Classical Gardens of Suzhou

蘇州古典園林

“Classical Chinese garden design， which seeks to recreate natural landscapes in miniature， is nowhere better illustrated than in the nine gardens in the historic city of Suzhou. They are generally acknowledged to be masterpieces of the genre. Dating from the 11th—19th century， the gardens reflect the profound metaphysical importance of natural beauty in Chinese culture in their meticulous design.” This is the assessment of the classical gardens of Suzhou made by UNESCO.

It inscribed the classical gardens of Suzhou， represented by the Humble Administrators Garden， Lingering Garden， Master-of-Nets Garden and the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty on the World Heritage List in 1997. In 2000， UNESCO approved the extension of the inscribed property of the classical gardens of Suzhou to include the Canglang Pavilion， the Lion Grove Garden， the Garden of Cultivation， the Couples Garden Retreat， and the Retreat & Reflection Garden.

The classical gardens of Suzhou date back to the 6th century BC when the city was founded as the capital of the Wu Kingdom. Inspired by these royal hunting gardens built by the King of the State of Wu， private gardens began emerging around the 4th century and reached its first peak after the development during the Qin and Han Dynasties. Gardens by the scholars prospered in the Sui and Tang Dynasties， and various rich human elements resulted because different garden builders who created them had their own interpretation of the natural mountain and water gardens.

“沒有任何地方比歷史名城蘇州的九大園林更能體現中國古典園林設計‘咫尺之內再造乾坤的理想。蘇州園林被公認是實現這一設計思想的杰作。這些建造于11世紀至19世紀的園林，以其精雕細琢的設計，折射出中國文化取法自然而又超越自然的深邃意境?！边@是聯合國教科文組織對蘇州古典園林做出的評價。

1997年，該組織將以拙政園、留園、網師園、環秀山莊為代表的蘇州古典園林列入世界遺產名錄。2000年，該組織又將滄浪亭、獅子林、藝圃、耦園、退思園一并作為擴展項目列入世界遺產名錄。

蘇州古典園林的歷史可追溯至公元前6 世紀，當時蘇州這座城市是吳國的都城。受吳王建造的皇家狩獵園林的啟發，私家園林于公元4 世紀開始涌現，后經秦漢發展后達到第一個高峰。直至隋唐，文人園林在此興起，濃郁的人文氣息也因造園者的不同，而被賦予在自然山水園林間。

Today， more than 50 of these gardens are still in existence， nine of which， mentioned above， are regarded as the finest embodiments of Chinese “Mountain and water” gardens. They are noted for the combination of exquisite craftsmanship， artistic elegance and rich cultural implications.

Garden masters from each dynasty adapted various techniques to artfully simulate nature by skillfully adapting and utilizing the physical space. As the embodiment of aesthetics of Chinese scholars for several centuries， these gardens paved the way for the freehand style of mountain and water gardens which had far-reaching influences on future generations. The main bodies of the Canglang Pavilion， the Lion Grove Garden， the Humble Administrators Garden， and the Lingering Garden are excellent representatives of Chinese private gardens from different periods and they emerged during the Song， Yuan， Ming， and Qing Dynasties respectively. Walking through these gardens is like viewing vivid elegant scrolls of Chinese mountain and water paintings of different historical periods.

Generally speaking， the garden-building art of the classical gardens of Suzhou is demonstrated in the perfect arrangement of such elements of mountains， rocks， water， and wood to attain the beauty beyond natural mountains and water. These private gardens， concealed in the prosperous city and dotted with rooms， pavilions， halls， and waterside pavilions， create miniature worlds in limited spaces and finally form the perfect freehand style integration of the ideas and pursuits of Chinese ancient scholars and natural mountains and water.

如今，仍然留存的園林有50 余處。其中，之前提及的九大園林被認為是中國“山水園林”的最佳典范。它們集精湛的工藝、典雅的藝術風格和豐富的文化內涵于一體，并因此聞名于世。

歷代園林大師采用各種技術，通過巧妙地改造和利用物理空間，藝術性地模擬自然。蘇州園林屬于山水園林，濃縮了數個世紀中國文人的審美情趣，其寫意風格對后世影響深遠。滄浪亭、獅子林、拙政園和留園的主體部分分別建成于宋、元、明、清四個朝代，是中國不同時期私家園林的杰出代表。漫步于這些園林中，就好似沿著歷史的脈絡，在翻看一軸軸生動雅致的中國山水畫卷。

總而言之，蘇州古典園林的造園藝術表現為對山、石、水、木等要素的完美運用，以達到超越自然山水之美。這些深藏于繁華都市中的私家園林，處處點綴著軒、亭、閣、榭，成就了方寸天地間的萬千世界，最終形成中國古代文人思想與自然山水完美融合的寫意之境。

Word Bank

utilize /'ju?t?la?z/ v. 使用；運用

conceal /k?n'si?l/ v. 隱藏；隱瞞

Tim could barely conceal his disappointment.

pursuit /p?'sju?t/ n. 追求；尋找