A surprising glimpse—appreciation of Suzhou gardens

After returning from a quick trip to Suzhou, I developed a strong interest in the gardens of Suzhou City, so I looked up some information, sorted it out briefly, and combined what I saw and heard, recorded as follows:

< p> Due to limited time, I only visited one garden in the Humble Administrator’s Garden during my trip to Suzhou. It happened to be a weekend and the garden was crowded with people, hanging out with friends, and children playing. It was very much like the scene in an open park, so at the beginning I just walked around stupidly with the flow of people, looking here and there, not knowing what the beauty of this garden was.

Fortunately, although our tour guide was obviously not working hard, we found a passionate uncle tour guide while wandering around. So I followed the uncle decisively and felt a little bit of the garden. Fun:

First of all, it is the concept of one window and one scene in the garden, using reality to paint. Every hollow window is a vibrant natural freehand. I collected some pictures on the Internet, as shown below:

The second is the ingenious conceptual design. There is a lake and three mountains in the central garden of the Humble Administrator's Garden. There are four small pavilions on the mountain, and each pavilion is surrounded by plants that bloom in different seasons. The plants correspond to the meaning of spring, summer, autumn and winter. Different flowers and trees can be enjoyed in different seasons. Flowers accompany each other throughout the year and are suitable for each one, hence the name Four Seasons Pavilion. (I don’t know which garden the picture below is, just guess~)

The third is Shifang, just one sentence is enough to make people admire: the famous Shifang in the Summer Palace in Beijing is a concept learned from here. If you don’t believe it, there are pictures to prove it (summer and winter):

But the most famous one is undoubtedly the concept of borrowed scenery. The Beita Temple in the picture on the left matches well with the beautiful scenery in the garden, and can be viewed from multiple angles. The picture on the right is not a scene from the Humble Administrator's Garden, but its artistic conception transcends ordinary windows and scenes, which is amazing.

Finally, here are a few things I learned from the documentary Six Records of Suzhou and some personal thoughts:

1. In order to ensure the cleanliness of the lake water circulation, there are always springs at the bottom of the lake. This is the case in the Political Garden

2. The stones in the garden are very particular, such as the thin and wrinkled Taihu stone, and the carefully designed mountain stacking technique

3. The Humble Administrator's Garden and the Lingering Garden , Master of the Nets Garden, and Lion Grove are several famous Suzhou gardens; among them, the Lion Grove is a religious garden (Buddhism)

4. Gardening is a delicate art. Without mood, there is no appreciation, and this kind of mood is the opposite of impetuousness. Although it is not difficult to get to know each other, it may not be easy to understand. Those who wade in shallow water will get fish and shrimps, and those who wade in deep water will get dragons.

5. The beauty of a garden is that it must be alive and listen to the sounds of frogs, fish and birds. To the vision, there are flowers and willows protecting it, to the sense of hearing, there are residual raindrops, and to the sense of smell, there is a faint fragrance floating around, which makes you feel relaxed and happy. Observe the changes in the four seasons.

6. Historical changes of gardens. The garden during the war was once used as a horse breeding ground. After the restoration by later generations, the dust of history was washed away.

7. The relationship between Su style bonsai and Suzhou gardens

8. In the construction of new Suzhou, carved beams are easy to construct, but ancient trees are hard to find. How to strike a balance between protection and life in the ancient city. Ancient city area, industrial zone, high-tech zone. Reflection on the phenomenon of tourists wandering around, the spread of culture and the maintenance of culture.

9. The difference and connection between Suzhou architecture and Huizhou architecture (personal); Six Notes on a Floating Life (personal)