Ⅰ
The origin of Chinese gardens may be traced to You（囿）and Yuan（园）of ancient China,or Yuan（苑）in the book A Study of the Han Dynasty Customs（汉制考）.All these Chinese characters mean“fenced land”.According to the first Chinese etymological dictionary Explanation of Characters（说文，～2nd century AD）You（囿）and Yuan（苑）are designed for the purpose of keeping and breeding animals,while Yuan（园）and Pu（圃）are created as a means of growing fruits and vegetables respectively.People are assigned in charge of these lands.According to Rites of Zhou（周礼,～2nd century,BC）,the Primary Administrator（大宰）of the Heaven Office（天官）ordained nine duties to the commoners,the second of which is to manage Yuan（园）or Pu（圃）by way of cultivating trees and grass.Also recorded in Rites of Zhou is that the Manager of You（囿人）in the Earth Office（地官）takes charge of shepherding and breeding animals,whereas the Master of Load（载师）cares for transforming the land into Yuan（园）and Pu（圃）.
Construction of You（囿）or Pu（圃）started as early as the time of Xi Wei（豨韦）or Huang Di（黄帝）respectively.Later,during the period of the three ancient Chinese dynasties-Hsia,Shang and Zhou（22nd century to 17th century BC）,Yuan（苑）and You（囿）were designed as hunting grounds.For example,King Wen of the Zhou dynasty,Ji Chang（周文王，姬昌）,built a You（囿）for the people to collect firewood and hunt for wild birds and rabbits.
Starting from the Qin and the Han dynasties,the function of gardens was gradually shifted into places for exclusive enjoyment of the emperor,with elaborately designed and decorated buildings.Some of them were very large according to historic records.The first emperor of a unified China,Ying Zheng of the Qin dynasty（秦始皇，嬴政）constructed the Palace Qin across both banks of the Wei River,covering an area of 300 Li（a distance unit used in ancient China,one Li is equal to 0.5 kilometer）.Emperor Wu of the Han dynasty,Liu Che（汉武帝,刘彻）built Shang Lin Yuan（上林苑）,Gan Quan Yuan（甘泉苑）,as well as Tai Ye Chi（太液池）,to north of the Jian Zhang Palace（建章宫）.
The King Xiao of Liang,Liu Wu（梁孝王,刘武）started to put up rockery in his Tu Yuan（兔园）.The emperor Wen of the Wei dynasty,Cao Pi（魏文帝,曹丕）built Fang Lin Yuan（芳林园）and the emperor Yang of the Sui dynasty,Yang Guang（隋炀帝,杨广）constructed Xi Yuan（西苑）.The Emperor Yi Zong of the Tang dynasty,Li Cui（唐懿宗,李漼）set out to transform Yuan（苑）into a prototype of Chinese gardens by planting arbors and piling rockery in it.The garden Gen Yue（艮岳）built by the Emperor Hui Zhong of Northern Song dynasty,Zhao Jie（宋徽宗,赵佶）,is the most documented garden in historical texts.
After the Song dynasty migrated south,there were built various gardens such as Yu Jin（玉津）,Ju Jing（聚景）,Ji Fang（集芳）,in the area of Lin’an（临安,now Hangzhou杭州）.The emperor Kublai Khan of the Yuan dynasty（元始祖,忽必烈）built Tai Ye Chi（太液池）of Long Live Hill based on the island Qiong Hua（琼华岛）of the Liao and the Jing dynasties.During the periods of the Ming and the Qing dynasties,in light of traditional customs,many new style gardens were brought into being for the sake of emperors,such as West Yuan（西苑）,South Yuan（南苑）,as well as Chang Chun（畅春）,Qing Yi（清漪）,and Yuan Min（Old Summer Palace,圆明）in the western suburbs of Beijing.
The development of private gardens can be traced back to Yuan Guanghan（袁广汉）of the Han dynasty,who constructed a garden at the foot of Mount Bei Mang（北邙山）located north of Luoyang.This garden covered an area of four Li in the east-west direction,and five Li along the north-south direction.It was a huge garden with ranges of rockeries and a variety of animals kept within their bounds.Liang Ji（梁冀）built several Yuans and Yous which were distributed in an area thousands of li in extension,bordered by Hong Nong（弘农）to the west,Ying Yang（荥阳）to the east,Lu Yang（鲁阳）to the south,and He Qi（河淇）to the north.Treasury Minister of the Han dynasty,Zhang Luen（汉司农,张伦）,built the garden Jing Yang Shan（景阳山）,in close imitation of natural landscape,highlighting the achievements of the art of garden architecture.In addition,Ru Hao（茹皓）,an artisan of Wu region,built towers and pavilions around the grotesque rocks collected from Bei Mang（北邙）and Nan Shan（南山）,and channeled natural springs to waterthe garden flowers.The above-mentioned gardens were all initial attempts at imitating the sceneries of nature.
During the period of the Wei,the Jing and the Six dynasties,China was undergoing a dramatic change in ideology and was inflicted with the most incessant warfare in Chinese history.A class of scholar-officials,who maintained an elegant living style,enjoyed a simple and refined life and upheld Buddhism prevalent at the time,started to think of quitting politics and to spend time worshiping Buddha for self cultivation.They hankered after an idyllic life in nature while actually residing within cities.This philosophy led to a boom in poetry eulogizing nature and an emergence of paintings depicting wild mountains and rivers.Consequently,these officials started to set up gardens adjacent to their residence in order to pursue their ideal.
The preface to the essay Back to Nature（思归引序）by Shi Chong（石崇）reveals a couple of guiding principles in the design of his Jin Gu Yuan（Garden of Golden Valley,金谷园）,i.e.to“avoid the hustle and bustle”and“exult in the beauty of nature”.These thoughts also found their way into many other essays such as Biography of Xiao Tong（梁书·萧统传）in the Liang dynasty,A Warming Note from Xu Mian to Zi Song（徐勉戒子嵩书）in the South Liang dynasty,and Rhapsody of Garden by Yu Xin（庾信小园赋）of the Liang dynasty.The gardens built during the Tang dynasty,such as Lang Tian Villa（蓝田别墅）of Song Zhiwen（宋之问）,Ping Quan Villa（平泉别墅）of Li Deyu（李德裕）,and Wang Chuan Villa（辋川别业）of Wang Wei（王维）,all pride in a magnificent view of bamboo islets and flowery docks and display an interest in verdant creeks and clear water.In these gardens,the man-made scenes resemble strongly those wrought by the forces of nature.On the other hand,in his Cao Tang（草堂）,the poet Bai Juyi（白居易）incorporated elements of nature into the design by borrowing scenery from the surrounding.The article Famous Gardens of Luoyang（洛阳名园记）written by Li Gefei（李格非）of the Song dynasty records major gardens in Luoyang region from the Sui and the Tang dynasties to the Northern Song dynasty,such as the Garden of Duke Fu Zheng（富郑公园）.Another article of the same period by Zhou Mi（周密）,entitled Records of Gardens in Wuxing Area（吴兴园林记）documents the gardens in the Southern Song dynasty in Wuxing area,such asthe Garden of Minister Shen（沈尚书园）.The garden design as chronicled in these articles is already very close to that of the present day.
There was an explosive growth of gardens during the Ming and the Qing dynasties.These gardens are too numerous to be cited individually,but it is worthwhile to mention a few here just as examples,such as Shao Yuan（勺园）and Man Yuan（漫园）in Beijing;Ying Yuan（影园）,Jiu Feng Yuan（九峰园）and Ma Shi Ling Long Guan（马氏玲珑馆）in Yangzhou;An Lan Yuan（安澜园）in Haining;Xiao You Tian Yuan（小有天园）in Hangzhou;as well as Dong Yuan（东园）and others described in the essay Tour of Various Gardens in Jingling（游金陵诸园记）written by Wang Shizhen（王世贞）of the Ming dynasty.
Quite a few ancient gardens have survived up till now,such as Gao Yuan（皋园）in Hangzhou,Shi Yuan（适园）,Yi Yuan（宜园）,Xiao Lian Zhuang（小莲庄）in Nanxun,Yu Garden（豫园）in Shanghai,Yan Yuan（燕园）in Changshou,Gu Yi Garden（古猗园）in Nanxiang and Ji Chang Yuan（寄畅园）in Wuxi.Most of them are found in Suzhou and its surrounding areas.In the following we will focus on the historical development of Suzhou gardens for illustration.