二分明月在扬州扬州园林

二分明月在扬州扬州园林

江苏扬州市西郊有瘦西湖，湖以“瘦”字命名，已点出其景致特色。

瘦西湖原是一条狭长水面，两岸以往全是私家园林，万柳拂水，楼阁掩映，瘦西湖正是游诸园的水上交通要道。清时，因乾隆南巡，加建了白塔与五亭桥，虽都是模仿北京北海的建筑，可是风格各有不同。从城内的小秦淮乘画舫缓缓入湖，登小金山俯瞰全湖，坐在“月观”，眺望“四桥烟雨”，空濛迷离，婉约如一首清歌。

瘦西湖的景妙在“巧”，最巧是从小金山下沿堤至“钓鱼台”。白塔与五亭桥分占圆拱门内，回视小金山，又在另一拱门中，所谓“面面有情”，于此方得。而雨丝风片，烟波画船，人影衣香，赤栏小桥，游览应以舟行最能体会到其中妙处。

平山堂是瘦西湖一带最高的据点。堂前可望江南山色，有一联：“晓起凭阑，六代青山都在眼；晚来把酒，二分明月正当头。”将景物概括殆尽。此堂位置正与隔江之山齐平，故称“平山堂”。其他如“白塔晴云”“春台明月”“蜀冈晚照”等二十四景亦招徕了不少游人。如今，平山堂所在地的大明寺又建了唐高僧鉴真1纪念堂，修整了西园。西园有山中之湖，并有天下第五泉，饶山林泉石之趣。

扬州以名园胜，名园以叠石胜。扬州具有地方特色的四季假山能使游者从中领略到不同季节的风情。个园的假山就是其中代表作。

个园园门内满植修竹，竹间配置石笋，以一真一假的幻觉形成了春景。湖石山是夏山，山下池水流入洞谷，其洞如屋，曲折幽邃，山石形态多变化，是夏日纳凉的好地方。秋山是一座黄石山，山的主面向西。夕阳西下，一抹红霞映照在山上，不但山势显露，并且色彩倍觉斑斓，而山的本身又拔地数丈，峻峭凌云，宛如一幅秋山图，是秋日登高的理想所在。山中还置小院、石桥、石室等，人在洞中上下盘旋，造奇致胜。登山顶北眺绿杨城郭，瘦西湖、平山堂诸景一一招入园内。山之南有石一丘，其色白，巧妙地象征“雪”意，是为冬景。从不同的欣赏角度，构不同季节的假山，唯扬州有之。

楼阁建筑是中国园林的重要组成部分，楼阁嵯峨，游廊高下，予人以极深刻之印象。而扬州园林除水石之胜外，其厅堂高敞，多置于一园的主要位置，作为宴客畅聚之用，这是因为园林的主人皆属富商，需要保持必要的交际活动。厅堂都为层楼，其联缀之游廊亦有两层，称“复道廊”，故游览线形成上下两层，借山登阁，穿洞入穴，上下纵横，游者至此往往迷途，此与苏州园林在平面上的柳暗花明境界有异曲同工之妙。游寄啸山庄，游者必能体会。

寄啸山庄中凿大池，池北楼宽七楹，主楼三间突出，称“蝴蝶厅”。楼旁连复道廊可绕全园，高低曲折，随势凌空。中部与东部又用此复廊分隔，通过上下两层壁间的漏窗可互见两面景色，空透深远。池东筑水亭，四角卧波，为纳凉、演剧之所。在在突出建筑物，而山石水池则点缀其间。洞房曲户，回环四合，隋炀帝在扬州建造迷楼，流风所及，至今尚依稀得之。清乾隆年间《履园丛话》2言：“造屋之工，当以扬州第一，如作文之有变换，无雷同。虽数间之筑，必使门窗轩豁，曲折得宜。”寄啸山庄使人屡屡难以忘情者，其故在此。

扬州的景物是平处见天真，虽无高山大水，而曲折得宜，起伏有致，佐以婉约轻盈之命名，能于小处见大，简中寓繁，蕴藉多姿。

小盘谷的九狮山石壁尤为扬州园林中之上选。园中的建筑物与山石、山石与粉墙、山石与水池、前院与后院等配置，利用了幽深与开朗、高峻与低平等对比手法，形成一时间此分彼合的幻景。花墙间隔得非常灵活，山峦、石壁、步石、谷口等的叠置，正是：危峰耸翠，苍岩临流，水石交融，浑然一体。园内虽无高楼奇阁，但幽曲多姿，浅画成图。“以少胜多”的园林设计方法在扬州以此园最具有代表性。

注释：(https://www.daowen.com)

1.鉴真（688—763），唐代僧人。自742—753年间六次东渡日本，最后一次成功抵达日本九州南部，后在日本奈良宣讲佛经，759年修建唐招提寺。

2.《履园丛话》，清钱泳撰，共二十四卷，其中有专门记述园林的文字。

Clear Moonlight Is Tangible Only in Yangzhou —Gardens in Yangzhou

In the western outskirts of Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, lies Slender West Lake.As its name suggests, the word “slender”proclaims the main feature of the lake.

Slender West Lake used to be a narrow stretch of water along which were dotted private gardens.The delicate limbs of weeping willows trail through the water and towers and pavilions peak from behind walls.It is by this waterway that a visitor may access these gardens.In the Qing Dynasty, the White Pagoda and Wuting Bridge were established to welcome Emperor Qianlong during his trip to the south.Although these buildings are copied after the ones in Beihai Park in Beijing, each building nevertheless displays its own unique style.Usually a visitor starts his tour by taking the Huafang (Pleasure Boat) from the Little Qinhuai River inside the City of Yangzhou and rides slowly into the lake.He may then ascend Little Jinshan Rockery to get a panoramic view of the lake, and when he sits down for a rest in Yueguan Pavilion, he may become enchanted by the dreamlike scenery of Siqiaoyanyu in the distance.

The beauty of Slender West Lake lies in its ingenuity of design, which reaches its climax at Diaoyu Terrace.After descending Little Jinshan Rockery and idling along the lakeshore, a visitor arrives at Diaoyu Terrace where the White Pagoda and Wuting Bridge emerge into view through the round arched doors of the pavilion.What is more, when he looks back, he may see Little Jinshan Rockery through yet another round arched door of the pavilion.It is hard to fully understand the charming vistas that can be seen in every direction until one is actually there.Such fantastic views inside views can be found only at this vantage point.A boat trip is the best way to experience the mystical beauty of theis scenery where threads of rain amid puffs of wind and the sound of the water lapping against the pleasure boats charm their passengers as they travel under little bridges with red railings.

The best vantage poin of Slender West Lake is Pingshan Hall from which the finest scenery south of Changjiang River unfolds before the eyes.A couplet in the front of the hall reads, “Leaning on the railing at dawn, I feel surrounded by the green mountains of six dynasties; drinking alone at dark, I am bathed in the clear moonlight.”The soothing beauty of the scenery is vividly captured in these lines.The hall is named Pingshan because it is at the same level (ping) as the mountain (shan) on the other side of the river.Other scenic spots which attract large numbers of visitors include Baitaqingyun, Chuntaimingyue and Shugangwanzhao among the well-known twentyfour scenes.In recent years a memorial hall in memory of Jianzhen1, an eminent monk in the Tang Dynasty, was built in Daming Temple near Pingshan Hall.The Western Garden, which has also been reconstructed, includes a lake surrounded by mountains and Tianxia Diwu Spring.The garden’s setting with the mountains, the woods, the rocks, and the spring is captivating!

Yangzhou excels in famous gardens which in turn excel in stunning rockeries.The rockeries of four seasons, rich in local features of Yangzhou, delight visitors with changing seasons, a masterpiece of which is the rockey in Geyuan Garden.

Geyuan Garden, emphasizing bamboos with grotesquely shaped rocks laid among them just inside the enterance fabricates an imaginary scene of spring.Lake stone rockery depicts a vision of summer with rocks of various sizes and interesting shapes and a stream threading its way through a deep and serene-looking cave at its foot in turn.This rockery provides an ideal place for one to retreat from the summer heat.Autumn is represented by a yellow stone rockey, which faces the west.At sunset, when the sinking sun shines its radiance on the rockey, its ranges appear more vividly undulating and look more gloriously colorful.Agaianst this background, the rockery, rising steeply from the ground, presents a magnificent view just like that in a painting of a mountain scene in the autumn.The rockery thus becomes a perfect place for a rock climber.Little courtyards, stone bridges and stone shelters are also placed among the rockery.When a visitor walks up and down in the cave by following the man-made scenes, he is totally absorbed by the uniquely enchanting and naturally artificial beauty.When, on top of the hill, he looks afar to the north at the inner and outer city walls with green poplars, he finds Slender West Lake and Pingshan Hall are brought into the garden.To the south of the rockery lies a white mound of rocks that tactfully symbolizes snow, therefore is taken as a scene of winter.Rockeries construct scenes of different seasons when appreciated from different perspectives.Such an effect is achieved only in Yangzhou.

Pavilions and towers are important components in classical Chinese gardens.One is impressed by pavilions and towers which are deliberately placed in disorder and by winding covered walkway reaching high and low.Apart from the outstanding arrangement of water and rocks, gardens in Yangzhou also distinguish themselves by having high and open halls which are usually placed in an important location of a garden.These halls are used to receive visitors and set banquets for them as owners of these gardens are all wealthy merchants who lead a busy social life.The halls are all storied buildings connected by a covered walkway which is in turn double-deckered and thus called “double-deckered walkway”.In this way, a visitor may follow two tour routes, one at the upper level and the other at the lower level.He may climb rockeries and ascend pavilions, and walk through holes and into caves.He may, more often than not, lose his directions here having followed the routes upward and downward.This results in the same effect as demonstrated in gardens in Suzhou, although different approaches are adopted.One will realize this when touring around Jixiao Mountain Resort.

A large pond was dug in Jixiao Mountain Resort.To the north of the pond sites a sevenroom wide building, from which stands out the three-room wide main part called Hudie Hall.The side of the building is connected to the doubledeckered walkway, winding all the way throughout the garden, sometimes high and sometimes low to adapt to the changing terrain.The covered walkway separates the garden into the middle part and the eastern part.A visitor can enjoy scenes in both parts of the garden through the perforated windows between the two deckers of the covered walkway, thus resulting in views being stretched profoundly deep.To the east of the pond stands a pavilion with its quadrangular eaves corners lying above water.This is an ideal place to enjoy both the cool air in summer and the folk operas in all seasons.Although the buildings are highlighted, rocks and bodies of water are also scattered among them for decoration.Cave rooms, arched doors and rows of houses are built aroumd the garden after the architectural style of Milou Building which was established in Yangzhou by Emperor Yang in the Sui Dynasty.The influential architectural fashion remains vaguely tangible until today.As is put in Miscellany of Lüyuan Garden2 written during the reign of Emperor Qianlong in the Qing Dynasty, “Yangzhou should rank No.1 in the craftsmanship of buildings, for it never repeats itself as exemplified in writings where no sentences are identical.Although a building consists of a small number of rooms, the windows and doors are made high and open in good proportion with curved lines and zigzag shapes.”This explains why visitors find their trips to Jixiao Mountain Resort a most unforgettable experience.

The scenery in Yangzhou excels in its purity embedded in plainness.Although there are no lofty rockeries or vast stretch of water, when winding lines and zigzag shapes, deliberately displaced layers and delightful names are brought into the charming and colorful scenario, visitors find gardens being turned spacious on small plots of land, and buildings stylish out of simplistic designs.

Jiushishan Rocks in Xiaopangu Garden are among the best in gardens in Yangzhou.The compatible arrangement between buildings and rocks, between rocks and white-washed walls, between rocks and ponds, and between the front yard and the back yard contrasts the serene and open, and steep and plain matching techniques, resulting in an illusionary scenery of seemingly apart, but actually attached.The separating tracery walls are placed so flexibly and the piling of peaks, stone walls, step stones and valley mouths are so skillful that towering peaks amid soaring greens, grotesque rocks surrounded by oozing water are integrated into charmingly harmonious scenery.Although there do not exist any tall buildings or unique pavilions in the garden, it becomes stylish for its scenes being serene and deep, which is as good as a painting composed of just a few lines.“Less is more”, the principle guiding garden designs is best represented by this garden in Yangzhou.

Notes:

1.Jianzhen (688-763) was a monk of the Tang Dynasty.He attempted to visit Japan six times from 742 to 753.The last time, he successfully arrived in the southern part of Kyushu, Japan.Later he explained and publicized the Buddhist scriptures in Nara and founded the Tōshōdaiji Temple in 759.

2.Miscellany of Lüyuan Garden, written by Qian Yong in the Qing Dynasty, consists of twenty-four volumes, parts of which are on gardens in particular.