The prosperity of classical gardens has a certain connection with the warm and pleasant natural climate of Gusu and the rich and stable people's life. From the perspective of historical materials, the concept of Suzhou garden can be traced back to the Western Zhou Dynasty. As the capital of the state of Wu, it has been surrounded by the landscape garden of the king of Wu since the spring and Autumn period and the Warring States period, and developed to the first climax through the Qin and Han Dynasties. At that time, however, most of these gardens existed according to the will of royal officials.

Until the Sui and Tang Dynasties, literati gardens rose here, and the rich humanistic atmosphere was also given to the natural landscape gardens due to the different gardeners. Suzhou garden concentrated the aesthetic of Chinese literati for several centuries, and began to have a far-reaching impact on the later generations of freehand landscape gardens. On this basis, Surging Wave Pavilion, Lion Grove and the Garden for Lingering main part, which can represent different stages of Chinese private garden, were born in song, yuan, Ming and Qing respectively. Approaching them is like opening a vivid and elegant scroll of Chinese landscape culture in accordance with the historical context.

Generally speaking, the art of Suzhou garden is the perfect use of mountains, stones, water, wood and other elements to achieve the beauty beyond the natural landscape. These private gardens, which are deeply hidden in the prosperous city, are dotted with pavilions everywhere. They have made the spectacular world in this small frame, and finally formed a perfect fusion of ancient Chinese literati thoughts and natural landscapes.

"No garden embodies the ideal quality of Chinese classical garden design better than that of Suzhou, a famous historical city. Suzhou garden is recognized as a model to realize this design idea. These gardens, built in the 11th-18th century, with their exquisite design, reflect the profound artistic conception of taking the law of nature and surpassing nature in Chinese culture. "

This is the evaluation made by UNESCO in 1997 when it listed the Suzhou Classical Garden represented by Humble Administrator garden, the Garden for Lingering, Wangshi garden and Huanxiu mountain villa on the world heritage list. In 2000, Surging Wave Pavilion, Lion Grove, Art Garden, Couple Garden and Retreat Garden were added to the world heritage list as expansion projects.

Time: May 5, 2020

Source: China Net