Summer Palace as an example of a brief description of the characteristics of classical Chinese garden design

The garden architecture of the Summer Palace has inherited the traditional features and gardening techniques of the ancient art of garden rest in China, and has developed.

The first feature of the garden layout of the Summer Palace is to win by water. Vast Kunming Lake water surface, is an excellent foundation for the garden layout. Garden around **** there are thirteen miles (six and a half kilometers), the park area of more than 4,300 acres (about three square kilometers), of which the land area accounts for only a quarter of the garden in Beijing at the time is the largest of the water. Therefore, the designers seized the feature of large water surface and designed the layout with water surface as the main focus. The main buildings and scenic spots are facing the lake or overlooking the lake. At that time, it was named "Qing You Yuan", which means "Garden of Clear Waves".

The combination of lake and mountain is another feature of the Summer Palace. Located on the north shore of the vast Kunming Lake, there is a fifty-eight-meter-high Wanshoushan, as if a green screen standing in the north. The clear water of the lake seems to be a mirror, the Wanshoushan reflected extraordinarily beautiful. The scenery of the lake and the mountain is closely integrated into a whole. Ancient gardening artists and craftsmen, in the design and construction of the garden, make full use of the lake and mountain connected to the superior natural conditions, appropriate layout of garden buildings and scenic spots. Such as holding mountains around the lake promenade and stone fences, the lake and the mountains clearly separated and closely linked together. Stretching into the lake in the spring pavilion, the lake reflecting the water of the Shijing HuaWen, built in the lake at the foot of the stone animal, etc., are skillfully put the lake and mountain ready together.

Contrasting techniques, is another feature of the layout of the Summer Palace garden. We are in the Summer Palace, not only can see the magnificent architecture, the front of the mountain, but also can see the building shade, quiet scenery of the mountain; not only can overlooking the vast Kunming Lake, you can also walk the Suzhou River (back of the lake); not only is there a dense construction of the East Palace Gate, there are also scenic wilderness of the West Causeway and the West Causeway area. Everywhere there is a yin and yang conversion, there are contradictions to carry out, only to feel the end of the mountain, and then suddenly dark flowers, so that the mood of the tourists with the ups and downs.

The Summer Palace in the arrangement of many scenic spots, everywhere the scenery is different. These wind shadow points, with buildings, platforms, pavilions, pavilions, lounges, halls, Xuan, pavilions, as well as the threshold of the corridor and other buildings and wigwams and flowers and trees, respectively, in different positions combined. It is worth noting that these scenic spots between the Yuk obvious separation, but also organic connection. From this landscape point to see that landscape point, each other constitute a picture. When people walk in the promenade or harmonic garden, walk a few steps, the surrounding scenery and change. This is the ancient garden layout in the so-called "scenery with the step turn", that is, the landscape points with each other to transfer changes in the layout of the technique.

"Borrowed scenery" gardening techniques, is China's ancient garden craftsmen many years of experience, in the design of the Summer Palace has been fully utilized. Designed not only to take into account the garden buildings and landscape points with each other borrowed, but also the surrounding natural environment, nearby gardens and other buildings, also taken into account. When we turned to the east bank of Kunming Lake, the peaks of Xishan Mountain, the smoke and willows of Xidi, and the shadow of Wangquanshan Pagoda seem to be combined together, and also became the scenery in the Summer Palace. This kind of not only the garden has a scene but also outside the garden has a scene of the "borrowed scenery" technique, so that the scope of the garden is more expanded, the scenery is also more abundant.

"Garden in the garden" is a good example of the design of the Summer Palace to arrange the landscape of the garden to inherit the tradition of using the natural terrain. In the Summer Palace at the eastern foot of Wanshoushan, there was a lower ground, gathering water into a pool place. Gardening craftsmen took advantage of this terrain, the layout of a self-contained pattern of a small garden "Harmonious Garden". When people come here from the dense palace area at the east foot of Wanshoushan Mountain or from the curved mountain road at the back of the mountain, they enter the garden gate as if they have come to a new garden, and the atmosphere of the building and the landscape give people a new feeling. This "garden in the garden" design layout increases the changes in the garden, enriching the content of the garden.

The arrangement of islands in the water of the Summer Palace is also the inheritance of China's traditional methods more than two thousand years ago. With a long embankment to the lake is divided into a child area, but also in the Kunming Lake arranged Phoenix Pier, the rule of the mirror pavilion, Zaojian Hall and other isolated islands in the center of the lake, symbolizing the legend of Penglai, Fangzhang, the flow of the island of the sea of the three gods. Its actual function is to break the monotonous atmosphere of the vast Kunming Lake and increase the scenery in the lake.

"Set landscape mold writing" is a traditional technique in China's ancient garden design, the Qing Dynasty Beijing western suburbs of the garden and Chengde summer resort, the use of this technique is particularly prominent. At the beginning of the construction of the Qingyi Garden, sent many painters and craftsmen, to visit all over the country and mold writing famous landscapes and buildings, to imitate them in the garden. The scenery in the Summer Palace can be said to be a collection of famous buildings and scenery from all over the world. However, the designers and garden craftsmen are not copying, but only imitate the style. Such as the Harmony Garden and Wuxi Huishan Garden God with the shape of the different, Hanxu Hall, Jingming Building and the Yellow Crane Tower, Yueyang Tower is not exactly the same, the garden of Suzhou Street and the city of Suzhou in South China, more far away from the street. This shows that China's ancient architectural craftsmen in reference to borrowing, never copy, pay close attention to innovation.

"Although made by people, just like from the sky", this is China's garden art and gardening skills in another traditional experience. Such as the Summer Palace lake scenery, although artificial, but like the Jiangnan water town. Many landscapes, forests and trees in the garden, also strive to achieve the effect of natural scenery.