移天缩地在君怀避暑山庄

移天缩地在君怀避暑山庄

河北省承德市附近原为清帝狩猎的地方，骏马秋风，正是典型的北地风情。然而，承德避暑山庄这个著名的北方行宫苑囿却有杏花春雨般的江南景色，令人向往，游人到此总会流露出“谁云北国逊江南”的感叹。

苑囿之建，首在选址，需得山川之胜，辅以人工。重在选景，妙在点景，二美具而全景出。避暑山庄正得此妙谛。山庄群山环抱，武烈河自东北沿宫墙南下。有泉冬暖，故称“热河”。

清康熙于1703年始建山庄，经六年时间初步完成，作为离宫之用。朴素无华，饶自然之趣，故以“山庄”名之，有三十六景。其后，乾隆又于1751年进行扩建，踵事增华，亭榭别馆骤增，遂又增三十六景。同时，建寺观，分布山区，规模较前益广。

行宫周约二十公里，多山岭，仅五分之一左右为平地，而平地又多水面，山岚水色，相映成趣。居住、朝会部分位于山庄之东。正门内为楠木殿，素雅不施彩绘，因所在地势较高，故近处湖光，远处岚影，可卷帘入户，借景绝佳。园区可分为两部分：东南之泉汇为湖泊；西北山陵起伏如带。林木茂而禽鸟聚，麋鹿散于丛中，鸣游自得。水曲因岸，水隔因堤，岛列其间，仿江南之烟雨楼、狮子林等，名园分绿，遂移北国。

山区建筑宜眺、宜憩，故以小巧出之而多变化。寺庙间列，晨钟暮鼓，梵音到耳，且建藏书楼文津阁，储《四库全书》1于此。园外，东北两面有外八庙，为极好的借景，融园内、园外之景为一。

山庄占地5.64平方公里，为现存苑囿中最大。山庄自然地势，有山岳平原与湖沼等，因地制宜，变化多端。而林木栽植，各具特征：山多松，间植枫 ；水边宜柳 ；湖中栽荷。园中“万壑松风”“曲水荷香”皆因景而得名。而万树园中，榆树成林，浓荫蔽日，清风自来，有隔世之感。

中国苑囿之水，聚者为多，而避暑山庄湖沼得聚分之妙，其水自各山峪流下，东南经文园水门出，与武烈河相接。湖沼之中，安排如意洲、月色江声、芝径云堤、水心榭等洲、岛、桥、堰，分隔成东湖、如意洲湖及上、下湖区域。亭阁掩映，柳岸低迷，景深委婉。而山泉、平湖之水自有动静之分，故山麓有“暖流喧波”“云容水态”“远近泉声”；入湖沼则“澄波叠翠”“镜水云岭”“芳渚临流”。水有百态，景存千变。

山庄按自然形势，广建亭台、楼阁、桥梁、水榭等，并且更就幽峪奇峰，建造寺观庵庙。东湖沼区域有金山寺、法林寺等。山岳区内，其数尤多，属道教者有广元宫、斗姥阁; 属佛教者有珠源寺、碧峰寺、旃檀林、鹭云寺、水月庵等，有“内八庙”之称。殿阁参差，浮图隐现，朝霞夕月，梵音钟声，破寂静山林，绕神妙幻境。苑囿园林，于自然景物外，复与宗教建筑相结合。

山庄峰峦环抱，秀色可餐，隔武烈河遥望，有“锤峰落照”一景。自锤峰沿山而北，转狮子沟而西，依次建溥仁寺、溥善寺、普乐寺、安远庙，普佑寺、普宁寺、须弥福寿之庙、普陀宗乘之庙、殊像寺、广安寺、罗汉堂、狮子园等寺庙与别园，且分别模仿新疆、西藏等少数民族建筑造型，以及山海关以内各地建筑风格，祟巍瑰丽，与山庄建筑呼应争辉。试登离宫北部界墙之上，自东及北，诸庙尽入眼底，其与离宫几形成一空间整体，蔚为一大风景区。

用“移天缩地在君怀”这句话来概括山庄，可以说体现已尽。其能融南北园林于一处，组各民族建筑在一区，不觉其不协调、不顺眼，反觉面面有情，处处生景，实耐人寻味。故若正宫、月色江声等处实为北方民居四合院之组合方式，而万壑松风、烟雨楼等运用江南园林手法灵活布局。秀北雄南，目在咫尺，游人当可领略其造园之佳妙。

注释：

1.《四库全书》是清代乾隆时期1772—1782年间编的一部大型丛书，内容广泛，保存并整理了大量中国古籍文献。全书共收古籍3503种，79 337卷，分“经”“史”“子”“集”四部，故名“四库全书”。

Miniaturized Heaven and Land Lie in Your Arms —The Imperial Mountain Resort

Near the city of Chengde in Hebei Province, there used to be a hunting range for the emperors in the Qing Dynasty.This hunting area was typical of northern China where horses galloped against the autumn wind.However, Chengde Imperial Mountain Resort, known as the temporary imperial palace in the north, fascinates visitors with its alluring scenery characteristic of the south of Changjiang River as almond flowers flutter in the spring rain.Visitors cannot help feeling that “the north is not inferior to the south”.(https://www.daowen.com)

To build a garden, it is of top priority to select a site where the natural beauty of hills and water is to be supplemented with the work of man.A garden can only reach its uttermost beauty when it excels in both choosing the site and highlighting its surrounding scenery.This is best exemplified by Chengde Imperial Mountain Resort which is embraced by hills with Wulie River flowing along the palace wall from Rehe River.

The construction of the resort was initiated during the reign of Emperor Kangxi of the Qing Dynasty in 1703 and was preliminarily completed after six years.The resort, boasting its thirty-six scenic spots, was then served as a summer retreat which was known as the temporary imperial palace.Since this resort was established against the background of nature, it was given the name of Mountain Resort.Later in 1751, Chengde Imperial Mountain Resort was extended by the order of Emperor Qianlong, who further embellished the resort.Another thirty-six scenic spots were added to the garden along with many more pavilions and villas.Meanwhile, temples were set up in the mountains, expanding the resort to an unprecedented scale.

It extends as long as 20 km round this temporary imperial palace where there are an overwhelming number of mountains compared to plains which constitute only one-fifth of the total area and are mostly covered with water.The mountains and water complement the beauty of the palace which is composed of two areas: a living area and a garden area.The living area is situated in the east of the palace.Behind the front gate lies Nanmu Hall, which, with its subdued elegance, provides a perfect vantage point for visitors to appreciate the lake nearby and the mountain mist in the distance simply by rolling up the curtains, a perfect illustration of borrowing the scenery.The garden area can be divided into two parts: southwest and northwest.In the former springs flow into a lake whereas in the latter lie rolling mountain ranges.Deep woods provide shelters for birds and beasts such as milu deer, which can be spotted roaming in the trees.Amid the meandering river shaped by winding banks and dikes lie islands.which resemble Yanyu Tower and Shizilin Garden in the south.In this way beautiful scenery in famous gardens in the south is brought to the north.

Visitors enjoy looking far into the distance and taking relaxations at the pavilions and towers set in the mountains which are characterized by their being compact in size and different in styles.Here and there stand temples from where come the sounds of chanting in Sanskrit amid the morning bells and evening drumbeats.Wenjin Gallery, which is used to store books is located here.It has an entire collection of the Chinese classics called Siku Quanshu1.Seen from both the eastern and northern parts of the garden area, are the magnificent the Eight Outlying Temples, a superb example of borrowing the scenery by integrating scenes inside the garden area with those outside.

The resort, covering an area of 5.64 square kilometers, is the largest of all existing gardens.Its adaptation to the natural terrain of hills, flat areas, lakes and pools brings variety to its landscape.Trees and flowers are planted according to their nature: pines are placed in mountains, maples in valleys, willows by water and lotuses in lakes.Such scenic spots as the Valley of Pines and the Pond of Lotuses are named after the scenes in the garden.In the Garden of Ten-Thousand Trees, the dense elm woods provide soothing shade for visitors, who cannot help feeling carried away by the unearthly comfort of the cool breezes.

Bodies of water in Chinese gardens are typically gathered together; but lake and pools in Chengde Imperial Mountain Resort display a fine balance between being gathered and separated.Water flows from ravines through the water gate in the southeast part of Wenyan Garden into Wulie River.Islets, embankments and pavilions such as Ruyizhou Islet, Yuesejiangsheng, Zhijingyun Banks and Shuixin Pavilion in the lakes and pools divide the water naturally into the East Lake, Ruyizhou Lake, and Upper and Lower Lakes.With pavilions half-hidden in trees and rivers lined with weeping willows, the scenery evokes profound and sentimental feelings.The active mountain springs and still lakes create such different scenes.At the foot of the mountains, there are Warm Currents and Frolic Waves, Cloud Look and Water Form, and Sounds of Springs.On the lakes, visitors may also find Clear Waves in Green, Mirrored Water in Cloud Hills and Flowers by Water.Here water may take hundreds of shapes while scenes may display a myriad of changes.

There are a number of towers, multistoriedbuildings, bridges and pavilions in the resort along with temples and nunneries in secluded ravines or on breathtaking peaks.In the East Lake area there are Jinshan Temple and Falin Temple.In the mountain area there are many more temples, including Taoist temples: Guangyuangong and Doulaoge; Buddhist temples and nunneries: Zhuyuan Temple, Bifeng Temple, Zhantanlin, Luyun Temple, and Shuiyue Nunnery.These Buddhist temples and nunneries are known as the Eight Inner Temples.All these buildings, together with the spectacular clouds, the moon, bell ringing and scripture recitations heard from the temples, make the resort a holy land, a harmonious coexistence of natural beauty and religious buildings.Amidst the towers and pavilions the chanting in Sanskrit and sound of bells from the temples and nunneries break the tranquility in the deep woods.At dawn or at dusk when the landscape looms in the distance with the moon above, one feels drawn into a fairyland.In addition to their marriage with the natural scenery, the gardens in the garden area are ingeniously integrated with the religious buildings.

Embraced by ridges and peaks, the Imperial Mountain Resort is blessed with beautiful scenery.Across Wulie River is the well-known scenic spot of Qingchui Peak at Sunset.Going northward from the peak and then turning westward at Shizi Gully, visitors can see Puren, Pushan, Pule, Anyuan, Puyou, Puning, Xumifushou, Putuozongcheng, Shuxiang, Guang’an Temples, and Luohan Hall and Shizi Garden.All these buildings and the garden are designed to reflect the architectural styles of minority structures such as those in Xinjiang and Tibet as well as structures south of Shanhaiguan Pass.These sacred and magnificent buildings correspond with the buildings in the resort.From the north boundary wall of this summer imperial palace, visitors, looking from east to north, will recognize that the temples and pavilions in the distance have been harmoniously integrated with the buildings in the imperial palace.

“Miniaturized heaven and land lie in your arms”—this sentence can be said to be very comprehensive to summarize the characteristics of Imperial Mountain Resort, which combines the elements of southern and northern gardens, as well as the architecture of various ethnic groups.Visitors will be able to appreciate the exquisiteness of the garden art embodied in it.

Notes:

1.Siku Quanshu, compiled in the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty from 1772 to 1782, is a large-scale collection of works that covers a wide range of classical literature.The collection includes 3503 types of ancient books which are composed of 79 337 scrolls.The collection is named Siku Quanshu, the Complete Library in the Four Branches of Literature, for it is composed of four branches of “Jing”, “Shi”, “Zi”and “Ji”.