and lively, giving people a sense of relaxation.
Skillful borrowing is another characteristic of Jiangnan gardens. By using borrowed scenery, the land that is full of feet looks like the earth. The method of borrowing scenery is usually to organically combine distant or near landscapes at home and abroad through leaking acres, giving limited space infinite extension, making people's intention to visit unavoidable. The space is changeable and the layers are rich. This kind of garden within a garden is often found in winding paths leading to secluded places. When you feel that there is no way out despite the mountains and rivers, there is another village with dark willows and bright flowers, which makes it appear "round and round." To the best of my ability, the joy of forgetting each other is like clouds and water.” Sometimes I borrow his things and scenery from afar and make them mine, enriching the landscape.
Most private gardens in the south of the Yangtze River were run by feudal literati, scholar-bureaucrats and landlords. Compared with royal gardens, they were small-scale operations, so they paid more attention to the details and the exquisiteness of the architecture. The interiors of private garden buildings in Jiangnan are generally furnished with various calligraphy and paintings, handicrafts and exquisite furniture. These handicrafts and furniture are coordinated with the architectural functions and carefully arranged to form the unique interior furnishing art of Chinese garden architecture. This kind of furnishings greatly highlights the appreciation of garden architecture.
For example, in the Nanmu Hall of Suzhou Liuyuan, the furniture is made of nanmu, and the interior decoration is beautiful, exquisite, simple and generous, forming an appreciative and elegant indoor environment. The indoor layout all adopts the customary symmetrical technique. The calligraphy and painting hanging screens on the walls, as well as the outdoor stone tables and stone piers, all adopt symmetrical layouts, which are full of rhythm in repetition. The main colors of the indoor and outdoor decoration and furniture are maroon, black, and chestnut shell, which harmonize and echo the purple, cyan, and white in other parts of the garden, reflecting the tranquility requirements of the indoor and outdoor design of the garden building. This is in sharp contrast with the royal palace's pursuit of luxury and magnificence in its architecture, with its bright red and green tones.
Couplets, poems, and chants are combined with gardens, using literary means to deepen people's understanding of garden scenery, inspire people's imagination, and make gardens more poetic and picturesque. This method is also extremely successful in Jiangnan gardens. of. Garden craftsmen are good at using the artistic charm of literary imagery to beautify gardens. The couplets on halls, halls, pavilions, and terraces are often instructions for enjoying the scenery.
For example, "Begonia Chunwu" in the Humble Administrator's Garden refers to a small courtyard with crabapples planted in the courtyard, suitable for taking a rest in spring; "Lotus Wind Surrounded" Pavilion refers to a small pavilion facing a pond on all sides, suitable for enjoying the coolness on summer nights; "Waiting for Frost" Orange trees are planted around the pavilion, which is a good place to visit in late autumn; wintersweet is planted around the pavilion, which is a sign of walking in the snow in winter. The literary couplets combine the beauty of calligraphy and invite appreciation.
In this period, more literati painters participated in the design and gardening practice of gardens. In the Ming Dynasty, there were famous Zhang Nanyang, Zhou Bingcheng, Ji Cheng, etc., and in the Qing Dynasty, there were Zhang Lian, Zhang Ran, and Ye Tiao. wait. They are both good at painting and gardeners. Among them, Ji Cheng summarized the theory of gardening and wrote the book "Garden Ye"; Zhang Lian stacked white sand and green bamboos and Jiangcun stone walls; Ji Cheng stacked Yingyuanshan; Shitao stacked stone mountain house and Wanshi Garden, etc. Their practice and theory greatly promoted the development of Jiangnan garden art.
The gardening artistic conception of private gardens in Jiangnan during the Ming and Qing Dynasties achieved the organic unity of natural beauty, architectural beauty, painting beauty and literary art. Different from general art, it is mainly a comprehensive art composed of architecture, landscape, flowers and trees. Successful garden art can not only reproduce the beauty of natural landscapes, but also be higher than nature without showing any traces of artificial axe.