庭院深深深几许留园

庭院深深深几许留园

“小廊回合曲阑斜”，“庭院深深深几许”，这些唐宋人的词句描绘了中国庭院建筑之美。

苏州留园与拙政园一样，皆初建于明代，亦同样经过后人重修，其中部假山出自明代叠山匠师周秉忠之手。留园又名“寒碧山庄”，因为清刘蓉峰1重整此园时，多植白皮松，使园更显清俊，故以“寒碧”二字名之。刘氏好石，列十二峰宠其园，如冠云一峰，即驰誉至今。

进入留园，那狭长的进口时暗时明，几经转折，始现花墙当面，仅见漏窗中隐现池石，及转身至明瑟楼，方见水石横陈，花木环覆，不觉此身已置画中矣。恰似白居易“千呼万唤始出来，犹抱琵琶半遮面”之诗意。

此园之中部有山环水，曲溪楼居其东，粉墙花棂，倒影历历。可亭踞北山之巅。闻木樨香轩与曲溪楼相对，但又隐于石间，藏而不露。游廊环园，起伏高低，止于池南。涵碧山房，荷花厅也，其西北小桥，架三层，各因地势形成立体交通。临水跨谷，各具功能，又各饶情趣，于数丈之地得之，巧于安排也。翘首西望，远眺枫林若醉，倾入池中，红泛碧波，引人遐想，得借景之妙。

园之东部多院落，楼堂错落，廊庑回缭，峰石水池，间列其前，游人至此，莫知所至。揖峰轩、五峰仙馆、林泉耆硕之馆、冠云楼等参差组合，各自成区，而又互通消息，实中寓虚，其运用墙之分隔、窗之空透，使变化多端。而风清月朗，花影栏杆，良宵更为宜人。

中部之水，东部之屋，西部之山，各有主体，各具特征，而皆有节奏韵律，人能得之者变化而已。而“园必隔，水必曲”之理，于此园最能体现。

注释：

1.刘蓉峰，清嘉庆年间（1796—1820）园林学家，为苏州留园的重要修整人之一。

A Deep Garden Stretches into Infinity —Liuyuan Garden

“Railings wind along walkways”and “A deep garden may reach profoundly far”are lines from the Ci-Poetry in the Tang and Song Dynasties, describing the architectural beauty of Chinese gardens.

Liuyuan Garden, just like Zhuozheng Garden in Suzhou, was first built in the Ming Dynasty And has been reconstructed throughout generations.The rockeries in the center are the works of Zhou Bingzhong, a famous rockery expert in the Ming Dynasty.This garden is also known as Hanbi Mountain Resort following the reconstruction by Liu Rongfeng1 in the Qing Dynasty.During the reconstruction, a number of lacebark pines were planted to bring a sense of cool beauty to the garden.Hence the garden was also know as Hanbi, meaning cool and beautiful.Twelve rock peaks were erected in the garden as a result of Liu’s intense love of rockery.One, Guanyun Peak, for instance, has remained well known since then.

Upon entering the garden, a long and narrow passge leads a visitor through a few turns, some bright and others dark, to a tracery wall through which he may faintly detect rocks in a pool.It is not until he turns around and reaches Mingse Tower that he can see rocks submerged in the water and trees and flowers trailing all around.And then he realizes that he has unconsciously become a part of a poetic painting in the manner depicted in the famous lines by Bai Juyi: “The beauty showed up after being invited a thousand times, still hiding half her face behind her pipa lute.”

In the central part of the garden, waters are embraced by rockeries.Quxi Tower with its white-washed walls and beautiful lattice windows is situated in the east, its reflection floating on the water.Keting Pavilion peches on the top of the North Hill; opposite Quxi Tower stands Wenmuxixiang Gallery, hidden behind rocks and seemingly reluctant to show itself.Sightseeing covered walkways, snaking up and down and around the garden, end at the southern end of the pool.The Hanbi Mountain Chamber is a hall surrounded by lotus flowers.The bridges to its northwest form a three-decker passage following the natural terrain on the site.These buildings, either built by water or over valleys complement different tastes and add distinctive functions to the garden.All this is achieved on a land of dozens of feet, which demonstrates an ingenious design.When a visitor looks to the west, he sees a beautiful view of maple trees extending all the way down to the pool where the drunken red maple leaves mingle with the blue waves, leaving him spellbound.This is an excellent example of borrowing the scenery.(https://www.daowen.com)

There are a number of courtyards in the eastern part of the garden where storied-towers and halls are uniquely arranged in a deliberate disorder with zigzag covered walkways, rocks, and pools scattered in the front.Enchanted by the impressive scene, a visitor nevertheless feels bewildered about where he is.Yifeng Gallery, Wufengxian Pavilion, Linquanqishuozhi Pavilion and Guanyun Tower are arranged at different levels of height so that they look independent from one another on the one hand, but communicate with one another on the other hand, a realization of reality based upon fantasy.Walls are used to separate these buildings which are then linked by perforated windows, thus resulting in a variety of scenes during day time.The night time is even more dramatic with the shadows of flowers swaying in a gentle breeze along the covered walkways in clear moonlight.

In the garden, the waters in the central part, the buildings in the eastern part and the rockeries in the western part all convey distinctive themes, features and rhythms of their own.To achieve this effect, the arrangement of scenes in a garden must be made full of change.Liuyuan Garden is the best illustration of the principle that “a garden must be separated into parts, and the water in a garden must be meandering.”

Notes:

1.Liu Rongfeng, a garden designer during the reign of Emperor Jiaqing (1796-1820) of the Qing Dynasty, was one of the leading people responsible for the reconstruction of Liuyuan Garden in Suzhou.