别有缠绵水石间十笏园

别有缠绵水石间十笏园

山东潍坊十笏园是一座精巧得像水石盆景样的小园，占地二千多平方米，内有溶溶水石，楚楚楼台，其构思之妙，足为造小园之借鉴。

十笏园建于清光绪十一年（1885），原为丁善宝的园林。“笏”即朝笏，古代大臣朝见君王时所用，多以象牙制成。因园小巧玲珑，故以“十笏”名之。中国园林命名常存谦逊之意，如近园、半亩园、芥子园等皆此类。

园中以轻灵为胜，东筑假山，面山隔水为廊，廊尽渡桥，建水榭，旁列小筑，名“稳如舟”。临流有漪澜亭。池北花墙外为春雨楼，与池南倒座高下相向。

亭台山石，临池伸水，如浮波上，得水园之妙，又能以小出之；故山不在高，水不在广，自有汪洋之意。而高大建筑，复隐其后，以隔出之，反现深远，而其紧凑蕴藉，耐人寻味者正在此。

小园用水，有贴水、依水之别。江苏吴江同里汪氏退思园，贴水园也。因同里为水乡，水位高，故该园山石、桥廊、建筑皆贴水面，予人之感如在水中央。苏州网师园，依水园也。亭廊依水而筑，因水位较低，故环池驳岸作阶梯状。同在水乡，其处理有异。然则园贴水、依水，除因水制宜外，更着眼于以有限之面积，化无限之水面。波光若镜，溪源不尽，能引人遐思。“盈盈一水间，脉脉不得语”——《古诗十九首》中境界，小园用水之极矣。

造大园固难，构小园亦不易。水为脉络，贯穿全园，而亭台山石，点缀出之，概括精练，如诗之绝句，词中小令，风韵神采即在此水石之间。北国有此明珠，亦巧运匠心矣。

Water and Stones in a Garden Stir Emotions —Shihu Garden

Shihu Garden in Weifang, Shandong Province is an exquisite miniature landscape of water and stones.Within an area of only about 2000 square meters, there are clusters of finely detailed pavilions and rockeries with water trickling through them.The garden is so ingeniously designed that it deserves to serve as a fine example for small gardens.(https://www.daowen.com)

The Garden, built in the eleventh year of the Guangxu reign (1885) , used to be a garden residence of Ding Shanbao.Hu was a formal thin board (used for note-keeping) made of ivory which cabinet members held in their hands when they had an audience with the emperor in ancient times.The garden was named Shihu (ten thin boards) to symbolize its tiny size.Chinese gardens are often named to indicate humbleness and modesty, as in the cases of Jinyuan Garden, Banmu Garden and Jiezi Garden.

The design of Shihu Garden highlights a feeling of ingenuity and lightness.In the eastern part of the garden stands a rockery.Across water lies a covered walkway, at the end of which sits a bridge.Near this bridge is a pavilion above water with a small house named Wenruzhou next to it.Yilan Pavilion is erected by the pond.Beyond an openwork wall north of the pond, Chunyu Tower stands tall in contrast to the low houses built in the southern part of the garden.

Pavilions, terraces, rockeries and stones sited by or into the pond stretch over water as if floating on ripples.The wonder of a water garden is dramatically enhanced by its small size.Therefore, it is not necessarily true that a mountain must be lofty to be majestic, and water boundless to create a perception of spaciousness.On the contrary, tall buildings concealed behind the scenes evoke an impression of depth.The very mystery of the garden is embedded in its compactness and implicitness.

Water in a small garden can be used in two ways: structures can be placed above it or by it.Tuisi Garden of the Wang Family in Tongli of Wujiang, Jiangsu Province is a case in point.Because Tongli is a waterside town with a high water level, the rockeries, bridges, covered walkways and buildings in the garden are all constructed above the water, creating a feeling of standing in the center of the water.Wangshi Garden in Suzhou, on the other hand, exemplifies gardens by the water.Pavilions and corridors are built next to a pond and are arranged in a staircaselike style around the pond since the water level is low.Although these gardens are both located in waterside towns, different skills have been employed in balancing the relationship between buildings and nature.To design a garden above or by the water, the emphasis should be on creating an infinite watery expanse out of limited space.It inspires the imagination to have waves floating like mirrors and streams flowing endlessly from their sources.The brilliance of taking the most advantage of water in garden design is best captured by the enchanting imagery created in the lines from the Nineteen Chinese Ancient Poems: “Clear and clean water in between, my tender and tempting look at you dims my words.”

It is challenging to build a large garden and the same is true with a small one.In a welldesigned garden, waterways thread like veins through the garden which is dotted with pavilions, terraces, rockeries and stones.The arrangement is as concise as every move in classical Chinese poetry.The expressiveness of poems is found in compact lines; likewise, the charm of this garden lies in the refinement of water and stones.It is the ingenious design that accounts for this shining pearl in the north of China.