Bai Juyi

Speaking of Bai Juyi, everyone must be familiar with it. Yes, it is Bai Juyi, a great poet known as the "Poet Magic" in the Tang Dynasty. But many people certainly don't know that Bai Juyi has another identity. He is not only a great poet, but also a great gardener.

Maybe a real great man is like this, versatile and very low-key. If I hadn't studied landscape architecture, I might never have known that there were such excellent gardeners in China.

Mr. Zhou, a famous landscape architect, commented on Bai Juyi in the History of Classical Gardens in China: "Bai Juyi is a profound garden theorist and the first literati gardener in history."

Scholars' gardens originated in the Tang Dynasty and rose in the Song Dynasty. Bai Juyi is indeed the first literati gardener recorded in history.

Bai Juyi's research on garden theory is quite profound all his life.

"Big hidden in the city, small hidden in QiuFan. Autumn sails are too cold and the market is too noisy. It is better to hide in the middle and hide in the company. " (Bai Juyi's "Alto")

It was the first time since the Tang Dynasty that he clearly put forward the consciousness of "seclusion in the middle way", and his own private garden embodied the thought of "seclusion in the middle way".

Bai Juyi's official career is relatively flat. Although he was vilified and demoted in the middle, he was transferred to Hangzhou secretariat in the fifth year after his demotion. Compared with Li Bai, Du Fu, who was banned as an official for life, and Su Shi, who was demoted three times later, Bai Juyi's career has been very smooth. It is because of his dull career that he has enough time to study the theory of gardening and put it into practice, thus creating a generation of great gardeners.

Bai Juyi loved gardens all his life. He carefully built four gardens for himself, namely, Lvdaofang Garden in Luoyang, Xinchang Square Garden in Chang 'an, Lushan Caotang in Lushan Scenic Area and Villa Garden in Weishui. Four places, four parks and four styles, each with its own uniqueness. In addition, Bai Juyi participated in the construction of many gardens and was worthy of being a great gardener.

Lvdaofang House, located in the northwest corner of Lvdaofang in the southeast corner of Guo Cheng outside Luoyang in Sui and Tang Dynasties, is Bai Juyi's seclusion. At the age of 53, Bai Juyi bought the Green Island House Garden and rebuilt it. After his hand, the Green Island House Garden has taken on a new look. Pavilions and pavilions, beautiful scenery, bamboo flowers, everything, is really a good place for the elderly to relax and enjoy themselves. Ludaofang Garden is the garden that Bai Juyi visited for the longest time, and it is also the place where he finally died. Today's Ludaofang Garden is a famous tourist attraction.

Bai Juyi loved this garden very much in his later years and wrote many poems for it. The following is an excerpt from one of them:

"The west corner of the road lane, the northern end of Guanwan. The forest garden has good neighbors and the scenery is autumn. " (Bai Juyi's "Twenty Rhymes of New Residence")

The new long house in Chang 'an City in Tang Dynasty no longer exists.

Bai Juyi said in a poem: "Dont Ask For Help loves spontaneously. If you plant trees carelessly, you will share the wind and smoke. Escape leads to solid experience, and the silent period is dominated by the situation. Pine sound condenses the bottom of the ravine, and grass is better than river. Empty ice sells land, sunny days and sunrise days. Moss is as slippery as a reed, and Sally is softer than cotton. When the curtain rolls up, the curtain waits for the moon. Flowers on the fence, bamboo under the window. " (Bai Juyi's Forty Rhymes of Xinchang New Residence)

Quiet, elegant and enjoyable are probably the characteristics of this garden.

Lushan Caotang, located in Lushan Scenic Area, was built when Bai Juyi was relegated to Jiangzhou. People who have been demoted should be unhappy, but Bai Juyi still has leisure to do gardening, not only because his own economic strength is not bad, but also because he really loves gardening.

I believe everyone is familiar with Li Bai's Looking at Lushan Waterfall. "Rizhao incense burner gives birth to purple smoke, and the waterfall hangs thousands of rivers. Flying down three thousands of feet, it is suspected that the Milky Way has fallen for nine days. " Bai Juyi's Lushan Caotang is located in the north of Lushan incense burner peak mentioned in the poem.

Located in a scenic spot and built near a famous scenic spot, it not only shows that Bai Juyi had good economic strength at that time, but also shows that he was very particular about site selection. The garden is simple and elegant, and the scenery outside is pleasant. Bai Juyi's private garden is quite pleasant.

The front is flat, the wheels are wide, and the middle is a platform, which is half flat; Tainan has a square swimming pool and a platform for two people. There are many mangosteen wild flowers by the pool, and white lotus and white fish are born in the pool. South to the Shi Jian River, there is an old Chinese fir tree in Gu Song in Jiajian River, surrounded by only ten people and hundreds of feet high. Show off the clouds, brush the pool with low branches, such as a vertical building, such as a cover, such as a snake. There are many shrubs in Panasonic, and the leaves and vines are intertwined, so the sun and moonlight can't reach the ground. Summer is like August and September. The lower berth is white stone, which is a service road. Five steps north of the hall, according to the cliff, stone pile, embedded ridge, covered with weeds and trees. Green and cloudy, Zhu Shi is separate, I don't know its name, it has always been the same. There are also flying springs and growing tea, which can be boiled and sold forever. There is a waterfall in the east of the hall, the water drops three feet, the corner of the steps, the stone canal falls, the twilight is like practicing color, and the night is like playing the piano. In the west of the hall, the right toe of the north cliff, the bamboo is cut on the top of the head, the spring is on the cliff, the pulse hangs the dividing line, and the beads under the eaves are as thin as rain and dew, and the drops are scattered with the wind. Its four places are within the reach of eyes and ears. There are brilliant valley flowers in spring, Shimen brook clouds in summer, tiger creek moon in autumn and furnace peak snow in winter. (Bai Juyi's Lushan Caotang)

Weishui Villa Park, located on the Weihe River in Xi 'an, no longer exists.

Wei water is like a mirror, and carp and mandarin fish are among them. I occasionally hold a bamboo pole and hang it next to it. The breeze blew the fishing line ten feet. Who knows sitting on a fish, but my heart is nowhere. Once upon a time, white-headed people also fished this weiyang. If you don't fish for one person, you will win King Wen at seventy. I am interested in fishing, but I forgot about the mermaid. You can't have both, but it makes autumn water shine. Let's fish as much as possible. Come back and drink my wine. (Bai Juyi, "I catch fish on the Weihe River, and the Weihe River is like a mirror")

In your spare time, it is extremely elegant to sit down and fish and see the beautiful scenery around you.

Bai Juyi's contribution to the history of China gardens is considerable, especially in literati gardens. Bai Juyi has opened a new era. Bai Juyi is written today to let more people know that there is such an outstanding gardener and such a great poet in the history of China.