Ancient poems on Changshu and poetic Changshu gardens: the accumulation of poetic life

The Changshu I saw was leisurely with wide robes and big sleeves, gentle with tea cups and fragrant tea, soft with dancing water sleeves, open with lakes and mountains and leisurely with rockery gardens. Changshu's small bridges and flowing water are the simmering water vapor that you can feel as soon as you sit down.

It is the misty rain in the south of the Yangtze River that you can encounter when you are free.

It is the sweet smell of cakes that can be felt as soon as you breathe...

It is also a kind of Unexplainable nostalgia and remembrance.

On such a gloomy afternoon with a little rain falling into my eyelids,

Away from the hustle and bustle of the city, I hid alone in the bamboo forest where few tourists visited, and ordered a pot of strong or light tea. Drink tea and sit quietly in a certain pavilion or waterside pavilion. What we can do is to forget first, and then feel, whether it is rain or silence, or tea or heart.

Only then can we understand the real Changshu.

Changshu gardens are the crystallization of Changshu’s history and culture. From the reading desk to the Wutong Garden, from the Banye Garden to the Autumn Water Garden, it is like the Mi Mi Jiao Wei Spring, which has a long history and continues in the same vein. Therefore, the incense of culture and the soul of gardens are like the acacias of Hongdou Villa. Although they have gone through vicissitudes of life, they are still full of flowers and colorful.

Jiangnan gardens are literati gardens. Those developed and wealthy literati transformed the original meaning of life discovered in the beauty of nature into the practice of life, and achieved a high degree of integration of living environment and quality of life. By its very nature, gardens are the result of the collaboration of cultured figures and talented craftsmen.

Changshu has a long history of gardening. At the foot of the green and tall Yushan Mountain, amid the misty willows and clear water, there were countless pavilions and pavilions. According to statistics from researchers, there are no fewer than 120 private gardens in the history of Changshu, which is astonishing even for a small county-level city.

What is meaningful is that "seven streams all lead to the sea, and half of the ten miles of green mountains are eight cities." Changshu is originally an urban forest: its rich land, prosperous literary style and craftsman skills have become the nurturing Yushan Garden Rich soil for the elegant flower of art.

In the Spring and Autumn Period, Wu Wang Fu Chai built the Wutong Garden and the Deer Garden (no longer exist today), which set the stage for Changshu gardens to draw lessons from history. Wutong Garden is located in the Wu Palace. It is named for its many sycamores and is called Qinchuan. It is said that Changshu's nickname Qinchuan came from this. Changshu Wutong Garden was the earliest garden in the Wu Kingdom at that time and the pioneer of Suzhou gardens.

During the Six Dynasties, the prosperity of temple jungles led to the emergence of temple gardens. The famous Xingfu Temple in Changshu was built at this time. In the Tang Dynasty, Xingfu Temple was one of the famous temples in the south of the Yangtze River with its grand halls, flying spring stone bridges, corridors and pavilions. Chang Jian's poem "Inscribed on the Buddhist Temple Behind Poshan Temple" expresses the interest of its forests and springs, and its "winding paths leading to secluded places" actually became a feature of later Jiangnan gardens. Xiao Tong, the prince of Liang Zhaoming, came to Yushan to build a platform to study, which is where the "Reading Platform" is today. The location is half a mountain and half a city, with green valleys, spiritual walls, and Jiaowei springs. It has a profound origin and quality with the private gardens of Changshu literati in later generations. The influence also opened the volume of Changshu garden paintings. (Today there is a reading platform park on Yushan Mountain, and there are many gardens in Xingfu Temple).

At the turn of the Tang and Song Dynasties, Changshu's economy gradually prospered, which led to the prosperity of culture and education. On both sides of the Qin River and in Yanzi Ancient Alley, there are already ponds and gardens for scholars. In the Song Dynasty, the first spring tide of Changshu gardens quietly surged. Chen Qizong built a reading desk at the Luyuan site, and later Lu Wan built it as a tide-waiting pavilion. It was named Chen Lu Garden, and it was the first private garden recorded in Changshu. In the Yuan Dynasty, the trend of building gardens next to houses became more and more popular. The most famous one is Cao Shancheng's Wutong Garden in Fushan, Changshu. According to records, the Wutong Garden is surrounded by green smoke and water, quiet and open, with hundreds of Wutong trees planted. When guests arrive, boys are ordered to wash the Wutong Garden, so it is also called Wutong Garden. Literati and celebrities often gather here. (The garden relics of the Tang and Song Dynasties mainly include the square pagoda in today's Fangta Garden).

In the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the development of Changshu gardens reached its peak. Various artistic talents and schools, represented by Qian Qianyi, flourished and became the source of the idea behind the garden. According to records, among the more than 270 gardens in Wuzhong during the Ming Dynasty, Changshu accounted for nearly 50. Its artistic level was also unprecedented, and many famous gardens appeared.

Xiaowangchuan was the first to rise in Xicheng. It was built by Qian Dai, the supervisory censor, after he resigned and returned to his hometown during the Wanli period. To the north is a mansion, with a garden (Huanxiuju) in the house, which is exquisite and small, with crystal clear water and stones. A large garden is built in the south of the house. The total area of ??the house is nearly 200 acres, with four pavilions, pavilions and pavilions. Hundreds of people. There is a poem by the people of the city: "Ninety-thousand leaf boats on the edge of the fair, Xiaoshan is like rain and smoke. There are countless elegant houses with poor eaves, all of which are the Qian family's Xiaowangchuan." Since the founding of Changshu, there has never been a private garden of this size, so It was called "Qian Ban City" at that time. Such a huge structure is rare in Jiangnan. (Today tourists can visit the Qing Dynasty Zeng Garden and Zhao Garden at the Xiaowangchuan ruins).

Standing out in Beicheng is Qian Qianyi’s semi-wild garden. The site of the garden is also wide. "You can climb high and look far away without leaving home. There are small pavilions on the mountain facing the wild green. The green weeping trees are as close as you can get to Qi Nu's tomb, and the greenery is far away from the Laozi Hall. The white clouds on the female wall form a mountain belt, and the red-railed bridge contains the light of the lake. "This is a poem from Qian Qianyi's "Nine Days Banquet Collection of Drunken Songs in Hanhui Pavilion", with mountains and gardens, blending into one. There are thousands of books in Jiangyun Tower in the garden, and the "Qinxue" stone from the Lotus Villa of Zhao Zi'ang in the Yuan Dynasty is placed in front of the building.

As can be seen from the map of Changshu City in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, the most beautiful areas for gardening were in the southwest and southeast of the city. It was close to mountains and rivers, half Guo and half city, with wide water and land conveniences, and it had the satisfaction of a luxurious urban life. , as well as the enjoyment of natural landscape art, are all divided between Xiaowangchuan and Banyeyuan of the Qian family (Qian Dai is Qian Qianyi's brother). Therefore, later famous gardens such as Donggao Thatched Cottage and Wengshi East Garden could only be built outside the east gate and outside the small east gate respectively.

Donggao Getang was built when Qu Rushuo retired during the Wanli period, and his son Qu Shichun further expanded it. The garden is surrounded by mountains and water, and it is an empty and bright environment. "Above the three bridges, there are curved sills and vermilion railings, with uneven reflections. No matter whether the willows are dark, the flowers are bright, the moon is clear, the snow is clear, there are many beautiful things. Even if the trees fall in the cold suburbs, the wind and rain are desolate, they are enough for people to appreciate. Whenever you travel far away, you will pass by. Those who visit this place often linger in praise of it, thinking that those who can create it must write poems about the beautiful scenery of the Three Wu Dynasties. "Qian Qianyi also has Fushui Villa, and he invited Zhang Nanyuan, a master of Dieshan in the late Ming Dynasty, to write it. Painting, built in the suburban garden under Fushui Rock in Yushan Mountain. The garden leans on the Fushui Cliff and the Shang Lake, with long embankments of green willows, slanted bridges over meandering water, curved houses and deep sky, and is clear and quiet. Liu Rushi once painted "Picture of Willows on the Moon Embankment", as well as landscape scale pages and inscribed couplets: "See the distant and near green mountains in the painting, and listen to the shallow and deep flowing water in the piano", which makes the Zhuangjing seem to be seen.

In the Qing Dynasty, the culture of reading and collecting books in Changshu flourished unprecedentedly. Wang Shigu became a painting saint after Huang Gongwang. He was also good at gardening. His family had Lai Qingge Garden and Suzhou Xiugu Garden. Qian Yong was good at gardening. The "Lv Yuan Cong Hua" he summarized and wrote is a masterpiece in the history of Chinese gardens. "The beautiful trees gradually become clearer and rounder at noon", Changshu gardens have further deepened. The Yanyuan Garden, which is dominated by two rockeries, the Shuiwu Garden, which is famous for its water corridor, the Huyin Garden, which is famous for its high library and pavilion, and the Half-acre Garden, which is famous for its exquisite and rich collections, are all works from that time.

After the reign of Emperor Daoguang, there were still famous gardens in Changshu. In Zeng Garden, the clouds and water towers are nestled among the willow banks and Tingzhou Islands. Qufang Branch, White Pine Red Bean, and Shuxuan Stele Corridor can all be arranged properly and become the evening song of Changshu Garden.

From the late Qing Dynasty to the Republic of China, China was in a state of frequent wars, a weak country and poor people, and the construction of gardens gradually declined. Along the Lingtang outside the north gate, Chengbi Villa by bibliophile Shen Xiren and Qiushui Garden by poet Cao Dati, a descendant of Yuan Cao Shancheng, are the last two more famous private gardens. Not long after, the iron hooves of the Japanese invaders stepped into the villa, and the deep courtyard was turned into rubble. The prosperity of the garden is connected with the rise and fall of Changshu, and the rise and fall of Changshu reflects the fate of the country.

After the founding of the People’s Republic of China, especially after the reform and opening up, with the recovery of economic and cultural life, classical gardens such as Yanyuan, Zengyuan, and Zhaoyuan have come to life in a true sense.

It is worth mentioning that the existing classical private gardens in Changshu today still have an advantage in Jiangnan cities in terms of quantity and quality.

Changshu gardens began in the Spring and Autumn Period, developed in the Song and Yuan Dynasties, and flourished in the Ming and Qing Dynasties. There are small Wangchuan as big as Kunpeng, Huanxiuju as small as a sparrow, beautiful and elegant semi-wild garden and Donggao Cottage, and Fushui and Hongdou Villa, which are both secluded and humanistic. There are Yan Garden, which is famous for its rockery, and Shuiwu Garden, which is famous for its waterscape. They echo with the county town of Suzhou and together form the grand view of Suzhou gardens.

There are many literati in Changshu, and gardens developed into the Qing Dynasty, mostly study gardens. It is called a garden, but it is actually a place for collecting books, reading, and chanting. It emphasizes a kind of poetry, so the garden titles, whether plaques or couplets, are very particular. For example, the title of the pavilions in Zeng Yuan is often highlighted by the clear and bright moon, such as Yaoyue Pavilion, Moon Bathing Pavilion, Yueyue Pavilion, Qingfeng Mingyue Pavilion, Moon Pavilion, etc., which deepens the artistic conception of "virtual outline". It allows people to integrate into the experience of ancient elegance, the experience of communicating with nature, and the understanding of the philosophy of life, and achieve aesthetic enjoyment that purifies the soul, generates a variety of interests and associations, and thus sublimates the conception of the garden landscape again. It should be said that the rich humanistic and scholarly atmosphere of Changshu gardens is very prominent among Jiangnan gardens.