The economic and cultural development of the Ming and Qing dynasties prompted what changes and characteristics of Lingnan gardens?

Ming Dynasty, due to the Lingnan economic prosperity, promote foreign cultural exchanges, Lingnan gardening culture began to learn Yangzhou, and then learn Suzhou, there are many traces of imitation of the Jiangnan gardens. At the same time, its own characteristics are still carrying forward the flower and stone to win the tradition, the use of climatic conditions of the advantage, and gradually highlight the obvious characteristics of the tropical scenery, and create a large number of prestigious private gardens.

Throughout the Ming Dynasty period of Lingnan garden, not only in the historical records can be found in the historical facts, in the local also can be examined only monuments, enough to show that it may not be "far less than the Central Plains Sheng". And to the early Qing Dynasty Lingnan region is more economically developed, cultural standards, private gardening activities began to flourish, and gradually influence and in Chaoshan, Fujian and Taiwan and other places.

To the middle of the Qing Dynasty and increasingly prosperous, in the garden layout, spatial organization, water and stone use and flowers and trees in the landscape gradually formed their own characteristics, and finally emerged as one of the three major local styles of Jiangnan, the northern confrontation. Shunde's Qinghuiyuan, Dongguan's Kewon, Panyu's Yuyinshanfang, Foshan's Liangyuan, known as "Guangdong's four great gardens", of which Yuyinshanfang is the most famous.

Their styles have distinctive features: pools, lakes in geometric shapes, which is due to foreign Western influence; buildings along the lake are also symmetrical layout, garden vignettes are fine carvings, and flowers and trees flourish, the shortcomings is that the building volume is too large.

Lingnan garden development to the Qing Dynasty has become increasingly mature, its traditional architecture smooth and light, and the northern gardens of the steady and generous and Jiangnan gardens of the beautiful and elegant to form a three-legged situation. At that time, in addition to private gardens, there are public **** garden.

The Qing Dynasty Lingnan gardens mainly around the landscape and the temple garden, expressed in the mountains of Guangxi and Guangdong lakes, such as Guilin's Seven Star Rock, Elephant Trunk Hill, Mount Fubo, Folding Colors, Duxiu Peak are Sui and Tang Dynasty by the literati and ink masters of the coveted.

And Guangdong's Huizhou West Lake, Chaozhou West Lake, Leizhou West Lake, Zhaoqing Xinghu also because of the Three Kingdoms after being relegated to the rule of the officials moved south to be developed and utilized. Among them, Su Dongpo, a writer of the Northern Song Dynasty, made the greatest contribution to the West Lake of Huizhou, leaving such relics as the Su Causeway, the Six Ru Pavilion and the Sizhou Pagoda.

Lingnan gardens include courtyard style, natural landscape style and comprehensive style. The courtyard style is the characteristic of Lingnan gardens, and its compactness is comparable to that of foreign classical gardens. Almost all private houses, restaurants and teahouses are built with courtyard gardens, such as the Keyuan Garden in Dongguan, Guangdong Province, and the Yuyin Mountain House in Panyu, Guangdong Province.

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, Guangdong alone has more than 50 private gardens, such as Donggao, small cloud forest, Guangzhou, a small boat Zhai, Chao Yang Lei Yuan, Puning spring Gui Yuan, Meizhou, etc.; Guangxi has Yanshan Garden. There are more than 40 private gardens in Fujian, such as Fuzhou Yi Garden, Quanzhou Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter four gardens, Xiamen Peas Village Garden.