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| Tan Sitong’s Former Residences |
Monday, September 30, 2013
Tan Sitong’s Former Residences
Located at 41 Beibanjie Hutong in Xuanwu District, this was once the site of the Liuyang Guild of Hunan Province. Tan Sitong lived here in 1898 when he was in Beijing.
Tan Sitong (1865-98), from Liuyang in Hunan Province, was a famous statesman, thinker and reformist in China’s modern history. He was ex- ecuted after the defeat of the 1898 Reform Move- ment and was widely known as one of the movement’s Six Men of Honor.
Zhu Yizun’s Former Home (Shundes County Guild)
Located at 16 Haibai Hutong in Xuanwu District, this was once called the Shunde County Guild of Guangdong Province. Zhu Yizun lived here since the 23rd year of Emperor Kangxi’s reign (r. 1662- 1722).
Zhu Yizun (1629-1709), a native of Xiushui (now Jiaxing) in Zhejiang Province, was a renowned scholar in the early Qing Dynasty. He was se- lected into the Imperial Academy to compile the History of the Ming Dynasty. Of the several places he lived in Beijing, he stayed here the longest.
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| Zhu Yizun’s Former Home (Shundes County Guild) |
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Ji Xiaolan’s Former Residences
Ji Xiaolan’s former residence in Beijing is located at 241 Zhushikou Xidajie of Xuanwu District.
Ji Yun(1724-1805), also known as Ji Xiaolan, was from Xianxian County in Hebei Province. As a palace graduate and renowned scholar of Emperor Qianlong’s reign period (r.1736- 1795) of the Qing Dynasty, he was minister of rites and assistant grand secretary in the Grand Secretariat. He was in charge of the compilation of the Siku Quanshu (Complete Library of the Four Branches of Literature). The wisteria and Chinese flowering crabapple tree in the courtyard were grown by Ji Xiaolan himself. In 1930, a patriotic democrat Liu Shaobai rented this house, thus this Yuewei Caotang (Thatched Abode of Close Observations) became Liu’s Mansion. In 1936, Fu Liancheng bought this house for his traditional Peking opera school as students’dormitory and training ground.
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| Ji Xiaolan’s Former Residences |
Chongli’s Former Residences
The former residence of Chongli, secretary of the Grand Council during the reign period of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty, is located at 63 & 65 Dongsi Liutiao Xikou in Dongcheng District.
Chongli, styled Shouzhi and surnamed Jiang, was a Chinese White Bannerman and was related to the royal family by marriage. He was conferred the title of grant secretary of the Eastern Hall in the Forbidden City and later grant secretary of the Chamber of Literary Profundity in 1990, the 26th year of Emperor Guangxu’s reign. Covering an area of over 10,000 square meters, it was known as the“biggest in Dongcheng district.”During the War of Resistance Against Japanese Ag- gression (1937-1945), it was bought by Zhang Yanqing, presi- dent of the quisling Xinmin (New People) Association. He was the son of Zhang Zhidong, a grand secretary of the late Qing Dynasty.
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| Chongli’s Former Residences |
Scenic Beauty as Inspiration of Literature andLiterature as Promoter of Scenic Beauty
In singing of the beautiful scenery of Hangzhou, people often say of the place as“a picture postcard world, a world made for poetry”. Indeed the scenic charm of thegardens in Hangzhou is such that visitors often find it hard to tear themselves awayfrom them.
The views which visitors enjoy at the scenic places in Hangzhou are as a rule pregnant with qualities that appeal to man's aesthetic taste, inspiring them to createworks of art based on how they feel and to write poetry or other forms of literature togive expression to their aroused artistic sentiments. The beauty of the hills and watersof Hangzhou, the beauty of the wooded dales and ravines and also the beauty ofarchitectural art as revealed in what one sees scattered about in different types ofgardens — all this has nurtured generations upon generations of artists and poets,providing them with the inspiration and arousing in them the passion to create. SuShi the famous man of letters of Song Dynasty once wrote a poem about the WestLake after his wine party on a boat was disturbed by unexpected rain. The poemruns as follows：
The scene of the rippling lake is best on a fine day,
Yet equally good is the scenery of misty mountains in rain.
I'd like to compare West Lake to Xi Shi the ancient beauty,
Divine she looks when richly made up or when only lightly so.
The poem has indeed captured the innate beauty of West Lake scenery.
In giving names to the well-known ten scenic sights on West Lake, peoplenaturally have resorted to poetic language. The ten names thus are：A Placid Lakeunder the Autumn Moon, Dawn over the Su Causeway on a Spring Day, Sunset Glowover Thunder Peak, The Sound of Bells at Eventide on Nanping Hill, Lotus FlowersCaressed by Breezes in the Old Distillery Garden, Lingering Snows on Broken Bridge,Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds, Listening to OriolesSinging in Swaying Willows and Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play at Flower Harbor.These four-character Chinese phrases are highly evocative, provoking all kinds ofromantic ideas and associations. The famous lake with its picturesque scenery hasbeen a rich source of poetic sentiments and has fired in many a strong desire forartistic creations, and they in their turn have done full justice to the scenic valueof the West Lake. When one takes a walk along the Su or the Bai Causewayenjoying the scenery under swaying willows and blossoming peach trees andchanting meanwhile the great poems about the lake view, one will appreciate allthe more deeply the fine artistic conception underlying the garden-like scenery ofHangzhou.
In the last analysis, cultural richness is the soul of gardens and gardening as anart. The reason why the gardens of olden times are of such great value is not just thatthere is so much to see but that they are the embodiment of a rich, splendid culturalheritage. The fact that the beauty of nature and the artistic creations of man are thereto reflect glory on each other — that perhaps accounts for the great attraction of theChinese-style gardens in Hangzhou!
The views which visitors enjoy at the scenic places in Hangzhou are as a rule pregnant with qualities that appeal to man's aesthetic taste, inspiring them to createworks of art based on how they feel and to write poetry or other forms of literature togive expression to their aroused artistic sentiments. The beauty of the hills and watersof Hangzhou, the beauty of the wooded dales and ravines and also the beauty ofarchitectural art as revealed in what one sees scattered about in different types ofgardens — all this has nurtured generations upon generations of artists and poets,providing them with the inspiration and arousing in them the passion to create. SuShi the famous man of letters of Song Dynasty once wrote a poem about the WestLake after his wine party on a boat was disturbed by unexpected rain. The poemruns as follows：
The scene of the rippling lake is best on a fine day,
Yet equally good is the scenery of misty mountains in rain.
I'd like to compare West Lake to Xi Shi the ancient beauty,
Divine she looks when richly made up or when only lightly so.
The poem has indeed captured the innate beauty of West Lake scenery.
In giving names to the well-known ten scenic sights on West Lake, peoplenaturally have resorted to poetic language. The ten names thus are：A Placid Lakeunder the Autumn Moon, Dawn over the Su Causeway on a Spring Day, Sunset Glowover Thunder Peak, The Sound of Bells at Eventide on Nanping Hill, Lotus FlowersCaressed by Breezes in the Old Distillery Garden, Lingering Snows on Broken Bridge,Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, Twin Peaks Piercing the Clouds, Listening to OriolesSinging in Swaying Willows and Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play at Flower Harbor.These four-character Chinese phrases are highly evocative, provoking all kinds ofromantic ideas and associations. The famous lake with its picturesque scenery hasbeen a rich source of poetic sentiments and has fired in many a strong desire forartistic creations, and they in their turn have done full justice to the scenic valueof the West Lake. When one takes a walk along the Su or the Bai Causewayenjoying the scenery under swaying willows and blossoming peach trees andchanting meanwhile the great poems about the lake view, one will appreciate allthe more deeply the fine artistic conception underlying the garden-like scenery ofHangzhou.
In the last analysis, cultural richness is the soul of gardens and gardening as anart. The reason why the gardens of olden times are of such great value is not just thatthere is so much to see but that they are the embodiment of a rich, splendid culturalheritage. The fact that the beauty of nature and the artistic creations of man are thereto reflect glory on each other — that perhaps accounts for the great attraction of theChinese-style gardens in Hangzhou!
Saturday, September 28, 2013
The Way of Nature and the Efforts of Man
As the Chinese saying goes：“Above in heaven there is paradise, below on earththere are Suzhou and Hangzhou”. Coming to the beautiful scenery of Hangzhou, onewill immediately think of the West Lake whose beauty consists in the wide expanse ofrippling, clear-blue waters, like “liuli”or ancient Chinese glass. The West Lake is agift of nature, but its beauty owes itself also to man's ideas and efforts.
From nature, Hangzhou has got not only a lake but also many many other waterscenes such as gushing springs, creeks, cataracts, brooks and dales and pools, etc.All these provide the necessary materials for garden design in Hangzhou.
What is known as Nine Brooks and Eighteen Dales is a good example of howpicturesque scenery is formed out of water scenes. Located at the foot of Cockscomb（Ji Guan）Hill that is surrounded by Lion Peak and other hills southwest of the WestLake, the Nine Brooks and Eighteen Dales is shaped like the letter “Y”, along asinuously winding mountain path from Dragon Well （Long Jing）to the Nine Brooks Teahouse that extends for a distance of about six km between wooded hills, oftencrisscrossed by limpid mountain streams. Here is found a maze of brooks, one fromRed Bayberry Ridge（Yang Mei Ling）, one from Old Dragon Well（Lao Long Jing）and some others from Buddhist Rock （Fo Shi）, Cloud Stream （Yun Xi）, etc.,altogether nine in number. That is how the name Nine Brooks has come about.
In regard to the gardens of Hangzhou, it is often said：“No water bodies, noscenery”. There were initially various types of water bodies as gifts of nature inHangzhou. By exploiting the natural conditions and by first of all developingingenious artistic conceptualizations in garden design, channels were dug and waterponds were dredged. In the end, there have emerged many water scenes with highaesthetic appeal. For instance, by making use of branching streams, mountain brooksand springs on the sites of future gardens, by ingeniously placing and designinggarden buildings and rockeries and by deploying trees and flowers to their best effect,meaningful and beautiful scenery will be created. A case in point is a branchingstream about only three meters wide south of Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play atFlower Harbor. Here on the banks are now planted rows upons rows of weepingwillows, but the banks themselves are kept in their natural state without anembankment of stone or of any other material. It is a cool, placid nook of a placewith the waters in the stream limpid and clear on which in a breeze the delicateshadows of willows will sway and flicker, lending to a place otherwise utterly quietand static a sense of movement and motion. When one takes a rest here, one gains aperspective of considerable depth owing to the artistic conceptualization of“A willow-filled estuary”.
From nature, Hangzhou has got not only a lake but also many many other waterscenes such as gushing springs, creeks, cataracts, brooks and dales and pools, etc.All these provide the necessary materials for garden design in Hangzhou.
What is known as Nine Brooks and Eighteen Dales is a good example of howpicturesque scenery is formed out of water scenes. Located at the foot of Cockscomb（Ji Guan）Hill that is surrounded by Lion Peak and other hills southwest of the WestLake, the Nine Brooks and Eighteen Dales is shaped like the letter “Y”, along asinuously winding mountain path from Dragon Well （Long Jing）to the Nine Brooks Teahouse that extends for a distance of about six km between wooded hills, oftencrisscrossed by limpid mountain streams. Here is found a maze of brooks, one fromRed Bayberry Ridge（Yang Mei Ling）, one from Old Dragon Well（Lao Long Jing）and some others from Buddhist Rock （Fo Shi）, Cloud Stream （Yun Xi）, etc.,altogether nine in number. That is how the name Nine Brooks has come about.
In regard to the gardens of Hangzhou, it is often said：“No water bodies, noscenery”. There were initially various types of water bodies as gifts of nature inHangzhou. By exploiting the natural conditions and by first of all developingingenious artistic conceptualizations in garden design, channels were dug and waterponds were dredged. In the end, there have emerged many water scenes with highaesthetic appeal. For instance, by making use of branching streams, mountain brooksand springs on the sites of future gardens, by ingeniously placing and designinggarden buildings and rockeries and by deploying trees and flowers to their best effect,meaningful and beautiful scenery will be created. A case in point is a branchingstream about only three meters wide south of Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play atFlower Harbor. Here on the banks are now planted rows upons rows of weepingwillows, but the banks themselves are kept in their natural state without anembankment of stone or of any other material. It is a cool, placid nook of a placewith the waters in the stream limpid and clear on which in a breeze the delicateshadows of willows will sway and flicker, lending to a place otherwise utterly quietand static a sense of movement and motion. When one takes a rest here, one gains aperspective of considerable depth owing to the artistic conceptualization of“A willow-filled estuary”.
True Beauty Is Beauty Veiled and True Art Is Artof Conceptual Depth
In scenic Hangzhou one often feels that there is too much to see to really feelsatisfied in the enjoyment of good scenery.
In the light of dawn when the mists and fog have not yet completely receded,one catches sight from a distance of the pagodas veiled in a soft haze while gentlebreezes waft by rustling the leaves on the trees without disturbing the birds, still onlyhalf-awake in their perches. How delicate and serene, how full of tranquillity and howgently appealing is the scenery at this hour! As twilight falls, one sees mists and fog emerging from all around, enfolding the lake nearby gradually and gently whilemaking the distant hills look even more distant. How elusively and alluringlybeautiful is the scenery before one now that the lake seems submerged all innebulous evening haze! Under the clear inky sky on a cloudless night when thereflection of a crescent moon lies shimmering on the rippling surface of the lake andwhen numerous twinkling stars are dancing in the midst of the ripples under yourfeet, with a nebulous haze thinly veiling the surrounding scenery and with only thedimly heard bells of faraway ancient temples penetrating the utter tranquillity of yourworld, what a fantastic place this dream-world Hangzhou has become! When ithappens that a misty drizzling rain is falling in Hangzhou and everything is shroudedin haze, revealing itself only now and then, a kind of scenery which an ancient poetonce described in the following words：“Lotus flowers being veiled in mist and fog/There they are but only an indistinct sight”, one will then ask：“Is this all real orunreal? Are they all there or are they not?”Looking around on the shores of theWest Lake, one beholds the distant surrounding hills. Dyed a bluish-black now, theyare the home of hovering thin, white clouds, light as cotton, sometimes in the form ofthin wisps and drifting aimlessly about. Some of the hills seem covered half in fogand mist, eternally, veiling mystically the green trees on their slopes. This dreamlikequality in the scenic beauty of Hangzhou with all its mystical associations is aneternal temptation. It is scenery that is aesthetically and spiritually satisfying.
In garden art as in other branches of art such as music, literature, painting, etc.,a requirement or criterion of vital importance is how thought- and emotion-provokinga work can be, that is, a right balance of explicitness and implicitness （“hanxu”in Chinese）. In technical terms, if a work of art is totally implicit, it falls short in thesense that people will fail to see what is in it. On the other hand, if something iscompletely explicit, then people will not think it worth their while to ponder over it.What is necessary is, as one poet has said, “A painting limited in size but unlimitedin its evocations.”
In good garden design, a bridge may have a few turns and a path often has manybends. Having many twists and turns may give more pleasure to those in a garden. In Chinese there is the phrase“qu jing tong you”or “winding paths lead to secluded places”. This means that only when there is change is there the desire to try and lookfor more. It is also true of one's experience of catching a glimpse of a corner of acurtain in a woods and knowing that there must be a home there or catching aglimpse of a colorful streamer and knowing there must be a wineshop ahead.Likewise, a few tadpoles in a painting may evoke in the mind a picture of anendless stream.
On the central isle near the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, one sees, in themidst of flowers and trees, white-washed walls with see-through holes or windows.Outside the walls are groves of bamboo stalks swaying in the breezes and inside thewalls are luxuriant green trees. Above the moon gate in the walls there is a board onwhich are inscribed four Chinese characters：Zhu Jing Tong You, which means“abamboo-shaded path leading to secluded places”. The narrow, shaded path outsidethe moon gate threads its way forward, disappearing in the distance in the depths ofthe bamboo groves. This makes one think of the widely known poetic line：“Thecourtyard looks fathomless indeed but how fathomless can it be.”This is how the ruleof a balance of explicitness and implicitness is being applied.
In the light of dawn when the mists and fog have not yet completely receded,one catches sight from a distance of the pagodas veiled in a soft haze while gentlebreezes waft by rustling the leaves on the trees without disturbing the birds, still onlyhalf-awake in their perches. How delicate and serene, how full of tranquillity and howgently appealing is the scenery at this hour! As twilight falls, one sees mists and fog emerging from all around, enfolding the lake nearby gradually and gently whilemaking the distant hills look even more distant. How elusively and alluringlybeautiful is the scenery before one now that the lake seems submerged all innebulous evening haze! Under the clear inky sky on a cloudless night when thereflection of a crescent moon lies shimmering on the rippling surface of the lake andwhen numerous twinkling stars are dancing in the midst of the ripples under yourfeet, with a nebulous haze thinly veiling the surrounding scenery and with only thedimly heard bells of faraway ancient temples penetrating the utter tranquillity of yourworld, what a fantastic place this dream-world Hangzhou has become! When ithappens that a misty drizzling rain is falling in Hangzhou and everything is shroudedin haze, revealing itself only now and then, a kind of scenery which an ancient poetonce described in the following words：“Lotus flowers being veiled in mist and fog/There they are but only an indistinct sight”, one will then ask：“Is this all real orunreal? Are they all there or are they not?”Looking around on the shores of theWest Lake, one beholds the distant surrounding hills. Dyed a bluish-black now, theyare the home of hovering thin, white clouds, light as cotton, sometimes in the form ofthin wisps and drifting aimlessly about. Some of the hills seem covered half in fogand mist, eternally, veiling mystically the green trees on their slopes. This dreamlikequality in the scenic beauty of Hangzhou with all its mystical associations is aneternal temptation. It is scenery that is aesthetically and spiritually satisfying.
In garden art as in other branches of art such as music, literature, painting, etc.,a requirement or criterion of vital importance is how thought- and emotion-provokinga work can be, that is, a right balance of explicitness and implicitness （“hanxu”in Chinese）. In technical terms, if a work of art is totally implicit, it falls short in thesense that people will fail to see what is in it. On the other hand, if something iscompletely explicit, then people will not think it worth their while to ponder over it.What is necessary is, as one poet has said, “A painting limited in size but unlimitedin its evocations.”
In good garden design, a bridge may have a few turns and a path often has manybends. Having many twists and turns may give more pleasure to those in a garden. In Chinese there is the phrase“qu jing tong you”or “winding paths lead to secluded places”. This means that only when there is change is there the desire to try and lookfor more. It is also true of one's experience of catching a glimpse of a corner of acurtain in a woods and knowing that there must be a home there or catching aglimpse of a colorful streamer and knowing there must be a wineshop ahead.Likewise, a few tadpoles in a painting may evoke in the mind a picture of anendless stream.
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| qu jing tong you |
Friday, September 27, 2013
Beautiful and Diversified Scenery in Limited Space
The Yellow Dragon Cave（Huang Long Dong）is a picturesque gardenlike spot at the foot of a hill whose special aesthetic quality consists in the compactness of itsoverall layout where streams and ponds, exquisite-looking pavilions and terraces,secluded shrines and caves, bamboo groves and woods, limpid springs and weird-looking rocks and what not lie snuggling together to form a scenic garden marked byquietude and tastefulness and where an atmosphere of inexplicable mystery somehowperennially prevails, probably owing to its Taoist origin. The poetic name for thisscenic sight is Budding Green at Yellow Dragon Cave（Huang Long Tu Cui）.
The entrance to this scenic sight is a two-tier temple gate in the deep shadowsof timeless trees that has a markedly antique flavor with flying, upturned eaves in themidst of towering trees and intertwined vines. This is symbolic of the head of a yellowdragon and the inscribed couplet on the two sides of the gate reminds one of theTaoist origin of the place. Inside the temple gate, one sees a path leading up the hillslope that threads its way up under luxuriant trees and other kinds of plant life. Thepath winds it way sinuously up the hillside close to or in parallel with yellow-paintedwalls that follow the contour of the slope, looking like the cervical part of a dragon.On the yellow-painted walls are see-through holes shaped like dragons in ninedifferent postures. Then one reaches a gate in the walls that leads the way into agarden where one sees halls and chambers built level on level and picturesquerockeries amidst an exuberant growth of trees and tall bamboo.
In this garden with its encircling roofed corridors interspersed here and therewith beautifully designed pavilions and fantastic rockeries and water ponds, onewould feel curiously refreshed and far from the mundane world. Lookingaround, one will see on the lefthand side a pavilion perched halfway up a mound thatis half hidden by trees. This is the Ever Happy （Chang Le）Pavilion. Opposite thispavilion, on the righthand side, one will see another pavilion of a graceful andattractive design and that is the Fragrant Snow （Xiang Xue） Pavilion. At somedistance in front is the Crane Stopping（He Zhi）Pavilion that serves as a junction onthe garden-encircling roofed corridor where one sees beautiful rockwork all round.Some of the rockeries here stand vertically erect, some lie prostrate near them andsome snuggle together in clusters. Rockeries form the walls and embankment of thepond, looking cragged and rugged, with the big head of a dragon overlooking them that spouts a gush of clear spring water near which stands a colossal piece of stoneinscribed on one side with the words：“Waters Does not Always Need to be Deep（Shui Bu Zai Shen）”and on the other with the words：“But the Presence of theDragon Makes It Divine （You Long Ze Ling）.”And this is the underlying theme ofthe scenery at the Yellow Dragon Cave.
Elsewhere in scenic Hangzhou, the garden in the Seal Engraver's Society boastssome similar features. There one finds what are called the Cypress Hall （Bai Tang）and the Bamboo Pavilion （Zhu Ge）that form part of the garden scenery there. TheCypress Hall whose architectural style reminds one of classical ancient times hasupturned, flying eaves. Elegantly decorated, this is where Chinese fine art andcalligraphy and ancient bronzeware and stone things are on display. With the CypressHall and the Bamboo Pavilion supplemented by other antique-looking structures likecovered corridors with upturned eaves, whitewashed walls and water ponds, thegarden scenery here is most impressive. The rockeries that surround the pond eitherstand erect and tall or lie low and prostrate, with some of them only slightlyprotruding from the ground. Rockwork of this type is ingenious in its design, for whatis lying low like the offshoots of a hill will prompt one to wonder about the where-abouts of the main peaks and a kind of implicit connection is thus established. In thepond here are scattered growths of sleeping lotus whose flowers are reflected in thewater, lending more color to the water scene and making everything more tasteful.
The entrance to this scenic sight is a two-tier temple gate in the deep shadowsof timeless trees that has a markedly antique flavor with flying, upturned eaves in themidst of towering trees and intertwined vines. This is symbolic of the head of a yellowdragon and the inscribed couplet on the two sides of the gate reminds one of theTaoist origin of the place. Inside the temple gate, one sees a path leading up the hillslope that threads its way up under luxuriant trees and other kinds of plant life. Thepath winds it way sinuously up the hillside close to or in parallel with yellow-paintedwalls that follow the contour of the slope, looking like the cervical part of a dragon.On the yellow-painted walls are see-through holes shaped like dragons in ninedifferent postures. Then one reaches a gate in the walls that leads the way into agarden where one sees halls and chambers built level on level and picturesquerockeries amidst an exuberant growth of trees and tall bamboo.
In this garden with its encircling roofed corridors interspersed here and therewith beautifully designed pavilions and fantastic rockeries and water ponds, onewould feel curiously refreshed and far from the mundane world. Lookingaround, one will see on the lefthand side a pavilion perched halfway up a mound thatis half hidden by trees. This is the Ever Happy （Chang Le）Pavilion. Opposite thispavilion, on the righthand side, one will see another pavilion of a graceful andattractive design and that is the Fragrant Snow （Xiang Xue） Pavilion. At somedistance in front is the Crane Stopping（He Zhi）Pavilion that serves as a junction onthe garden-encircling roofed corridor where one sees beautiful rockwork all round.Some of the rockeries here stand vertically erect, some lie prostrate near them andsome snuggle together in clusters. Rockeries form the walls and embankment of thepond, looking cragged and rugged, with the big head of a dragon overlooking them that spouts a gush of clear spring water near which stands a colossal piece of stoneinscribed on one side with the words：“Waters Does not Always Need to be Deep（Shui Bu Zai Shen）”and on the other with the words：“But the Presence of theDragon Makes It Divine （You Long Ze Ling）.”And this is the underlying theme ofthe scenery at the Yellow Dragon Cave.
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| The Yellow Dragon Cave |
Rhythmic Control and Management of Space-Time Change
In terms of rhythm, meter and management of space-time change, designers of Hangzhou gardens have definitively proved their creative ability. In designing thegeneral physical layout of a place, they know how to make good use of semi-decorative garden buildings such as pagodas, dykes or embankments, bridges,pavilions, towers, open balconied houses, etc., and of the ingenious display of treesand flowers with the result that anyone strolling in such an environment wouldexperience feelings inspired by animation vs. repose, pause and intermission,variations, darkness vs. light, repetitions, steepness vs. non-steepness, twists andturns, etc. In a word, there seems to be an innate sense of rhythm in the overalldesign.
Take for instance the three well-known pagodas in Hangzhou, the AvatamsakaSutra Pagoda, the Baochu Pagoda and the Pagoda of Six Harmonies. The three aremarkedly different in their physical dimensions and they are built on hills different inheight and magnitude. On Solitary Hill, which is only about 30m high and sits rightby the side of the West Lake there is the diminutive Avatamsaka Sutra Pagoda withits exquisitely-done ornamental carved artwork. On Baoshi Mountain north of the lakewhose height exceeds 100m, there is the Baochu Pagoda which in terms of height anddimensions is just right for the hill it stands upon. Then on Yuelun Hill by the sideof Qiantang River that commands a panoramic, wide-angled view of natural riverside scenery there stands the Pagoda of Six Harmonies which is as high as 60m. Althoughthe three are all pagodas, their different configurations and heights and the perfectlybalanced and harmonious look of the pagodas in their respective settings create threedifferent kinds of aesthetic effect that are, respectively, pleasingly small and cute,charmingly slender and erect and majestically imposing. And one will marvel at theinfinite and unpredictable resourcefulness of the garden designers!
The Bai Causeway is also a case in point. Lying across the lake under low-lyinghills, it has an innate rhythm all its own, as manifested in its rises and falls,repetitions, pauses and intermissions, etc. The causeway begins in the east with awaterside pavilion named In the Light of Clouds and Waters （Yun Shui GuangZhong）together with some other semi-decorative architectural structures includingthe pavilion with a stone tablet carrying the inscription “Lingering Snows on BrokenBridge （Duan Qiao Can Xue）”, extending then for a distance of about a fullkilometer with the scenery varied by the presence of Broken Bridge and BrocadeGirdle Bridge and coming to an end at the complex of graceful-looking semi-decorative garden structures of A Placid Lake under the Autumn Moon（Ping Hu QiuYue）. This is rhythm in terms of distance.
The causeway looks like a colorful ribbonflying gracefully over the blue waters of the lake, offering wide-open views of thebeautiful scenery on both sides and this is rhythm in terms of smooth flowingness oflines. The causeway is lined on its two sides alternately with peach trees and weepingwillows and this is rhythm in terms of variation. When the beautiful semi-decorativegarden buildings at A Placid Lake under the Autumn Moon are reached, one willnaturally halt and take a rest and that is rhythm in terms of pause and intermission.The walk through the garden buildings of this scenic place on the causeway and pastthe many rockeries and trees and flowers on the way is an interesting experience inwitnessing change in space and time, with many many ups and downs, rises and falls,light-shade alternations, pauses and halts, sparsenesses vs. densenesses, twists andturns, etc.
Take for instance the three well-known pagodas in Hangzhou, the AvatamsakaSutra Pagoda, the Baochu Pagoda and the Pagoda of Six Harmonies. The three aremarkedly different in their physical dimensions and they are built on hills different inheight and magnitude. On Solitary Hill, which is only about 30m high and sits rightby the side of the West Lake there is the diminutive Avatamsaka Sutra Pagoda withits exquisitely-done ornamental carved artwork. On Baoshi Mountain north of the lakewhose height exceeds 100m, there is the Baochu Pagoda which in terms of height anddimensions is just right for the hill it stands upon. Then on Yuelun Hill by the sideof Qiantang River that commands a panoramic, wide-angled view of natural riverside scenery there stands the Pagoda of Six Harmonies which is as high as 60m. Althoughthe three are all pagodas, their different configurations and heights and the perfectlybalanced and harmonious look of the pagodas in their respective settings create threedifferent kinds of aesthetic effect that are, respectively, pleasingly small and cute,charmingly slender and erect and majestically imposing. And one will marvel at theinfinite and unpredictable resourcefulness of the garden designers!
The Bai Causeway is also a case in point. Lying across the lake under low-lyinghills, it has an innate rhythm all its own, as manifested in its rises and falls,repetitions, pauses and intermissions, etc. The causeway begins in the east with awaterside pavilion named In the Light of Clouds and Waters （Yun Shui GuangZhong）together with some other semi-decorative architectural structures includingthe pavilion with a stone tablet carrying the inscription “Lingering Snows on BrokenBridge （Duan Qiao Can Xue）”, extending then for a distance of about a fullkilometer with the scenery varied by the presence of Broken Bridge and BrocadeGirdle Bridge and coming to an end at the complex of graceful-looking semi-decorative garden structures of A Placid Lake under the Autumn Moon（Ping Hu QiuYue）. This is rhythm in terms of distance.
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| The Longjing Scenic Area |
Thursday, September 26, 2013
Scenic Beauty and the Role of Greening the Environment
The peculiar charm of the gardens of Hangzhou as ingenious works of art results from a perfect fusion of what is endowed by nature and the work of man in the way of what is called landscape architecture and gardening today.
In this connection we will take as an example the case of the aforementioned A Placid Lake under the Autumn Moon. Here the salient features are autumnal scenery and moonlit scenery. For this reason, the trees planted here are predominantly orange osmanthus and red maples, supplemented by such aromatic plants as those of the genus of Michelia and tuberose. Different kinds of plant life have different roles to play in different seasons. Azalea in spring and maple in fall are both red in color, but are different shades of red with different visual appeal. Even on a single day a plant may have different kinds of visual appeal as morning turns into noon and afternoon into evening when luminosity seemingly registers imperceptible changes.
In terms of landscape architecture and gardening, different kinds of trees may evoke different artistic sentiments. Broadleaf trees that are not that regular in shape can lend a look of vibrancy and briskness while well-trimmed coniferous trees may help create an atmosphere of solemnity and serenity. The planting of trees and flowers has other useful functions too, for they are pleasant to look at in themselves, make the scenery nearby more enjoyable, fill the air with fragrances or are a source of soft, pleasing sounds. For these reasons, sweet osmanthus with its pleasant smell is often planted where there are tall buildings, and the gorgeous cottonrose hibiscus and lotus are often displayed in or near ponds and rockeries. A case in point is the scenic sight Lotus Flowers Caressed by Breezes in the Old Distillery Garden with its exuberant growth of lotus flowers.
On the two sides of the Su Causeway weeping willows and flowers blossoming forth in spring predominate in order to set off the artistic conceptualizations as embodied in the names“Mist-Shrouded Willows at the Six Bridges”and“Dawn over the Su Causeway on a Spring Day”. On Solitary Hill plum trees are the ever recurring theme and at Yunqi Temple bamboo-shaded paths are the main features to give expression to the aesthetic idea of “A path of towering bamboo high enough to touch the skies.”Sweet osmanthus is the flower symbolic of the City of Hangzhou. At the scenic sight called Sweet Rain of Osmanthus at Manjuelong there is a profusion of the plant and Changqiao Park is planted all over with it. Hence its nickname Park of the City Flower.
Of the scenic gardens in Hangzhou, some feature scenery that is season- dependent, such as that at Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play at Flower Harbor（Hua Gang GuanYu）and that at Lingering Snows on Broken Bridge（Duan Qiao Can Xue） and some feature scenery whose appeal changes with the time of the day, such as that at Morning Light on Ge Ridge（Ge Ling Zhao Tun）and that at the Sound of Bells at Eventide on Nanping Hill（Nan Ping Wan Zhong）. In selecting trees and flowers for meaningful deployment in gardens, their shape and appearance are also an important consideration, for the way they look and impress themselves on visitors may have great symbolic or metaphorical significance and evoke in them some special sentiments and associations. For instance, in the garden of the Seal Engraver's Society, pine trees, bamboo groves and plum trees seem to be everywhere, since in Chinese culture these are symbolic of aloofness from mundane interests and of lofty and noble character. In the gardens of such places as tombs, shrines, ancestral temples, memorial tablet halls, historical sites, etc., sometimes low-hanging and squat-looking trees such as Chinese scholartrees are predominant, as a symbol of the mourning people feel for those who lie at rest there, as in the memorial temple of Yue Fei the Song Dynasty general. Sometimes in a place like this certain growths of trees are given a special poetic name on the basis of their shape and appearance to give expression to how people feel about what they signify, as in names like“Facing Danger Fearlessly（Lin Wei Bu Ju）”and“Outshining All Others in the South（Nan Tian Du Xiu）”, both of which signify the lofty spirit of a noble character.
In this connection we will take as an example the case of the aforementioned A Placid Lake under the Autumn Moon. Here the salient features are autumnal scenery and moonlit scenery. For this reason, the trees planted here are predominantly orange osmanthus and red maples, supplemented by such aromatic plants as those of the genus of Michelia and tuberose. Different kinds of plant life have different roles to play in different seasons. Azalea in spring and maple in fall are both red in color, but are different shades of red with different visual appeal. Even on a single day a plant may have different kinds of visual appeal as morning turns into noon and afternoon into evening when luminosity seemingly registers imperceptible changes.
In terms of landscape architecture and gardening, different kinds of trees may evoke different artistic sentiments. Broadleaf trees that are not that regular in shape can lend a look of vibrancy and briskness while well-trimmed coniferous trees may help create an atmosphere of solemnity and serenity. The planting of trees and flowers has other useful functions too, for they are pleasant to look at in themselves, make the scenery nearby more enjoyable, fill the air with fragrances or are a source of soft, pleasing sounds. For these reasons, sweet osmanthus with its pleasant smell is often planted where there are tall buildings, and the gorgeous cottonrose hibiscus and lotus are often displayed in or near ponds and rockeries. A case in point is the scenic sight Lotus Flowers Caressed by Breezes in the Old Distillery Garden with its exuberant growth of lotus flowers.
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| West Lake lotus |
Of the scenic gardens in Hangzhou, some feature scenery that is season- dependent, such as that at Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play at Flower Harbor（Hua Gang GuanYu）and that at Lingering Snows on Broken Bridge（Duan Qiao Can Xue） and some feature scenery whose appeal changes with the time of the day, such as that at Morning Light on Ge Ridge（Ge Ling Zhao Tun）and that at the Sound of Bells at Eventide on Nanping Hill（Nan Ping Wan Zhong）. In selecting trees and flowers for meaningful deployment in gardens, their shape and appearance are also an important consideration, for the way they look and impress themselves on visitors may have great symbolic or metaphorical significance and evoke in them some special sentiments and associations. For instance, in the garden of the Seal Engraver's Society, pine trees, bamboo groves and plum trees seem to be everywhere, since in Chinese culture these are symbolic of aloofness from mundane interests and of lofty and noble character. In the gardens of such places as tombs, shrines, ancestral temples, memorial tablet halls, historical sites, etc., sometimes low-hanging and squat-looking trees such as Chinese scholartrees are predominant, as a symbol of the mourning people feel for those who lie at rest there, as in the memorial temple of Yue Fei the Song Dynasty general. Sometimes in a place like this certain growths of trees are given a special poetic name on the basis of their shape and appearance to give expression to how people feel about what they signify, as in names like“Facing Danger Fearlessly（Lin Wei Bu Ju）”and“Outshining All Others in the South（Nan Tian Du Xiu）”, both of which signify the lofty spirit of a noble character.
Pavilions as Scenic Features
In Chinese gardening art, pavilions are both places to pause for a rest and places to take in fine views from a fixed position. They are also important elements in the aesthetics of architecture in garden design.
The selection of the site for what is called the Mid-Lake Pavilion on an islet south of Solitary Hill and north of the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon shows how clever the designer was. Looking on the lake in all directions, the pavilion, with a yellow glazed-tile roof that has upturned eaves at the four corners which peep out from amidst swaying willows and blossoming trees and flowers, shows a scheme of contrasting colors that lends a more natural look to the pavilion-on-islet setting. Sitting in the pavilion and casting one's eyes around the lake scene, with rippling blue waters nearby and rolling blue hills in the distance, often half hidden in mists or haze, the scenery is indeed most enchanting.
Mooring one's boat at the Lesser Fairyland（Xiao Ying Zhou）by the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon and setting foot on land here, one is greeted immediately by the sight of the Memorial Hall of Early Sages（Xian Xian Ci）. After strolling through this building, one comes upon a zigzag bridge built on water that links the northern and the southern side of the ring-shaped Lesser Yingzhou. Here one may feel as though one were stepping into a picture. On the left is the Pavilion That Stands Gracefully Erect （Ting Ting Ting,“tingting”as a Chinese word meaning“graceful and erect”）. Originally named Longevity Pavilion, the pavilion had its name changed later after the poetic line“The three pagodas standing gracefully erect amidst waters blue”by a Ming Dynasty poet named Nie Danian. On the right is a pavilion named Opening the Net（Kai Wang Ting）, as inspired by the Buddhist teaching of leaving the net open for those who have committed wrongdoing. Here the pavilions and the zigzag bridge have not only succeeded in partitioning the surface of this part of the lake but have made the scenery more enticing by giving the place a more varied and level-on-level look.
In a pavilion one will usually see inscribed couplets by famous men of letters on pillars or walls that add color, not just in a literal sense, to it and to the surrounding scenery. For instance, at the scenic sight known as A Placid Lake under the Autumn Moon（Ping Hu Qiu Yue）, an inscribed couplet runs as follows：
A placid lake extends for miles and miles like a mirror,
A luminous moon in all four seasons that's best in fall.
It is a good representation of the artistic conceptualization that inspired the building of the pavilion in such a picturesque setting.
At the back of Solitary Hill there is a pavilion at its foot named Crane Releasing （Fang He Ting）which was built in memory of the aforementioned Song Dynasty poet Lin Hejin who had lived as a hermit here in his day. He spent his days writing poetry and painting and he liked growing plum trees for their flowers and keeping cranes for company. Two lines in a poem of his run as follows and they are still often being chanted by people who admire his taste：
Plum flowers throw their scattered shadows across pellucid waters,
A delicate fragrance pervades floating around under the moon at eventide.
In winter when the plum trees are blooming and exuding a sweet fragrance, one sees the pavilion half-hid in the midst of the trees. Such a view has made the Crane Releasing Pavilion a much-sought-after scenic attraction in Hangzhou.
Famous pavilions with famous inscribed couplets are by no means few and far between in Hangzhou. The fame of a scenic place and the fame of a literary piece may help promote and complement each other. A case in point is the scenic sight named Lotus Flowers Caressed by Breezes in the Old Distillery Garden（Qu Yuan Feng He）northwest of the Rainbow Crossing Bridge on the Su Causeway where in a pavilion with a stone tablet there is an inscription of a famous poem by the Song Dynasty poet Yang Wanli：
The lakeside views are indeed unique in mid-June,
The scenery is different from all other seasons.
Lotus leaves spread out to as far as the eye can see,
And an uncommon red are the lotus flowers in the sun.
The selection of the site for what is called the Mid-Lake Pavilion on an islet south of Solitary Hill and north of the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon shows how clever the designer was. Looking on the lake in all directions, the pavilion, with a yellow glazed-tile roof that has upturned eaves at the four corners which peep out from amidst swaying willows and blossoming trees and flowers, shows a scheme of contrasting colors that lends a more natural look to the pavilion-on-islet setting. Sitting in the pavilion and casting one's eyes around the lake scene, with rippling blue waters nearby and rolling blue hills in the distance, often half hidden in mists or haze, the scenery is indeed most enchanting.
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| Three Pools Mirroring the moon |
In a pavilion one will usually see inscribed couplets by famous men of letters on pillars or walls that add color, not just in a literal sense, to it and to the surrounding scenery. For instance, at the scenic sight known as A Placid Lake under the Autumn Moon（Ping Hu Qiu Yue）, an inscribed couplet runs as follows：
A placid lake extends for miles and miles like a mirror,
A luminous moon in all four seasons that's best in fall.
It is a good representation of the artistic conceptualization that inspired the building of the pavilion in such a picturesque setting.
At the back of Solitary Hill there is a pavilion at its foot named Crane Releasing （Fang He Ting）which was built in memory of the aforementioned Song Dynasty poet Lin Hejin who had lived as a hermit here in his day. He spent his days writing poetry and painting and he liked growing plum trees for their flowers and keeping cranes for company. Two lines in a poem of his run as follows and they are still often being chanted by people who admire his taste：
Plum flowers throw their scattered shadows across pellucid waters,
A delicate fragrance pervades floating around under the moon at eventide.
In winter when the plum trees are blooming and exuding a sweet fragrance, one sees the pavilion half-hid in the midst of the trees. Such a view has made the Crane Releasing Pavilion a much-sought-after scenic attraction in Hangzhou.
Famous pavilions with famous inscribed couplets are by no means few and far between in Hangzhou. The fame of a scenic place and the fame of a literary piece may help promote and complement each other. A case in point is the scenic sight named Lotus Flowers Caressed by Breezes in the Old Distillery Garden（Qu Yuan Feng He）northwest of the Rainbow Crossing Bridge on the Su Causeway where in a pavilion with a stone tablet there is an inscription of a famous poem by the Song Dynasty poet Yang Wanli：
The lakeside views are indeed unique in mid-June,
The scenery is different from all other seasons.
Lotus leaves spread out to as far as the eye can see,
And an uncommon red are the lotus flowers in the sun.
Wednesday, September 25, 2013
Bridges That Add to Scenic Charm
Bridges are indispensable boosters of the scenic charm of Hangzhou-witness the six bridges on the Su Causeway, the Broken Bridge and the Brocade Girdle Bridge on the Bai Causeway and the Xiling Bridge located at where in olden times a ferry-point stood. All of the above are arched bridges of stone of a most beautiful design. Other kinds of beautiful bridges exist too, such as the plank bridge at the scenic sight known as Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play at Flower Harbor （Hua Gang Guan Yu）and the zigzag bridge at the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon with its many Z-turns and with the pavilions built on the bridge. There is also the flagstone bridge near the pavilion named Touching a Chord in My Heart （Wo Xin Xiang Ying Ting）whose purpose is solely to add some decoration to the West Lake and does indeed enhance its charm.
The special aesthetic appeal of the zigzag bridge at the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon consists in its level, near-to-the-water-surface and unadorned look where one is so near to the lake surface and often also to the reflection of the moon in it. The many Z-turns lend a special flavor to the layout of the place and somehow extend the length of one's walk when one enjoys the view while moving along during what is known as in-motion viewing. After setting foot on land at the Lesser Fairyland from one's boat, a visitor first tours the Memorial Hall of Early Sages before reaching the zigzag bridge. In the lake opposite the bridge is standing a huge, tall piece of rock pitted in a way that lends its shape a special charm and is named the Nine Lion Rock（Jiu Shi Shi） . Here the zigzag bridge has a very interesting role to play, for one's walk on it leads one past many delightful sights such as rocks and rockeries, pavilions, white-washed walls on the central isle of the ring-shaped Lesser Fairyland, etc. It is the zigzag bridge that so to say strings up these sights. And because of its nearness to the surface of the lake, one can readily enjoy the reflected images in the water, including that of oneself, the sight of darting fish and the mild fragrance of lotus flowers.
Owing to restricted space, in some of the gardens in Hangzhou there are sometimes tiny bridges that one can cross at just a single step. These tiny bridges are necessary both as junctions and sometimes as partitions of water bodies that may lend a special appeal to the water scenes in a garden. Take for instance the little water pond near the top of Solitary Hill on the grounds of the Seal Engraver's Society. The small flagstone bridge there is most ingeniously designed, a testimony to the aesthetic rule that guides garden design, that is,“Narrow a space and there is a stream; extend it and a pond appears”. It is also true that the bridges as semi-decorative garden structures in Hangzhou are often made more famous as scenic sights by their associations with well-known people or events in history. For instance, Xiling Bridge that has appeared several times in this book reminds one of the life story of a well-known 6th century woman named Su Xiao Xiao, a famed courtesan who had many contemporary celebrities among her friends. And the name Broken Bridge, which was taken from a line of a poem by the poet Zhang Hu of the Tang Dynasty, always evokes sad memories when one recalls the romantic folk story of the White Snake Lady and her lover Xu Xian.
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| Su Causeway |
Owing to restricted space, in some of the gardens in Hangzhou there are sometimes tiny bridges that one can cross at just a single step. These tiny bridges are necessary both as junctions and sometimes as partitions of water bodies that may lend a special appeal to the water scenes in a garden. Take for instance the little water pond near the top of Solitary Hill on the grounds of the Seal Engraver's Society. The small flagstone bridge there is most ingeniously designed, a testimony to the aesthetic rule that guides garden design, that is,“Narrow a space and there is a stream; extend it and a pond appears”. It is also true that the bridges as semi-decorative garden structures in Hangzhou are often made more famous as scenic sights by their associations with well-known people or events in history. For instance, Xiling Bridge that has appeared several times in this book reminds one of the life story of a well-known 6th century woman named Su Xiao Xiao, a famed courtesan who had many contemporary celebrities among her friends. And the name Broken Bridge, which was taken from a line of a poem by the poet Zhang Hu of the Tang Dynasty, always evokes sad memories when one recalls the romantic folk story of the White Snake Lady and her lover Xu Xian.
Pagodas and the Skyline of a Scenic Place
If the West Lake can be compared to a pearl in a boundless sea of green, then some of the pagodas or pagoda-like structures at the West Lake may be looked upon as gems by the side of this lustrous pearl, for instance, the Baochu Pagoda on Baoshi Mountain, the Avatamsaka Sutra Pagoda in the garden of the Seal Engraver's Society, and the stupa-like stone structures at what is known as the Three Pools Mirroring the Moon. All of them have this in common：being eye-attracting salient marks on the skyline of the West Lake's environs.
The scenery of the West Lake, which is sheltered on three sides by range upon range of low-lying green hills, is generally characterized by gentle and soft-flowing wavy outlines. But Baochu Pagoda, which rises high and dominates a lakeside hill, looks like a spire that pokes through the soft and gentle skyline over the lake. The pagoda as it stands now was rebuilt in 1933. A solid structure 45.3m high without interior space or entrances, it is a pagoda with a tall slender body on a narrow base that gives a steady, well-anchored appearance, rather unusual as the shape of pagodas goes in China.
The Avatamsaka Sutra Pagoda in the garden of the Seal Engraver's Society is a delightful sight against the backdrop of Solitary Hill which is often compared to a garland on the lake, with the two causeways of Su and Bai as green wavy ribbons that the garland can ill do without. Against such a backdrop, this Avatamsaka Sutra Pagoda somehow stands out, looking down upon and dominating the other interesting sights below.
On the calm, placid surface of the West Lake, the three stupa-like stone structures at the scenic attraction Three Pools Mirroring the Moon look as though they were standing on the surface of a mirror. It is especially pleasant to be here on a moonlit autumn night when, with the three stone structures illuminated, the silhouettes of the stone structures, the image of a full moon and the shapely and shapeless clouds in the sky set each other off, presenting views that are enchantingly beautiful. The placing of the three stupa-like stone structures at some distance from each other makes them look from a distance like three incense burners in the lake. It is indeed an ingenious stroke of the designer's pen, creating wonderful scenery in a rather commonplace setting.
In Hangzhou, there are three pagodas that many people in the world know something about-the pagoda on Thunder Peak that is shaped like an old monk in his kasaya, the Baochu Pagoda with the tall slender figure of a young lady and the stalwart-looking Pagoda of Six Harmonies（Liu He）.
The pagoda on Thunder Peak（Lei Feng）stands facing the Baochu Pagoda at the top of Northern Hill across the West Lake near its NS axis and the two are equally well-known in the world. As an ancient poet once wrote：
Facing each other one from the north and the other the south,
Two big pagodas have their images mirrored in the waters.
The view is especially enchanting here at sunset when the evening glow cast its light on the pagodas. People generally believe that the most enticing of the views at the West Lake is the one known as Sunset Glow over Thunder Peak. The Thunder Peak Pagoda and the Baochu Pagoda exhibit different design features, but together they give variation to the generally soft and gentle skyline, making the scenery more varied and colorful and making themselves indispensable features of the West Lake scenery.
On the other hand, the Pagoda of Six Harmonies is an impressive architectural achievement in its own way, looking majestic and imposing on Yuelun Hill by the side of Qiantang River and dominating the scenery around in all directions. It is an ancient pagoda built of brick and wood in the Song Dynasty, A seven-storied structure with close-set upturned cantilevered eaves at 13 different levels, its design is an embodiment of the Buddhist idea of “building seven-storied pagodas for the good of mankind”.
The scenery of the West Lake, which is sheltered on three sides by range upon range of low-lying green hills, is generally characterized by gentle and soft-flowing wavy outlines. But Baochu Pagoda, which rises high and dominates a lakeside hill, looks like a spire that pokes through the soft and gentle skyline over the lake. The pagoda as it stands now was rebuilt in 1933. A solid structure 45.3m high without interior space or entrances, it is a pagoda with a tall slender body on a narrow base that gives a steady, well-anchored appearance, rather unusual as the shape of pagodas goes in China.
The Avatamsaka Sutra Pagoda in the garden of the Seal Engraver's Society is a delightful sight against the backdrop of Solitary Hill which is often compared to a garland on the lake, with the two causeways of Su and Bai as green wavy ribbons that the garland can ill do without. Against such a backdrop, this Avatamsaka Sutra Pagoda somehow stands out, looking down upon and dominating the other interesting sights below.
On the calm, placid surface of the West Lake, the three stupa-like stone structures at the scenic attraction Three Pools Mirroring the Moon look as though they were standing on the surface of a mirror. It is especially pleasant to be here on a moonlit autumn night when, with the three stone structures illuminated, the silhouettes of the stone structures, the image of a full moon and the shapely and shapeless clouds in the sky set each other off, presenting views that are enchantingly beautiful. The placing of the three stupa-like stone structures at some distance from each other makes them look from a distance like three incense burners in the lake. It is indeed an ingenious stroke of the designer's pen, creating wonderful scenery in a rather commonplace setting.
In Hangzhou, there are three pagodas that many people in the world know something about-the pagoda on Thunder Peak that is shaped like an old monk in his kasaya, the Baochu Pagoda with the tall slender figure of a young lady and the stalwart-looking Pagoda of Six Harmonies（Liu He）.
The pagoda on Thunder Peak（Lei Feng）stands facing the Baochu Pagoda at the top of Northern Hill across the West Lake near its NS axis and the two are equally well-known in the world. As an ancient poet once wrote：
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| Leifeng Pagoda |
Two big pagodas have their images mirrored in the waters.
The view is especially enchanting here at sunset when the evening glow cast its light on the pagodas. People generally believe that the most enticing of the views at the West Lake is the one known as Sunset Glow over Thunder Peak. The Thunder Peak Pagoda and the Baochu Pagoda exhibit different design features, but together they give variation to the generally soft and gentle skyline, making the scenery more varied and colorful and making themselves indispensable features of the West Lake scenery.
On the other hand, the Pagoda of Six Harmonies is an impressive architectural achievement in its own way, looking majestic and imposing on Yuelun Hill by the side of Qiantang River and dominating the scenery around in all directions. It is an ancient pagoda built of brick and wood in the Song Dynasty, A seven-storied structure with close-set upturned cantilevered eaves at 13 different levels, its design is an embodiment of the Buddhist idea of “building seven-storied pagodas for the good of mankind”.
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
Semi-Decorative Garden Buildings That Enhance Beauty-Pagodas, Pavilions and Bridges
The gardens in Hangzhou are widely known for their scenic beauty. The rippling West Lake, the green wooded hills lying north and west of the lake, the mist-shrouded trees, the distant peaks rising one above the other, the many deep and secluded caves and caverns and the many water scenes such as deep pools, brooks, canals, ponds and mountain springs scattered here and there that are generally marked by gentleness, limpidity and quietude—all these add to the aesthetic appeal of the scenic gardens in Hangzhou.And the many ingeniously designed semi-decorative garden buildings are all sited and constructed to underscore the most appealing features of their environs, using many of the traditional design ideas in Chinese gardening art such as proper embellishment, view-borrowing, setting scenes off each other, partitioning, etc. so that a certain scenic sight can remain both self-contained and a part of the overall scenery.
The rules applied in the deployment of scenic resources include what may be called ordered disorder, alternation of void and solid, balance of denseness and sparseness, now up and now down, now rising and now falling, emphasis on openness side by side with emphasis on seclusion, combination of what is grand and what is cleverly small, etc.
By applying these rules, all types and forms of semi-decorative garden buildings such as towers, open halls, halls with windowed balconies, waterside pavilions, shrines and temples, etc. are so deployed as to accentuate the dominant qualities of well-designed gardens, that is, a gentle and quiet elegance and a refreshing ease and refinement.
It is no exaggeration to say that the beauty of such a garden can never be overrated. Of the tens of different types and forms of semi-decorative garden buildings,the most noteworthy are perhaps pagodas, pavilions and bridges.
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| Pagodas, Pavilions and Bridges |
By applying these rules, all types and forms of semi-decorative garden buildings such as towers, open halls, halls with windowed balconies, waterside pavilions, shrines and temples, etc. are so deployed as to accentuate the dominant qualities of well-designed gardens, that is, a gentle and quiet elegance and a refreshing ease and refinement.
It is no exaggeration to say that the beauty of such a garden can never be overrated. Of the tens of different types and forms of semi-decorative garden buildings,the most noteworthy are perhaps pagodas, pavilions and bridges.
Private Gardens
Hangzhou is well-known for its large number of private gardens. As early as in the Southern Song Dynasty, there were such famous ones as the much-talked-about Wang Villa where the garden bore the name Fulan or Rich in Scenery, the Garden of Cimingdian north of Qing Lake, the Pearl Garden of the Zhang family and the White Lotus Garden at the foot of Thunder Peak. Also of that dynasty were Jifang（Aroma Rich）Garden and Lower Bamboo Temple Garden on Northern Hill, the Yang's Garden（Yundong or Cloud Cave）and West Garden outside the Gate of Qiantang and the garden of the Memorial Hall of Early Sages（Xian Xian Tang）and the Garden for Frolicking In （Xi You）on the Su Causeway.
Outside the Yongjin Gate were the Zhang family's Yongze Garden, the Emerald Ring （Huanbi）Garden, etc. Indeed there were too many to enumerate them all here.
During the dynasties of Ming（1368-1644）and Qing（1618-1911）and in still later times, many wealthy people came to Hangzhou and built more and more sumptuous private gardens in this scenic city. For instance, what is known as Water Bamboo House （Shui Zhu Ju）under Dingjia Hill was built by a Liu family from Guangdong.
Hence also the name Liu Villa whose owner Liu Xuexun actually had a part of the family's old house in Xiangshan of Guangdong Province taken apart to be reassembled in Hangzhou and this lent a rich south-China flavor to what is known today as Liu Zhuang.
There is a house with a big garden named Guo Zhuang near Wolong（Sleeping Dragon）Bridge. Initially it was owned by a rich silk merchant named Song Duanpu who first had the house and garden built. Today the nameplate carries the words Fenyang Villa. Divided into two parts, the garden and the buildings therein impart a pronounced flavor of the architectural style of the Song and the Ming dynasties. The residential part is an architectural complex of smaller compounds, mostly in the form of courtyard houses, that impart an antique flavor.
It is a very secluded and tranquil place, a superb environment to make one's home. In the garden part are several sizable ponds. Once in the garden, one sees at once two open balconied halls of exquisitely beautiful design. The water in the ponds flows into the West Lake outside the walls and well-proportioned semi-decorative garden buildings look down on the ponds on all sides while winding roofed corridors lead to all parts of the garden. Because of its attractive architectural features and inimitably graceful overall design, the garden is praised as“the No.1 classical garden on the West Lake”.
Outside the Yongjin Gate were the Zhang family's Yongze Garden, the Emerald Ring （Huanbi）Garden, etc. Indeed there were too many to enumerate them all here.
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| Private Gardens |
Hence also the name Liu Villa whose owner Liu Xuexun actually had a part of the family's old house in Xiangshan of Guangdong Province taken apart to be reassembled in Hangzhou and this lent a rich south-China flavor to what is known today as Liu Zhuang.
There is a house with a big garden named Guo Zhuang near Wolong（Sleeping Dragon）Bridge. Initially it was owned by a rich silk merchant named Song Duanpu who first had the house and garden built. Today the nameplate carries the words Fenyang Villa. Divided into two parts, the garden and the buildings therein impart a pronounced flavor of the architectural style of the Song and the Ming dynasties. The residential part is an architectural complex of smaller compounds, mostly in the form of courtyard houses, that impart an antique flavor.
It is a very secluded and tranquil place, a superb environment to make one's home. In the garden part are several sizable ponds. Once in the garden, one sees at once two open balconied halls of exquisitely beautiful design. The water in the ponds flows into the West Lake outside the walls and well-proportioned semi-decorative garden buildings look down on the ponds on all sides while winding roofed corridors lead to all parts of the garden. Because of its attractive architectural features and inimitably graceful overall design, the garden is praised as“the No.1 classical garden on the West Lake”.
Monday, September 23, 2013
Royal Gardens
In history, the City of Hangzhou had twice been national capital, respectively during the time of the Five Dynasties （907-960）when it was the capital of a small kingdom called Wuyue which lasted for a total of 72 years under Qian Liu the king and his son and grandson, and then during the Southern Song Dynasty （1127-1279） after Emperor Gao Zong acceded to the throne in 1127 in Hangzhou. The latter had his palace built on Phoenix Hill that includes a garden for the sole use of the imperial family. It is said that the palace consisted of 30 big halls, 33 spacious rooms, 13 chambers, 4 rooms for study, 7 towers and more than 80 pavilions, terraces and other semi-decorative garden structures all of which as a rule were gorgeously decorated.
In the palace, it is said, there was an artificial lake big enough for the imperial family to go boating upon and it was given the name Imperial West Lake that had six bridges built on it. We might say it was a reduced version of the scenic West Lake on the grounds of the imperial palace. Unfortunately nothing is left of this grand and magnificent palace as it had been razed and burned to the ground during the Yuan Dynasty（1206-1368）.
Apart from the palace described above, the Southern Song emperors, in order to enjoy more fully the scenic beauty of Hangzhou, had a number of imperial gardens built round the West Lake, including the well-known Jujing（Scenic Sights Assembled） Garden located on the site of today's Listening to Orioles Singing in Swaying Willows where in early spring one can see range upon range of lush green hills in the distance while nearby willow trees of a tender green are often swaying in mists and orioles are singing somewhere in the woods.
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| Royal Gardens |
Apart from the palace described above, the Southern Song emperors, in order to enjoy more fully the scenic beauty of Hangzhou, had a number of imperial gardens built round the West Lake, including the well-known Jujing（Scenic Sights Assembled） Garden located on the site of today's Listening to Orioles Singing in Swaying Willows where in early spring one can see range upon range of lush green hills in the distance while nearby willow trees of a tender green are often swaying in mists and orioles are singing somewhere in the woods.
Scenic Gardens as Special Favors of Nature
The name of this type of garden may sound a bit queer as what one sees may not be just a garden in its usual sense but any locus of scenic value in Hangzhou. The building of this type of scenic place began early in history, going back to the time of the Jin Dynasty（265-420）, such as what is known as the Pavilion of Xu You the Recluse on a hill not far from Lingyin Temple and the Mengxie Pavilion of Tianzhu Mountain. During the Tang Dynasty（618-907）, conservation work began on the West Lake which was drained and dredged. In the year 781, a minister named Li Bi started work on what was known as The Six Wells （Liujing）and in the year 882 the famous poet and governor of Hangzhou Bai Juyi presided over the project of building what is today's Bai Causeway on the lake. Then in 1089 in the Song Dynasty, Su Dongpo the famous man of letters and official began large-scale conservation work on West Lake, building the Su Causeway that until this day traverses the lake north to south. In the Qing Dynasty （1616-1911）, the provincial governor of Zhejiang, Ruan Yuan by name, had West Lake once again dredged and the resulting sludge and mud was piled up to make the well-known scenic sight Lord Ruan's Islet（Ruangongdun） or more poetically A Green Belt Around the Ruan Islet.
Solitray Hill（Gu Shan）, an islet in the West Lake, is known for its great scenic charm. With an altitude of 38m, it covers an area of 200,000 sq m. Linked with the Bai Causeway to the east, it is connected with land to the west by way of Xiling Bridge. Facing the Outer West Lake in the south and backed by the Inner West Lake in the north, Solitary Hill is a mound densely covered with woods and other kinds of plant life in the midst of which are pavilions and other semi-decorative structures that dot the hill here and there, seemingly at random but collectively having a pleasant effect on the eye. Here and there one comes upon quaint little stone bridges and narrow flower-bordered paths that look as if they would lead one into more secluded unknown sanctuaries somewhere. In history, Solitary Hill had been the site of an imperial garden of some Song emperors and the abode of some emperors of the Qing Dynasty when they happened to be in Hangzhou. On the other hand, Solitary Hill had also been the home of hermits in the past where a well-known poet of Song Dynasty, Lin Hejing by name, had lived a reclusive life in his day at the foot of the northern slope. At the foot of the hill on the south is located Wenlan Tower which, built in 1782, was one of the imperial libraries of Emperor Qianlong of Qing where he had a whole set of what was called Si Ku Quan Shu（A Complete Collection of All the Four Categories of Chinese Books）stored. To the west is the site of the Seal Engraver's Society（Xi Ling Ying She）where scholars and artists gather to study the inscriptions on ancient bronze and stone ware, fine art and calligraphy and the Chinese art of carving seals. Occupying the central part of Solitary Hill is a park named after Dr. Sun Yat-sen. Altogether there are over thirty places of scenic and historical interest in the vicinity.
The Seal Engraver's Society, which was set up for the clearly stated purpose of “carrying on the study of ancient bronze and stone ware inscriptions and the art of seal engraving”, occupies a hilltop house and garden on Solitary Hill. A flagstone path leads up to the top of this mini-hill where immediately one sees the enchanting sight of a Chinese-style pavilion half hidden in a grove of trees. That is the Sizhao （Four Illuminations）Pavilion which occupies a unique vantage point in terms of scenery appreciation in Hangzhou. Not very big in terms of physical dimensions, it is yet in artistically correct proportion to the general physical appearance of the hill and it is where a lakeside decorative piece of architecture can best interact with the lake by borrowing views from each other to enhance their own respective attractiveness. The presence of this hilltop pavilion has added to the scenic charm of Solitary Hill and serves somehow to dominate and bring together all the other pavilions, terraces and suchlike semi-decorative pieces of architecture on the hill for an integrated scenic effect. This Sizhao Pavilion is also an ideal spot to take in beautiful views of the West Lake from a fixed position, for it is open on all four sides, with so to say four big “picture windows”where the eye is being greeted with an endless series of beautiful landscape paintings.
Solitary Hill is but one of the many many scenic gardens as special favors of nature at the West Lake. Other such scenic gardens include the Ten Scenic Sights of West Lake such as the poetically-named Autumn Moon on a Placid Lake, Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, etc. whose history goes back to the Southern Song Dynasty and the New Ten Scenic Sights of West Lake that were named in the 1980s such as Bamboo-Shaded Paths at Yunqi （Cloud Hugging Temple）, Trees Shrouded in Mists at the Nine Brooks, Budding Green at Yellow Dragon Cave, Hillside Aglow at Baoshi Mountain, etc. From these names we can see that the scenic gardens so-called have played an important role in garden development in Hangzhou and contribute significantly to the scenic charm of the city as a whole.
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| Solitray Hill |
The Seal Engraver's Society, which was set up for the clearly stated purpose of “carrying on the study of ancient bronze and stone ware inscriptions and the art of seal engraving”, occupies a hilltop house and garden on Solitary Hill. A flagstone path leads up to the top of this mini-hill where immediately one sees the enchanting sight of a Chinese-style pavilion half hidden in a grove of trees. That is the Sizhao （Four Illuminations）Pavilion which occupies a unique vantage point in terms of scenery appreciation in Hangzhou. Not very big in terms of physical dimensions, it is yet in artistically correct proportion to the general physical appearance of the hill and it is where a lakeside decorative piece of architecture can best interact with the lake by borrowing views from each other to enhance their own respective attractiveness. The presence of this hilltop pavilion has added to the scenic charm of Solitary Hill and serves somehow to dominate and bring together all the other pavilions, terraces and suchlike semi-decorative pieces of architecture on the hill for an integrated scenic effect. This Sizhao Pavilion is also an ideal spot to take in beautiful views of the West Lake from a fixed position, for it is open on all four sides, with so to say four big “picture windows”where the eye is being greeted with an endless series of beautiful landscape paintings.
Solitary Hill is but one of the many many scenic gardens as special favors of nature at the West Lake. Other such scenic gardens include the Ten Scenic Sights of West Lake such as the poetically-named Autumn Moon on a Placid Lake, Three Pools Mirroring the Moon, etc. whose history goes back to the Southern Song Dynasty and the New Ten Scenic Sights of West Lake that were named in the 1980s such as Bamboo-Shaded Paths at Yunqi （Cloud Hugging Temple）, Trees Shrouded in Mists at the Nine Brooks, Budding Green at Yellow Dragon Cave, Hillside Aglow at Baoshi Mountain, etc. From these names we can see that the scenic gardens so-called have played an important role in garden development in Hangzhou and contribute significantly to the scenic charm of the city as a whole.
Buddhist Temple Gardens
With the rapid spread of the Buddhist faith in China during the Eastern Jin Dynasty（317-420）and the Southern and Northern Dynasties（420-589）, many large-size temples were built in Hangzhou too, such as the well-known Lingyin （Soul's Retreat）Temple, Jingci（Pure Benevolence ）Temple and such other places of worship as Fashan Temple, Fajing Temple, etc. where the smoke of incense burning filled and swirled about the grounds all the year round. Thus the saying went that “Hills surround the West Lake and temples surround the hills”and building temples and monastery gardens here thus became the order of the day.
The most representative of the temple and monastery gardens in Hangzhou should be Lingyin Temple whose history dates back to over 1,600 years ago. As a scenic spot, the temple grounds today include not just the temple proper but also the aforementioned Peak That Flew Here （Feilai Feng）. The temple is located where it lies snugly sheltered under several peaks each outstandingly picturesque in its own way while what is known as the Cool Spring is half hidden in the midst of the craggy rocks and towering ancient trees nearby. With the steep and lofty Feilai Peak standing like a towering natural barrier and with the many Buddhist statues enshrined in the niches on the cliffside, the kind of artistic conceptualization inspiring the design and layout of the temple garden gradually becomes manifest, that is,“A timeless temple lying in seclusion deep in the hills”. Hence the name of the temple：“Soul's Retreat”.
The main hall is the centerpiece architecture of the temple. Crowned with a three-tier roof structure, the building is 33.6m high. Stoutly built with multiple pillars and beams, the hall has at its very center a sculpture of Sakyamuni sitting on a lotus seat that looks divinely benevolent and kind. Carved out of camphor wood in 24 pieces, the sculpture is as tall as 19.6m. The back wall of the main hall is covered all over with a massive-size carved work of art 20m in height that depicts the Buddhist story of how Buddha's barge of mercy ferries all the miserable souls in the world to the land of bliss. It is a rare ancient treasure of art in a historical building in China.
In designing and siting what may be called the semi-decorative garden buildings on the grounds at Lingyin Temple, ingenious use is made of the topographical features of the locality, placing the pavilions, terraces and other structures of landscape-architecture interest such as the pavilions named Lengquan（Cool Spring）, Helai （Thunder in the Ravine）, Chuncong （Gurgling in Spring）, Cuiwei（Lushly Green）, etc. where they can best set off the main architectural structures of the temple and where they can act as good natural transtion points in a scenic environment of woods and hills. In building them, full advantage is taken of adjacent terrain. For instance, Cuiwei Pavilion is built halfway up Feilai Peak and the Cool Spring Pavilion which has derived its name from the mountain spring there commands a beautiful view of the nearby stream. The magnificent main temple structures and those ancillary semi-decorative structures whose design is likely to arouse in the beholder deeply-felt poetic sentiments stand in pleasing contrast and with the display of an ingenious array of natural rocks and caves, the whole place presents an unusually variegated, level-on-level appearance with a mighty innate rhythm. And when a garden is so designed and built as to reflect a perfect fusion of architectural art with Buddhist culture, visitors are very likely to feel as though they had stepped into the imaginary other world.
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| Lingyin Temple |
The main hall is the centerpiece architecture of the temple. Crowned with a three-tier roof structure, the building is 33.6m high. Stoutly built with multiple pillars and beams, the hall has at its very center a sculpture of Sakyamuni sitting on a lotus seat that looks divinely benevolent and kind. Carved out of camphor wood in 24 pieces, the sculpture is as tall as 19.6m. The back wall of the main hall is covered all over with a massive-size carved work of art 20m in height that depicts the Buddhist story of how Buddha's barge of mercy ferries all the miserable souls in the world to the land of bliss. It is a rare ancient treasure of art in a historical building in China.
In designing and siting what may be called the semi-decorative garden buildings on the grounds at Lingyin Temple, ingenious use is made of the topographical features of the locality, placing the pavilions, terraces and other structures of landscape-architecture interest such as the pavilions named Lengquan（Cool Spring）, Helai （Thunder in the Ravine）, Chuncong （Gurgling in Spring）, Cuiwei（Lushly Green）, etc. where they can best set off the main architectural structures of the temple and where they can act as good natural transtion points in a scenic environment of woods and hills. In building them, full advantage is taken of adjacent terrain. For instance, Cuiwei Pavilion is built halfway up Feilai Peak and the Cool Spring Pavilion which has derived its name from the mountain spring there commands a beautiful view of the nearby stream. The magnificent main temple structures and those ancillary semi-decorative structures whose design is likely to arouse in the beholder deeply-felt poetic sentiments stand in pleasing contrast and with the display of an ingenious array of natural rocks and caves, the whole place presents an unusually variegated, level-on-level appearance with a mighty innate rhythm. And when a garden is so designed and built as to reflect a perfect fusion of architectural art with Buddhist culture, visitors are very likely to feel as though they had stepped into the imaginary other world.
I Historical Vicissitudes of the West Lake
The picturesque West Lake is shielded on three sides by rolling green hills where the dark, wooded peaks rise one above another but are generally descending in height from southwest to northeast. The more scenic of the peaks along this range of hills include Mount Laohe, the Northern Peak, the Peak That Flew Here（Feilai Feng）, the Blue Dragon Hill, the Jade Spring Hill, the Marshalling Platform Hill, Hill of the City God, the Phoenix Hill, etc., lying in a row there one after the other, like a succession of emerald screens that give shelter to West Lake and form up a kind of magnificent backdrop that somehow accentuates the beauty of the lake scenery.
The West Lake can be called a masterpiece of nature, emerging long long ago through eons of time out of what were once shallow seas whose surrounding hills then formed the contours of the beautiful landscape at the lake. Now that there is the lake and its partly encircling hills, the basic conditions are right there for what may be called“scenic gardens as special favors or nature”or more simply just scenic gardens.
Hills of different kinds of rock formation may differ in their scenic effects. Limestone hills are always full of picturesque caves and caverns. Ash tuff hills, owing to the fact that they are more vulnerable to erosion and weathering, especially at the protruding parts, often boast picturesque rock scenery that, while static in itself, somehow looks as though it were invested with inexplicable dynamic qualities. As to scenery related to waters, the City of Hangzhou and in especial the West Lake are known for the spectacular views of the many mountain springs, creeks and streams in the region. The Running Tiger Spring is typical of fissure water springs while Dragon Well and Cool Spring are karstic springs and Jade Spring is a pore water spring. Different geological structures result in different scenic features. In the rainy season, waterfalls are often seen cascading down the rocky face of cliffs, causing misty spray and froth at the foot and adding thus to the scenic attraction of the gardens on the West Lake.
The Peak That Flew Here has an elegant and delicate beauty all its own, a scenic attraction that owes its beauty to its weird, creased and many-layered look, its luxuriant growths of plant life, its queerly-shaped rocks and its many picturesque caves. The cliff-face carved inscriptions and sculptures here, such as the sitting Maitreya of Song Dynasty（960-1279）whose smiling look is always so reassuring, have an exhilarating and heartening effect on the beholder's mind.
At Running Tiger Spring, which is a scenic attraction also noted for its clear and pure water that has a sweetish aftertaste and is good for making tea, people often speak glowingly of their experience of making tea with the tea leaves of Dragon Well and the water from the spring. At Jade Spring where it is said that one may see fine misty drizzle even under a clear blue sky, the sight of groups of gleaming red fish darting about in the ponds is a great delight to visitors. Actually as early as in the Song Dynasty（960-1279）,“Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play in the Waters at Jade Spring”had established itself as the name of one of the attractive sights of the West Lake, and in the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）the famous calligrapher-minister Dong Qichang was so delighted at the sight that he gave it the name“Kingdom of Happy Fish”which he had inscribed on a horizontal board for the place. When visitors today sit on the benches near the railings and quietly watch and enjoy the sight of fish darting about, they will come to appreciate more deeply the poetic lines of “Happy fish and happy man/Crystal clear water and peace of mind” and feel more strongly the subtle charm of it all.
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| West Lake |
Hills of different kinds of rock formation may differ in their scenic effects. Limestone hills are always full of picturesque caves and caverns. Ash tuff hills, owing to the fact that they are more vulnerable to erosion and weathering, especially at the protruding parts, often boast picturesque rock scenery that, while static in itself, somehow looks as though it were invested with inexplicable dynamic qualities. As to scenery related to waters, the City of Hangzhou and in especial the West Lake are known for the spectacular views of the many mountain springs, creeks and streams in the region. The Running Tiger Spring is typical of fissure water springs while Dragon Well and Cool Spring are karstic springs and Jade Spring is a pore water spring. Different geological structures result in different scenic features. In the rainy season, waterfalls are often seen cascading down the rocky face of cliffs, causing misty spray and froth at the foot and adding thus to the scenic attraction of the gardens on the West Lake.
The Peak That Flew Here has an elegant and delicate beauty all its own, a scenic attraction that owes its beauty to its weird, creased and many-layered look, its luxuriant growths of plant life, its queerly-shaped rocks and its many picturesque caves. The cliff-face carved inscriptions and sculptures here, such as the sitting Maitreya of Song Dynasty（960-1279）whose smiling look is always so reassuring, have an exhilarating and heartening effect on the beholder's mind.
At Running Tiger Spring, which is a scenic attraction also noted for its clear and pure water that has a sweetish aftertaste and is good for making tea, people often speak glowingly of their experience of making tea with the tea leaves of Dragon Well and the water from the spring. At Jade Spring where it is said that one may see fine misty drizzle even under a clear blue sky, the sight of groups of gleaming red fish darting about in the ponds is a great delight to visitors. Actually as early as in the Song Dynasty（960-1279）,“Enjoying the Sight of Fish at Play in the Waters at Jade Spring”had established itself as the name of one of the attractive sights of the West Lake, and in the Ming Dynasty （1368-1644）the famous calligrapher-minister Dong Qichang was so delighted at the sight that he gave it the name“Kingdom of Happy Fish”which he had inscribed on a horizontal board for the place. When visitors today sit on the benches near the railings and quietly watch and enjoy the sight of fish darting about, they will come to appreciate more deeply the poetic lines of “Happy fish and happy man/Crystal clear water and peace of mind” and feel more strongly the subtle charm of it all.
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