悠然把酒对西山颐和园

悠然把酒对西山颐和园

“更喜高楼明月夜，悠然把酒对西山”，明米万钟1在他北京西郊的园林里写了这两句诗，一望而知是从晋人陶渊明“采菊东篱下，悠然见南山”脱胎而来的。不管“对”也好，“见”也好，所指的都是远处的山，这就是中国园林设计中的“借景”，即把远景纳为园中一景，增加该园的景色变化。这在中国古代造园中早已应用，明计成2在他所著《园冶》一书中总结出来，才有了定名。他所说“借者，园虽别内外，得景无拘远近”，已阐述得很明白了。

北京的西郊，西山蜿蜒若屏，清泉汇为湖沼，最宜建园，历史上曾为北京园林集中之地。明清两代，园林蔚为大观，其中圆明园更被称为“万园之园”。

圆明园这座在历史上驰名中外的园林，其于造园之术，可用“因水成景，借景西山”八个字来概括。圆明园的成功在于“因”“借”二字，是中国古代园林主要造园手法的具体表现。偌大的一个园林，如果立意不明，终难成佳构；所以，造园要立意在先，尤其是郊园。郊园多野趣，重借景。以上两点不论中国传统的哪一个园都能体现出来。

圆明园在1860年英法联军入侵北京时被兵火所焚，仅存断垣残基。如今，只能用另一个大园林——颐和园来谈借景。

颐和园在北京西北郊十公里处。万寿山耸翠园北，昆明湖弥漫山前，玉泉山蜿蜒其西，风景洵美。

颐和园在元代名“瓮山金海”，至明代有所增饰，名“好山园”，清康熙四十一年（1702）曾就此作瓮山行宫。清乾隆十五年（1750）开始大规模兴建，更名“清漪园”。1860年为英法联军所毁，1886年修复，易名“颐和园”，1900年又为八国联军所破坏，1903年又重修，遂成今状。

颐和园是以杭州西湖为蓝本，精心模拟，故西堤、水岛、烟柳画桥，皆移江南的淡妆，现北地之胭脂，景虽有相同，趣则各异。

园面积达三四平方公里，水面占四分之三，“北国江南”因水而成。入东宫门，见仁寿殿，峻宇翚飞，峰石罗前，绕其南豁然开朗，明湖在望。

万寿山面临昆明湖，佛香阁踞其巅，八角四层，俨然为全园之中心。登阁则西山如黛，湖光似镜，跃入眼帘；俯视则亭馆扑地，长廊萦带。景色全囿于一园之内，其所以得无尽之趣，在于借景。小坐湖畔的湖山真意亭，玉泉山山色塔影移入槛前，而西山不语，直走京畿，明秀中又富雄伟，为他园所不及。

廊在中国园林中极尽变化之能事，颐和园长廊可算显例，其予游者之兴味最浓，印象特深。廊引人随，中国画山水手卷于此舒展，移步换影。上苑别馆，有别宫禁，宜其清代帝王常作园居。

谐趣园独自成区，倚万寿山之东麓，积水以成池，周以亭榭，小桥浮水，游廊随径，适宜静观——此大园中之小园，自有天地。该园仿江南无锡寄畅园，以同属山麓园，故有积水，皆有景可借。

水曲由岸，水隔因堤，故颐和园以长堤分隔，斯景始出。而桥式之多，构图之美，处处画本，若玉带桥之莹洁柔和，十七孔桥之仿佛垂虹。每逢山横春霭，新柳拂水，游人泛舟所得之景与陆上所得之景分明异趣，而处处皆能映西山入园，足证“借景”之妙。

注释：

1.米万钟（1570—1628或1631），中国明末的书画家，又为中国园林的著名设计师。现北京大学校园尚存的夕园即为米万钟创建的著名园林所在。

2.计成是中国明末的园林学家，有著名的园林理论著作《园冶》传世。书成于1631—1634年间，总结了中国园林造园叠山的一套系统理论，对中国园林艺术的研究颇多建树。

One Gazes Leisurely at the West Hill over Wine —The Summer Palace

“On a night full of moonlight, it is enjoyable to gaze at the West Hill over wine from a tower.”These are the lines written by Mi Wanzhong1 in his garden in the western outskirts of Beijing during the Ming Dynasty.Obviously these lines were composed after the well-known lines of Tao Yuanming in the Jin Dynasty.“As I pick chrysanthemums beneath the eastern fence, my eyes fall leisurely on the Southern Mountain.”No matter whether the action is “to gaze at”or “to fall on”, what one can see are the mountains in the distance.This is what is referred to as “borrowing scenery”in Chinese garden design.To include distant scenery as a part of a garden adds variety to landscapes in the garden.This technique, which was initially invented and practiced in Chinese garden design in ancient times, was then given a proper name in The Craft of Gardens by Ji Cheng2 in the Ming Dynasty.He made it explicitly clear when he said, “To borrow from the scenery means that as long as there is a good view, one should try to borrow it without being bothered by whether it is close or far away, even though the interior of a garden is distinct from what lies outside it.”3(https://www.daowen.com)

It is ideal to establish gardens in the western outskirts of Beijing where the West Hill tops stretch along to form screens and streams converge to become lakes.This site in Beijing has witnessed a collection of beautiful gardens in history, especially during the Ming and Qing dynasties, among which Yuanmingyuan Garden is well known as the Garden of Gardens.

Yuanmingyuan Garden has been renowned both at home and abroad throughout history.The art of its landscape design can be best captured by “creating scenery from following waters and borrowing the scenery from the West Hill”.The success of Yuanmingyuan Garden lies in its “following”and “borrowing from”the existing scenery, which manifests two of the key principles of landscape design in China in ancient times.This garden is so large that it could never have become a masterpiece without a theme.Therefore, it is of primary importance to give priority to the creation of a theme in landscape design of very large gardens.This is especially true with gardens on the outskirts of a city which emphasize keeping the wildness of nature and borrowing from the existing scenery.These two principles are practised in every classical garden in China, e.g.in the Summer Palace.

Yuanmingyuan Garden was mercilessly burnt down when Beijing was invaded by the united forces of the Great Britain and France in 1860 , and all that remains today are broken walls and shattered stones.But for now, we cannot but use the Summer Palace, another grand-scale garden, as an example to illustrate the principle of borrowing the scenery.

The Summer Palace lies 10 km northwest of Beijing, inside which Longevity Hill stands on the north side of the garden.The landscape is remarkably beautiful with the mist from Kunming Lake pervading in front of the hill and with Yuquan Hill stretching continuously along the west of the Summer Palace.

The Summer Palace (Yihe Garden) was named Wengshan Jinhai (Graceful Mountain and Golden Sea) in the Yuan Dynasty and was renamed Haoshan Garden (Good Mountain Garden) following its further embellishment in the Ming Dynasty.In the forty-first year of the Kangxi reign (1702) in the Qing Dynasty, the garden became Wengshan Xinggong (Temporary Imperial Garden Residence).In the fifteenth year of the Qianlong reign (1750) in the Qing Dynasty, the garden residence was further expanded and renamed again as Qingyi Garden (Garden of Clear Ripples).Then in 1860, the garden was burnt down by the allied forces of the Great Britain and France.Twenty-six years later in 1886, the garden was reconstructed and given its modern name of Yihe Garden (Garden of Good Health and Harmony).Unfortunately it was destroyed again by the Eight-Power Allied Forces in 1900.Another reconstruction was completed in 1903 and has lasted to this day.

Meticulously imitating the landscape of the West lake in Hangzhou, the Summer Palace has a layout featured in Xidi (West Causeway), islets, misty willows and picturesque bridges, as if wearing the light make-up of China south of Changjiang River and the rouge of the north of China.The landscapes here reveal different tastes albeit their similarities.

The Summer Palace covers an area between three and four square kilometers, of which about three-fourths are covered by water, revealing its similarity to the landscape south of Changjiang River.Upon entering the eastern gate of the Palace, visitors may catch sight of Renshou Hall with its shooting cornices and precipitous stones in the front.Going round the hall to its southern end, visitors will be led unexpectedly into an open vastness of a clear lake.

Foxiang Tower rises majestically on top of Longevity Hill which faces Kunming Lake.The tower, which has a majestic octagonal roof and towering four stories, becomes the center of the garden.When visitors climb the tower on the hilltop, they feel enchanted by the silhouette of the West Hill and by the beautiful lake which shines like a mirror; when they look down, they see pavilions with long winding corridors.They feel overjoyed for being able to enjoy a multitude of views from just one garden, and this is attributable to the concept of borrowing from the scenery.When visitors sit down in Hushanzhenyi Pavilion by the lake, the beautiful scenery of Yuquan Hill come into view.Meanwhile, the West Hill tops lead quietly into the city, adding greater grandeur to the elegance of the view.

The covered walkways in Chinese gardens excel in their changing views.A good example of this is the Long Corridor of the Summer Palace, the beauty of which is truly astonishing.This corridor leads one to a wide range of Chinese scroll paintings and as the view of these scroll paintings unfolds along the corridor, the view changes with each step a visitor takes.The gardens and buildings here are distinctive from those around the palace, which made them more attractive to emperors in the Qing Dynasty for their summer time.

At the eastern foot of Longevity Hill lies Xiequ Garden which is a park in itself.Small streams converge to form a pond in Xiequ Garden; pavilions stand by the pond, bridges over it and covered walkways wind along foot paths, creating unique in-position views that visitors may appreciate better when standing still.This small garden inside the big garden of the Summer Palace is an imitation of Jichang Garden in Wuxi south of Changjiang River.Both gardens are built at the foot of hills with water around and with surrounding scenery available to be borrowed beyond the gardens.

Streams are shaped by their winding bank and water are separated by dikes; consequently, the Summer Palace is divided by long embankments, thus givingrise to a variety of views.Bridges appeal to visitors because of their variety in the architectural styles and structures, which create views like beautiful Chinese paintings everywhere.For example, Yudai Bridge appears crystallized and gentle; and the Seventeen-Arch Bridge takes the shape of a rainbow.Whenever springmist floats from amid a hill and new willows touch the water, visitors in boats will find views from the water charmingly different from views from the land.The West Hill can be seen everywhere from inside the Summer Palace, which fully demonstrates the trick of “borrowing the scenery”.

Notes:

1.Mi Wanzhong (1570-1628 or 1631), a painter and a calligrapher in the late Ming Dynasty, was also known as a designer of landscapes.The existing Xiyuan Garden on the campus of Peking University was designed by him.

2.Ji Cheng was a designer of landscapes in the late Ming Dynasty.He finished composing, between 1631 and 1634, The Craft of Gardens, a masterpiece of garden design which was handed down from generation to generation.His theory of garden design in the Chinese tradition made great contributions to the research on the art of garden landscaping in China.

3.Translator’s note: The quotation is from The Craft of Gardens translated by Alison Hardie(1998, Yale University Press: p.39).