Ⅳ
The typical gardens in the region south of Yangtze are small in scale,but are adorned with picturesque sceneries of steep cliffs and deep gorges along clear streams and emerald pools.Qian Yong（钱泳）said:“building a garden is just like writing a poem.It must be structured according to the rules.” The best garden should have such architectural elements as hills,ponds,pavilions,halls,and verandas in a way that offers ever refreshing,enchanting and kaleidoscopic scenes and that does not fall into any pre-existing norms.Therefore,in terms of planning and space design,it is highly desirable to make the landscape look more expansive,eye-catching and ever-changing.In general,overall garden planning in Suzhou can be grouped into several categories as described below.
Water as the theme of the garden:In this type of design a water body is located in the middle of a garden surrounded by halls and pavilions connected by verandas.Small bridges sit astride the water to provide easy access.In a large pond,it is advisable to put up some islets.These types of designs are found in gardens such as Wang Shi Yuan（The Master-of-Nets Garden,网师园）and the central part of Yi Yuan（The Garden of Pleasance,怡园）.Chang Yuan at Miao Tang Xiang（The Garden of Free Will,庙堂巷畅园）is situated within a relatively constricted space.Its design is as delicate as that of a bonsai.A small body of water lies in the middle,surrounded by verandas and buildings.The theme of the Lingering Garden seems to be the water body in its center section.However,Master Liu Dunzhen（刘敦桢）believes that,when this garden is viewed in its entirety,its theme is actually the group of structures in its east section.This opinion definitely deserves consideration.
Hills and rocks as the theme:This is an accepted practice when there is no readily available water source or low land within the garden.In such a case,it becomes a necessity to use hills and rocks as a theme to accentuate the landscape.The garden of Cheng family in Xi Bai Hua Xiang（西百花巷程氏园）is an example of such design.Huan Xiu Shang Zhuang（The Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty,环秀山庄）occupies a small land,where it is difficult to dig a large pond.As a consequence the designer picked hills and rocks as the themeand introduced springs to make them come to life.Well-nourished,the moss turns green and the grass becomes lush.The whole landscape is an image of nature.
In case of designing a garden with an expansive water surface,there is a lot of flexibility.Usually,this type of gardens is relatively large.Its site planning should not be restricted by any hard and fast rules.For the large gardens such as the Humble Administrator’s Garden and Wu Mu Yuan（the Five Acres Garden,五亩园）wide vision and variability are the keys to site planning.For example,the hills in the center section of the Humble Administrator’s Garden are transformed with human hand into nature-like scenery with“flat hilltop and smooth slopes along the curved sand shores”,as described by Zhang Lian（张涟）in his essay.Ji Cheng（计成）wrote in Yuan Ye（Craft of Gardens,园冶）that“a garden should look as if created by nature though it is made through human efforts”.Master Liu Dunzheng held that“water body in a garden should be concentrated,allowing only a small part diverted.In a small garden,concentration of water body is better than dispersed water system.In a large garden dispersing water body is viable but it should be done as a foil to the concentrated water area”.Both the Humble Administrator’s Garden and the Master-of-Nets Garden are exemplary designs of this type in Suzhou gardens.
Placement of a pond in front of Halls and with hills as background:In this deployment the halls are like waterside pavilions astride the waves.When sitting in the lounges,one enjoys a view of hills and rocks far across the pond.This type of layout is witnessed at Yi Pu in Wen Ya Long（The Garden of Cultivation,文衙弄艺圃）.The layout of Fang Chao Yuan（芳草园）on the east side of Bei Shi Ta（the North Temple Pagoda,北寺塔）seems to have some resemblance to this type of design.
Placement of a pond and hills in the center surrounded by buildings and verandas:The array of buildings at different heights harmonize well with the hills and water in the center.This type of layout is rare in Suzhou.The only plausible example is the east side of Ou Yuan at Xiao Xin Qiao Xiang（The Couple’s Garden Retreat,小新桥巷耦园）.The small garden of Han family on Dong Bei Jie（东北街韩氏小园）bears some resemblance to this layout.But there are buildings only on two sides.As regard to Ban Yuan at Zhong You JiXiang（中由吉巷半园）and Song family garden at Xiu Xian Xiang（修仙巷宋氏园）,the buildings cluster only on one side.
The Suzhou gardens built in the Ming era closely resemble natural landscape.These design practices,as summarized by later architects such as Ji Cheng（计成）and Zhang Lian（张涟）,took advantage of the original scenery and made only minor modifications as needed.The rocks used to pile up hills are primarily Huan Shi（yellow rocks,黄石）,as found in the two small hills as well as the mound under the Paeonia Suffruticosa Pavilion in the center section of the Humble Administrator’s Garden.Although yellow rocks are not as exquisite as Hu Shi（lake stone,湖石）in shape,the hills piled with yellow rocks look just as natural if done properly,without any affected air and any risk of collapse.Many fresh ideas and techniques may be discovered from studying these traditional designs in detail and hence can be applicable to today’s garden construction.
During the Qing dynasty,the use of lake stones in rockery design became popular.So much so that there emerged a trend of coveting more rockeries and seeking the novelty of their structure.The number of rockeries and the quality of a single rockery thus became the sole criterion in evaluating the superiority of a garden.A typical example is the construction of the Garden of Pleasance,for which the best lake rocks from three garden ruins in Dong Ting Mountain area were used.However,in its northwest section,the stone skeletons of the rockeries were exposed and hence lacked any greenery and life.What’s more the statement of“small hills are made out of rocks.”does not mean no use of soil at all in hill construction.Without soil,trees and plants will not be able to subsist.On the other hand,though renovated extensively in Qian Long period of the Qing dynasty,the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty is considered as one of the best gardens in the region south of Yangtze for its superb rockery arrangement.In a small piece of land,probably within a stone’s throw,the mini-landscape of creek running quietly among secluded deep gorges seems to be a natural wonder.In the Song dynasty,a painting technique called“chopping with axe”（“斧劈法”）was developed in painting rocks and hills.This painting style was adopted in the rocky design of the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty,which strikes one with its boldness and force（Page 217）.With winding waterway nurturingthe hillsides and rocks,the cliffs come alive with joyful green.Such an artistic perfection in design cannot be achieved if one has neither life experience nor an ability to put his knowledge into play with facility and dexterity.Here one can see the importance of conscientious study and self-cultivation.
Arrangement of a hill in garden design should be based on the topography of an existing terrain.The natural topography is variable,which makes it impossible to follow a fixed format or pattern in arranging hills in a garden.However,any formation and development in nature has its own law to abide by.Therefore,the saying“learning from Creator is more worthwhile than learning from ancients.”has a grain of truth.Only by thoroughly understanding this philosophy,can one consummate a good design in garden rockery.In brief,one should initiate the design with a careful analysis of existing landscape.In regards to the previous work done by the ancients,one needs to understand its essence of beauty and try to apply it to today’s work.At same time,one should also try to avoid replicating the awkward design done in the past.Unfortunately,this philosophy was not very well followed in Suzhou gardens constructed lately.The majority of these designs were just a jumble of buildings and ponds pieced together without any careful study.A large number of designers fell into the mindset of going by a fixed formula without any iota of innovation.This is especially true of the selection of rocks for stacking.Instead of taking the whole landscape into consideration these people just treat each piece of rock as an antique and rigged up these rocks together without a careful planning of their contrast with plants and their harmony with buildings.As mentioned earlier,the Garden of Pleasance was intended to benefit from the best designs of all the gardens in Suzhou.But the end product is a mere patchwork of structures,which does not signify a success.This is a lesson to today’s garden architects.
As to the water in a garden,what is of necessity is to locate a source.A pond without a source is destined to become stagnant.For example,pre-existing lakes and swamps are used to create water surface in the Humble Administrator’s Garden.A source of water is found in the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty by digging up an underground spring.The spring water is limited in volume but fresh and limpid enough to nurture the plants.
Proper design methods should be applied to create the impression of expansiveness of water surface in spite of a limited garden space.In general,there are two common practices to achieve this effect.The first method is to take advantage of an irregular water surface and sprinkle it with some islets.The islets are all connected via small bridges.With this arrangement,the space over the water is not plainly visible at a glance.The second method is to design with meticulous care of shoreline and upstream sources.The design involves placing various small bays or fjords along the shoreline,which brings about an impression that the water flows from a variety of sources with neither beginning nor ending.It adds a sensation of seclusion by hiding the sources in deep gorges.This effect of illusion is further enhanced by planting reed and wild rice at the upstream sources.However,the latter method is viable for larger gardens.
The building Huo Po Po Di（The Place of Liveliness,活泼泼地）in the Lingering Garden is a waterside pavilion located at the end of a creek.But a part of water still flows underneath the building.With such an arrangement,the pavilion seems to stand over a never ending creek.The water rockery in Hui Yin Yuan at Nan Xian Zhi Xiang（南显子巷惠荫园）is made from layers of carefully stacked rocks.Water is siphoned into the tunnels formed within the rockery.While pacing upon the stepping stones propped up in the water,one feels like walking along deep gorges.And a hut is placed on the top of the cave.This unique structure found in central Wu region is based on the design of Zhao Yiwang’s garden in the South Song era（南宋杭州赵翼王园）.The highlight of the garden Cang Lang Pavilion（沧浪亭）is its rockery.There is a waterside veranda on its east side.This veranda rises in elevation so drastically as to offer a bird’s eye view of the pond deep below.It is unfortunate the design does not fully achieve the dramatic effect because there is no flowing water in the pond.This type of detail should not be neglected in design in order to achieve consummate effect.
As will be discussed in detail later,bridges in Suzhou gardens are typically close to the water surface.The bridges in the Garden of Cultivation are almost level with the water（Page 215）,which sets off the height and steepness of the rocks on the shore.Although the bridges in the Garden of Pleasance are alittle bit away from the water,they are sufficiently lower than the surrounding rockeries,which is still acceptable.What would the contrast be when building a bridge over a small creek? It is not hard to imagine why our ancients used stepping stones instead of a bridge.This method seems more in keeping with natural order.There are few examples of waterfall in Suzhou gardens.The waterfall over the building eave found in the Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty is an exception.
Building structures such as halls,towers,pavilions,kiosks and terraces compose other major elements beside water ponds,creeks,rockeries and hills in Chinese gardens.Gardens in the area south of Yangtze are famed for their tranquility and elegance.The style of building structures in these gardens should be exquisite and in harmony with the surroundings.So their position,terrain and exterior appearance should be taken into consideration.The famous book of Chinese garden construction,Yuan Ye（Craft of Gardens,园冶）,stated:“At the start of a garden construction,one needs to decide how the hall should be built.The building should match the scene.Facing south is preferred.It is also desirable to plant some trees in the courtyard.” This is the principle followed in the construction of the gardens south of Jiangsu,such as the Hall of Distant Fragrance in the Humble Administrator’s Garden and the Han Bi Mountain Villa in the Lingering Garden.
As to the positioning of a hall in a garden,there is no strictly defined principles to go by,though some guidelines and advice can be found in several classic books of Chinese garden construction,such as Yuan Ye,Chang Wu Zhi（Treatise on Superfl uous Things,长物志）,Gong Duan Ying Zao Lu（Notes of Hall Construction,工段营造录）.The following are some guidelines quoted from these books.“Form of a building accords with the base on which it is built.”“Arrangement of a building should be consistent with its surrounding.” “Each aspect of the design should be considered separately to meet its own need.” “Each corner is wrought according to its own feature.” “A bower should be hidden in a grove.A kiosk should be positioned by water.” In summary,one should not fall into a rut in designing a hall.In stead,one should proceed from the construction of a garden in its entirety and use some common sense in hall design.
Take the Humble Administrator’s Garden as an example.If we take an aerial view of the garden,we can find that its buildings mix themselves harmoniously with the changing landscape.Their exterior look is elegant and sprightly,no matter what plane views are presented,rectangular,square,polygon,or circle.There is also a rich variety of roof styles,including the gable roof with either flushing purlins or outstanding purlins（硬山，悬山）,or the gableon-hip roof either on both gable sides or on single gable side（歇山，单面歇山）,or the pyramid-like pointed shape roof（攒尖）.The only exception is the palace-like hip roof,that is to say,a hip roof with a heavy eave structure and a heavy outstanding ridge（庑殿式）.Most roofs in the garden are without the main ridge,making a smooth curving transition at its top line（卷棚式）.The upturned corner eave adopts a“water spraying”style（“水戗发戗”）,which starts the upturning at a low angle and thus looks light.This light touch of corner eave is in line with the intricate decorative border beneath the eaves,as well as the balustrade called“Backrest for King Wu”（吴王靠）slightly curved between the building pillars.
Regarding the elevated structure of buildings,the center section of the Lingering Garden is a good example.Looking eastward from the Osmanthus Fragrance Pavilion,the Winding Stream Tower comes in view with its gableon-hip roof.Its ground floor is designed like a foundation of a platform,with architrave in parallel to the water and separated from the upper floor.With such an arrangement,this two stages tower does not look overwhelming in height.The locations of the three buildings,namely,the Winding Stream Tower,the Western Tower,and the Refreshing Breeze Pavilion by the Lake,hold off from each other.The roof structures of these three buildings are of the same type but each is slightly distinctive in its own way.Such arrangement matches well with the rockeries and water around them.A contrast of virtual and real visions of architrave and wall is created through the arrangement of brick framed tracery windows casting sparse and light flowery patterns.This is a unique feature found in Suzhou gardens.In particular,with the reflection of all these structures in the water the beauty of the scenery beggars any description.Set off by such a milieu,an aged tree leaning lonely over water seems more sturdy and vigorous.
Another prototype of flexible hall design is witnessed in the Han Bi Mountain Villa and the Pellucid Tower in the Lingering Garden.These two buildings are attached to each other.The roof structure of the Villa is a gable roof with flushing purlins on both sides.The roof structure of the Tower is a hybrid one,a simple gable with flushing perlins on the side attached to the Villa and a gable-on-hip structure on the open side.Usually,this special hybrid roof design would have looked odd when applied to a single independent building.Nevertheless,when applied in this particular case,the two adjacent buildings look more lively instead（Page 159）.A similar example is Chang Yuan（The Garden of Free Will,畅园）.This garden is narrow in width.With a pond in the middle,there is little space to build a pavilion.Consequently,a single side gable-on-hip structure is used in the place of waterside pavilion.
On the other hand,there are some cases in which the building design needs to be re-considered.One example is the pavilion at the corner of the east section of the Lingering Garden.A hexagonal pyramid roof structure is used in this case.In order to seek a visually delicate and graceful effect,a“spraying water”style is adopted on its upturning corner eaves.However,the pillars are too thin and too tall to support such a roof structure.Consequently,this pavilion looks out of proportion.The Free Roaring Pavilion and the Delightful Pavilion are both located in the west section of the Lingering Garden.These two pavilions both suffer from disproportions.The Free Roaring Pavilion is small but not delicate.The roof of the Delightful Pavilion seems too heavy though full of variation.Indeed,this is a common problem in recent pavilion construction in Suzhou region.The modern time artisans of Xian Shan generation preferred pavilion structure with overly high roof and thin columns.The exterior look of these pavilions is not necessarily attractive.This modern design is divergent from the Ming style design found in Yi Pu（The Garden of Cultivation,艺圃）,which has a slightly lower roof structure to enhance the stability of a building.
In the last analysis any single building design should be conceived in light of the whole garden arrangement.As to plane variability the design calls for a fluent and smooth flow in a winding pathway as well as a feeling of spaciousness in a densely furnished hall.The size of a building is completely dependanton its need and milieu.It can be as small as one bay or two bays,some times even two and half bays.The Malus Spectabilis Garden Court in the Humble Administrator’s Garden is only a two bays court,with the major bay obviously wider than the other.The Worshipping Stone Pavilion in the Lingering Garden is two and half bays wide,among which the half bay is the most intriguing.Only up to this point one can really appreciate the design principles presented in the classic book Yuan Ye（Craft of Gardens）.High and low in profiling,left and right in balancing,virtual and real in contrasting,every aspect is not to be ignored in designing a garden building.
The furnishing and decoration of the following places are among the best in Suzhou gardens.They are Wang Shi Yuan（The Master-of-nets Garden,网师园）,the Flower Hall in Gu’s House at Tie Ping Xiang（铁瓶巷顾宅花厅）,Cheng’s Garden in Xi Bai Hua Xiang（西百花巷程氏园）,the Flower Hall in Wu’s House in Da Shi Tou Xiang（大石头巷吴宅花厅）,the east and west Flower Hall in Ren’s House in Tie Ping Xiang（铁瓶巷任宅东西花厅）,as well as Wan’s Garden in Wang Xi Ma Xiang（王洗马巷万氏园）.For additional details on this subject please refer to another book of mine,Collection of Decorative Devices.In particular,Wan’s Garden in Wang Xi Ma Xiang is a small garden but its study is well isolated from the rest of the garden,creating a uniquely secluded environment.In regards to some other gardens,there is much room for improvement in their furnishing and decoration.The Lingering Garden is overly complex.It looks coarse and crude with few exquisite designs in between.In the Humble Administrator’s Garden,although some fine decorations can be found,most are plain and invariant.This is the result of piecing together only what are available during the restoration and repairs.As far as Yi Yuan（The Garden of Pleasance,怡园）is concerned,almost all original furnishings have been lost,except the Boat-Like Pavilion,which is among the best in the central Wu region（Page 229）.
Verandas are the veins and arteries of a garden.They deserve special attention due to their importance.Double-corridor verandas are quite common in today’s Suzhou gardens.This is a kind of veranda with a wall in the middle separating the verandah into two sides.Tracery windows（see my writing On Tracery Windows for additional details）are built in this center wall.The twosides of the verandah are available for passage and often referred to as inner or outer corridor respectively.The double-corridor veranda is used mostly as the boundary of an open style garden,such as the one along the water in Cang Lang Pavilion（沧浪亭,Page 261）.It is used also inside a garden as a division in order to increase an illusion of spaciousness or as a transition between the entry and the garden interior.One such example is the double-corridor veranda found in Yi Yuan（The Garden of Pleasance,怡园,Page 224）.Other than the function mentioned above,this double corridor also provides a shade to Sui Han Cao Lu（the Evergreen Thatched Cottage,岁寒草庐）and Bai Shi Xuan（the Rock Fetish Pavilion 拜石轩）.It protects the two buildings from the afternoon sunshine and the strong west wind.On the other hand,the sunlight sieving through the tracery windows of the partition wall makes a fantastic view of intricate lattice patterns.
In general,verandas can be classified according to their location into those on land and those by water.It is also possible to categorize verandas in terms of their shape into winding verandas and straight verandas.The shape of a veranda should avoid being flat and straight.On the other hand the verandas in present day Suzhou gardens are overly windy by design.This type of designs lacks a natural touch and looks stilted.An example of such design is the passage along the north wall of the central section in the Lingering Garden.This veranda is accosted by a brick balustrade,which seems stifling and does not match the decorative border at the top.The placement of columns between stone tablets further adds oppressiveness to the design.A better design is achieved by using hollow bricks for the waterside verandas found in both Ren’s House in Tie Ping Xiang（铁瓶巷任宅）and the west side of the Humble Administrator’s Garden.For the veranda“A Winding Way in Willow Shades”（柳阴路曲）in the Humble Administrator’s Garden,wood balustrade is used on the waterfront side,while Wu Wang Kao（Backrest for King Wu,吴王靠,a bench style balustrade with straight upward backrest）is placed on the opposite side.This type of veranda design stands to reason（Page 128）.
The best waterside veranda can be found in the west side of the Humble Administrator’s Garden（Page 132）.There is not only an extremely welldesigned zigzag passage,but also a slight slope.This is just like what is called“floating veranda takes you across the water.”in Yuan Ye（Craft of Gardens,园冶）.The planting of plantain or the setup of a lake stone rockery along selected winding areas of the veranda with small waterside pavilions standing by are some of the highlights in this design（Page 133-134）.
Ascending verandas can be found along border walls of various Suzhou gardens.This type of veranda is used sparingly in gardens such as Shi Zi Lin（The Lion Forest Garden,狮子林）,the Lingering Garden,and the Humble Administrator’s Garden.It is important to pay attention to the relationship of the veranda’s slope with the hill’s height.Otherwise,an improperly designed ascending veranda would be top heavy and out of balance.If the space available is limited or uneven in width,it is advisable to use either a single side slope,or combination of single side and two sides slope as needed.This type of design can be found in the west part of the Lingering Garden.The planting of bamboo or plantain,and placement of lake stones along the inside corners of a winding veranda will always result in a spot of wonderful scenery.
Li Dou（李斗）wrote“A wooden structure along with brick walls makes a passage.When the passage is curved along a land slope it becomes a touring passage.If the passage is both curved and bended along its way,it is turned into a winding verandah.When curvature is removed,it makes for an addressed pathway.If two ways run opposite to each other,it is called a paired way.Those for the purpose of passage are walkways.If for wandering,it is named stepping way.When leading to a bamboo grove,it is designated as a bamboo path.When built by the water it is addressed as a waterside verandah.At some places it sits against cliff,with high rail.At other places it stands over the water,with boats flowing beneath.Here and there,it looms in the flower grove.Now and then,it emerges at the shore.At most places it winds among pavilions,towers,and halls,providing an easy passage.A verandah cannot miss its rail.A verandah with a nice rail is just like a beauty wearing a pretty short sleeve which gives prominence to her slender waist.Putting boards over the rail makes a flyingin bench,or what is called Backrest for Beauty（美人靠）.The portion of a veranda with wide interior space is called Xuan（轩,a verandah type hall）.”Li Do’s writing provides a detailed overview of verandas and serves as a good reference.Nowadays some applications of garden verandah have been found.For example,the veranda lined on both sides with plantain is called a Ba Lang（Plantain-thronged Veranda）,while a verandah ringed with willow trees is called a Liu Lang（Willow-sheltered Veranda）.These verandas offer verdant shade to keep the passage cool during summer while in winter are bathed in warm sunshine.During ancient times,some verandas were used as a gallery to exhibit paintings.In recent years,some of these verandas are decorated with inlaid stone tablets inscribed with poems on the surface.All these are superb adaptations of ancient verandas.
Bridge is an integral part of a garden.In a garden,a bridge to the water is as significant as a verandah to the road.Clapper bridge is the most common bridge found in Suzhou gardens.This type of bridges can be categorized into several styles including straight bridge,zigzag bridge with three,five or nine bends,and arc shaped bridge.The height of the bridge can be either level with the shore,as found in more recent designs,or lower than the shore and slightly elevated from the water,as found in the older bridges.The bridges following older design are still available in the Garden of Cultivation,Ji Chang Yuan of Wuxi（Garden for Lodging One’s Expansive Feelings,无锡寄畅园）,and various gardens in Cangshu（Page 270）.The bridges found in the Garden of Pleasance as well as in the ruins of Yan family garden in Mudu also bear resemblance to this design,but they are slightly higher in elevation from the water surface.In my view,the older design is motivated to achieve the following effects.Above all,walking through a bridge at water level gives people a feeling of treading the water.It enhances the perception of vastness of the water and of precariousness of the bridge.Secondly,a lower bridge surface will form a sharp contrast with the height of the surrounding buildings and hills.The steepness of cliffs and buildings seem more impressive.The bridge in the Garden for Lodging One’s Expansive Feelings is arranged in a secluded canyon beneath a plateau.Behind the plateau is the transferred scene of Hui Mountain in distance.This arrangement demonstrates the complexity of garden design techniques employed during the Ming dynasty.
On the other hand,clapper bridges are often not deployed very carefully in today’s gardens.They are designed without consideration of the surrounding landscape and the size of the bridge.In particular,the balustrade design is incompatible with both the bridge and surrounding environment in terms of its height and style.In some designs,there are even wrought iron balustrades typically found in semi-feudal and semi-colonial times.The bridge in the west section of the Humble Administrator’s Garden is such an example.
Regarding some good bridge designs,the small bridges in the Garden of Cultivation and the Leaning against Rainbow Bridge in the Humble Administrator’s Garden（Page 96）are among the most admirable.The height of balustrade for the two zigzag bridges in the center section of the Humble Administrator’s Garden is also appropriate.However,both bridges are slightly too elevated from the water surface.There is a stone bridge connecting the two islets where the Orange Pavilion and the Snow-Like Fragrant Prunus Mume Pavilion are located respectively.This bridge is made of only one single stone slab without any balustrades（Page 108）.This is a primitive but praise-worthy bridge design.
The other style of stone bridges in Suzhou gardens is the small stone arch bridge.They can be found in both the Lion Forest Garden and the Master-of-Nets Garden,but the former is not as good as the latter in design.The reason is obvious.In general the water surface in Suzhou gardens is not very large.Arc bridge usually has a giant and solid body.Placing such a bridge across a small pond makes the view rather oppressive.In the Master-of-Nets Garden,this problem has been solved successfully.The bridge body there is quite small.It is built at the end of the water（Page 219）.When viewed from the west,an exquisite reflection of the bridge is clearly visible in the expansive water.And conversely,when looked from the east of the bridge,a moon gate is mirrored in the water.The effect of these two arrangements is similar.In Ban Yuan at Zhong You Ji Xiang（中由吉巷半园）,the arc under the bridge is deformed to adapt to the available limited space.As regarding the way across a creek,the book Yuan Ye（Craft of Gardens,园冶）said“laying small stepping stones”is a more natural and much better approach than building a bridge.It is unfortunate this style of design is almost lost today.
The road in a garden is noted in the monograph Provision of Leisure（清闲供）as“the trail inside a gate must be winding”and“the way beside a house must be extendable to all directions”.For example,the trails in the center section of the Humble Administrator’s Garden follow the original Ming dynasty architectural arrangement.They are winding in a graceful fashion along the land-shaped profile.There is a clear distinction between primary and auxiliary roads.The trails in Huan Xiu Shan Zhuang（The Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty,环秀山庄）are more curvy and winding due to the limited space of the garden.But they are arranged properly and intriguingly.On the other hand,the trails in Shi Zi Lin（The Lion Forest Garden,狮子林）and Yi Yuan（The Garden of Pleasance,怡园）are interlaced with each other in a way that is both unnatural and inexplicable.Indeed,any cutesy arrangement in the garden far removed from the nature is not truly artistic and should be avoided.
The pavement is another important aspect in the design of a garden.The pavements of a court front,a trail,or a main road are equally important and need to be considered carefully.In today’s Suzhou gardens,bricks are commonly used to pave the main road.Its paving is relatively simple,and easy to form various patterns.Gravel pavements can be used on either road or courtyard ground.It is usually speckled with clay or porcelain discs to form patterns.The pavements made of cobblestone,or cobblestone with porcelain discs are more elaborate and elegant than the pavements using brick or gravel.But they call for more maintenance.The earth filled between cobblestones gets lost after rain wash or road sweeping and hence needs to be refilled regularly.Weeds growing in the earth also need to be removed periodically.
Ice cracking pavement is a special technique featuring the courtyard ground.Two kinds of this pavement are applied in the region south of Jiangsu.The first kind is just to place natural rocks on the ground leaving ice cracking veins around them,such as the pavement in front of the Hall of Distant Fragrance in the Humble Administrator’s Garden（Page 152）.It looks natural,but has a difficulty to make the pavement evenly spaced.Another kind is to cut the rocks into slabs and then to match up these irregular slabs while paving,leaving crevices between them,such as the pavements in front of Han Bi Mountain Villa in the LingeringGarden（Page 198）and Hua Ting（the Flower Hall）in Gu’s House at Tie Ping Xiang（Page 241）.This is a very difficult paving job.But it gives a solid and neat ground surface.Another related structure is the steps in front of a hall.Piling natural stones to form the steps creates an air of wilderness.A case in point is the kind of steps in front of the Hall of Distant Fragrance in the Humble Administrator’s Garden（Page 152）and the Celestial Hall of Five Peaks of the Lingering Garden（Page 173）.
Various kinds of walls are erected in Chinese gardens,such as gravel wall,water-milled brick wall,latticed brick wall,and stucco wall.Among them stucco wall is the most common in today’s Suzhou gardens.Some times,tiles are put on top of outer wall to form a latticed top portion.In most cases inner walls are inlaid with brick-framed windows or tracery windows.This is commonly referred to as“flowery patterns on white-washed wall”.The application of water-milled wall is limited to building structure.Most entrance gate wall is built by laying water-milled bricks in various patterns.A good example is the gate wall of the Humble Administrator’s Garden（Page 83）.A wall can be divided to upper and lower parts.The lower part is called wall shirt.A short portion just above the wall skirt is called skirt shoulder.In Chinese gardens,gravel wall is mostly found at this portion of the wall.In an ancient house in Shanghai,I saw a very refined wall with ice cracking pattern dotted with plum flower,which is believed to be from the Ming dynasty.In the West Garden（戒幢寺西园）,a latticed window wall is built across water,a unique device indeed（Page 252）.
Antithetical couplet and horizontal tablet are important and necessary decorative elements in Chinese gardens.Their role is just like what the beard and the eyebrows play for a man.Suzhou is a region where assemble many talented people.Many writers and painters living in this region are involved in garden design.They are looking forward to a place full of idyllic charm comparable to that of natural landscape and famous scenery spots.Or they yearn for a site which can materialize the splendid artistic conception expressed in their poems and paintings.Therefore,they have penned the most elegant and beautiful phrases to describe the objects in a garden,including rockery,creeks,trees,hills,pavilions or halls.
These writings of couplets or tablets epitomize the fair sceneries,triggering people’s passion and longing for things of beauty.For example,both the Hall of Distant Fragrance and the Stay and Listen Pavilion in the Humble Administrator’s Garden are places for enjoying lotus flowers.The name“Distant Fragrance”originated from the phrase“Faint fragrance wafted from afar（香远益清）”,while the name of“Stay and Listen”derived from“Listen to the rain spattering on the remnant leaves of lotus（留得残荷听雨声）”.The Osmanthus Fragrance Pavilion in the Lingering Garden and the Malus Spectabilis Garden Court in the Humble Administrator’s Garden are both named after the species of trees planted in the surrounding areas.It is expected that a large variety of new literary writings will be produced by those people who get inspired through journeying these sceneries.This is a unique feature of Chinese garden culture.I wish this culture would be preserved as much as possible for our future.
There is a rich collection of antithetical couplets and horizontal tablets in many of the Suzhou gardens.In Yi Yuan（The Garden of Pleasance,怡园）,there are some antithetical couplets adopted from Song lyrics which express the sceneries extremely well.It is unfortunate that most of them have not survived.As regarding the material used to make couplets and tablets,due to the rough wind the majority of autographs are incised on the board of gingko and then filled with Shi Lv（石绿,a special material used in autograph incision）.Sometimes,the incision is covered by other cold color paint.Incisions on bricks are also seen in some gardens.They look nice and clean.Scripts such as seal script,clerical script,or semi-cursive script are the calligraphy styles used most frequently in couplets and horizontal tablets.This is because of their primitive and simple forms.On the other hand,regular script is rarely used.The Chinese calligraphy carving is an art by itself,and is of the same origin as the Chinese painting.It definitely enhances the beauty of gardens.
The importance of plants in a garden is well understood.In particular,the gardens in the region south of Yangtze are small,and most are enclosed by high walls on all sides.In selecting and cultivating flowers and plants,meticulous care should be taken of their location,sunny or shady,their position,high or low,their rate of growth,quick or slow,their resistance to cold,strong or weak,and their shape,simple or sophisticated.First priority should be given to the arrangement of plants and rockery and their compatibility with the scenery.In Chinese gardens,rockeries and ponds are a miniature of nature.Plants should be arranged with care and be prevented from growing wildly.It is important to limit their size and trim their form routinely.Otherwise,gnarled branches by the water and twisted roots around rocks will make a scene look wizened and spiritless.Once Li Gefei（李格非）said aptly:“Better effort in design can avoid a wizened and worn scene.”
In Suzhou,one can find a variety of plants in different gardens.For example,elm is grown mainly as big trees in the Humble Administrator’s Garden.In Lingering Garden,gingko is frequently found in the center section while maple is spread all over the hill in its west part.Yi Yuan（The Garden of Pleasance,怡园）is a small garden.Accordingly,the trees planted there include cassia,pine,and lacebark pine.In particular,the lacebark pine is small in size and assumes a simple shape.This is one of the most precious species of trees for a small garden.Other trees such as pine,plum,palm,or boxwood are also cultivated in Suzhou gardens.These trees tend to have long growth cycles.For a small garden ringed with high walls,its land lies mostly in shadow.This requires planting of cold resistant plants along the wall,such as privet,palm or bamboo.The trees chosen for high hillocks should be of the alpine type such as pine and fir.In the crevices between entrance stone steps shadetolerant grass is the best choice.With such an arrangement,a garden will flourish with more evergreens than with deciduous trees,providing a constant source of green throughout the seasons and avoiding sterility during fall and winter.Trees such as elm,pagoda tree,and maple should be trimmed annually in order to maintain its delightful and primitive shape.Their root structures are especially adorable.A full-grown tree like elm often presents a picturesque scene by itself,with flourishing verdant twigs grown on twisted branches and a decrepit trunk.
In today’s Suzhou gardens,there are in general two ways to plant trees on the top or the slope of a hill.One way is to plant large trees with their ground parts open.This can be found in parts of both the Lingering Garden and theHumble Administrator’s Garden.Thus being done,the beauty of the tree root with rocks around it may be revealed for appreciation.The other way is to plant trees amongst bamboos or shrubs;and the rocks are covered with vines.This is the case with the Garden Cang Lang Ting（The Cang Lang Pavilion,沧浪亭）as well as part of the Humble Administrator’s Garden.It offers a view of lushness and profundity.From my observation,these two ways of tree planting follow different ideas and originate from different painting scripts.The former complies with the style of the Yuan era painter Ni Zan（Yun Lin）（倪瓒［云林］）which is noted for being fresh and elegant,while the latter abides by the style of the Ming era painter Shen Zhou（Shi Tian）（沈周［石田］）which is known for being lush and dark-toned.Regarding the plants in the low land along the shore,it is advisable to choose willow,bamboo,or reed.Shaded area by the wall should be covered with Japanese creeper,sacred bamboo,begonia,and slender bamboo.These types of plants with green leaves and cold colored flowers present an elegant sight.Again they need to be trimmed annually.
The principle of growing flowers and planting trees in a garden is one and the same.Osmanthus and camellia should be planted in shaded areas which receive little direct sun light.They are evergreen plants,with osmanthus flowering in autumn while camellia blooming in early spring.Both types of plants blossom before others.It is enchantingly beautiful when these fullblooming trees are rollicking among arrays of quaint-shaped rockeries.Vines such as wisteria will form a green shade over the pergola when spring begins.The multitudinous flowers sprinkled across a sprawling green look like the luster of jewelry on emerald velvet.Peony is preferably grown on a platform skirted by stone balustrade.This is because growing peony needs abundance of sun shine and high-rise land.The high location naturally enhances the magnificence of peony flower.Traditionally,one prefers to plant magnolia,malus,peony,and osmanthus in the same courtyard since their names rhyme with the words for“jade,dignity,wealth,honor”in Chinese.Though this implication might be inadequate for today’s life,the way our predecessors to reconcile the blooming periods and colors of various flowers is still worthy of appreciation.The flowering trees like peach and plum should form a grove to be viewed from afar.However,these types of trees should only be cultivated in large gardens,such as the Lingering Garden and the Humble Administrator’s Garden in Suzhou.
Two principles are followed in arranging trees in Suzhou gardens.The one is to plant the same type of trees to form a grove,such as the pines at the Place of Listening to Waves in Yi Yuan（The Garden of Pleasance,怡园听涛处）,the maples in the west section of the Lingering Garden,as well as the osmanthus in front of the Osmanthus Fragrance Pavilion（闻木樨香轩）in the Lingering Garden.While applying this principle,one should consider the height and the density of trees in relationship to the surrounding environment.The other principle is to cultivate a variety of trees.Whether it is viable or not depends on the orientation of trees and the nature of land.While selecting tree species,one should consider the contrast and balance of colors,the ratio between evergreen and deciduous trees,their blossom seasons,the shape of their leaves,and their postures.The selection of trees is indeed similar to composing a painting.The relationship between trees and rocks needs to be considered too.It is desirable to create a multitude of views along a hill,making every inch of rock scenery lively and alluring.It is also important to see to the consistency between plants and buildings in terms of the latter’s forms and colors to set off other’s beauty.
Lotus needs to be planted in a pond,but in a limited way.Otherwise,the water surface would be greatly reduced with numerous lotus plants,which hinders the beautiful reflection of buildings.To adorn the water with a sprinkle of lotuses has a greater visual impact.The slim and graceful plants swaying in the middle of the pond is a perfect delight to the eye.In Gu family garden at Kunshan,lotus was reportedly planted by placing the roots underneath stone slabs lining the pond.There are a few holes on the stone slabs allowing the plant to come through.This technique limits the propagation of the plant.Master Liu Dunzhen（刘敦桢）mentioned“In Dong Yuan of Xu family in Nanjing of the Ming era,the lotus was planted by placing the roots in a vat sunk in the pond.”That technique achieves the same effect of limiting lotus growth.
The main color theme of the gardens in the region south of Yangtze is characterized by their tranquility and elegance.This is in sharp contrast to the color theme of the royal gardens in northern China,which are famed for theirmagnificence and splendor.In my analysis,this difference comes from several origins.First of all,the color theme of the gardens in the region south of the Yangtze is related to the cold color theme of the local residence buildings.In this region,the column capital of a building is painted often in either chestnut or non-glossy black,and the decorative border is in dark green.The wall is white in most cases.The sharp contrast between stark black and white is toned down by tracery windows or brick-framed windows which serve as traditional structures.Many spectacular scenes have been created out of this design.
Indeed almost all the Suzhou gardens were originally attached to residential houses for the purpose of providing a quiet place for study and self cultivation.This motivation sets the tone for the cold color scheme.Consequently the design philosophy of Suzhou gardens is obviously different from that of northern royal gardens which was intended to demonstrate the royal power and opulence.In contrast,the scholar-officials in Suzhou showed off their affluence through refined furnishing,meticulous rockery selection as well as exquisite exhibition in their gardens while maintaining a tasteful style of light and cool colors.
The preference to cold color theme in Suzhou gardens resulted also from the influence of paintings in this region.The natural landscape paintings in southern China are composed of strokes of dark shades accompanied by touches of few light colors.This natural and elegant style is imprinted on the mind of scholars,writers,and artists of the region.Its influence leads the garden design away from use of exuberant and glossy gold colors.In addition,since it is extremely hot during summer in the south of the Yangtze River,the rich colors such as red do not fit well.Furthermore,the commoners in the feudal times were not allowed to enjoy the same life style as royal households.The color scheme is consequently limited to those that are light and quiet.One must use a quiet and elegant design to outshine the lavish excess,and use few to outmatch many.This cold color scheme is in harmony with the exterior look of Suzhou gardens:cloudy sky,flourishing trees,exquisite rockeries,as well as the gentle flow of water,which together creates a sense of tranquility and elegance.This is one of the unique features of the gardens in the south of Yangtze region.
Another peculiar feature of all Chinese gardens is that they should bedesigned in such a way that under any natural conditions,rainy or shiny and at dawn or at dusk,their scenery invariably gives maximum sense of comfort and pleasure.However,without well-planned halls and pavilions,well-made verandas and balustrades,well-arranged trees and flowers in addition to wellwrought rockery and brooks,sceneries can hardly be appreciated in various natural conditions.
Different circumstances can evoke different feelings in the mind of poets or writers.Plantain shaded veranda in summer,sturdy plum and moon light on snow in winter,sunlight and flowers in spring,red knotweed and reed-ringed ponds in fall,these scenes vary with seasons,but are all enjoyable.The rustling of wind through pines,the spattering of rain on wild rice and sweet flags,the swaying flower shadows under the moon,and the fog-cloaked towers,these are all scenes that can elicit different emotions from different people.Garden designers should rely on their profound knowledge in art and literature and base themselves on actual environment to create a garden that can trigger all these human reactions to its sceneries through glamorizing and exaggerating the effect of the most outstanding features.For this purpose,the materialization of a dreamland,they should exert themselves to do whatever they can,laying rocks,raising buildings,channeling water and cultivating plants.
An artist or a man of letters does not indulge in the splendor of spring days only,but has also learnt to enjoy other seasons.They should resort to different ways to ferret out the beauty of each possible circumstance.Watching the swaying flower shadows,they are thinking of what they could do on a whitewashed wall.Listening to the sound of wind,they are imagining the rustling pine trees.Pattering rain revokes pearls jumping and rolling on lotus leaves.Lucid moon reminds them of the moonlight-touched tops of swinging willows.Sunset prompts them to twilight radiating through a tracery window.Year-end cold endears them to the sturdy plum and slender bamboo.They instill their passion in every rock and every plant in order to realize their dreamland.Therefore,in a Chinese garden,every corner is imbued with a sentiment and every side exudes a meaning.It leaves a lasting and pleasant aftertaste.This is all it means for a Chinese garden.