Study On Development Of Sichuan Garden

Based on the superior physiographic condition and profound accretion of culture, Sichuan garden has been generated, developed and achieved a positive result; with its unique styles of long history and elegance and graceful, Sichuan garden is an important local gardens in our country. However, there are a few research results in the Sichuan garden at present, let alone the system research on the developing process of the Sichuan garden.The weakness of the theory study on the Sichuan garden causes an absence of the system in the Chinese garden for a long time, and this brings perplexity in the inheritance and development of Sichuan garden. Based on studies of many historical materials and investigations on the existing garden examples, the author described systematically the origin of Sichuan garden, and its development on the stage of the Pre-Qin Period, the Qin and Han dynasties and the three kingdoms period, Two Jin Northern and Southern dynasties, Sui Tang and Five dynasties, Song and Yuan dynasties, Ming and early Qing dynasties, middle Qing dynasty and Modern Times, and the development stages of Sichuan Garden are obtained. After the Opium War, Sichuan garden came to the diversified stage, its contents is numerous and jumbled and there are more researches on modern gardens, so this research emphasizes on the garden before Opium War.The major work of this research is summarized as follows:1. This article puts forward a possibility that the origin of Sichuan garden can be traced back to the garden of Duyu King period based on comparison between the literature analysis and the archaeological materials, and the earliest gardens style is Imperial Yuanyou.2. Based on many historical materials and investigations the development stage of Sichuan Garden is discussed:①The pre-qin dynasty is the rudiment of Sichuan garden. There are two types of Sichuan garden which are Yuanyou and tomb of Imperial in pre-qin. At present, Two Imperial Yuanyous can be referenced are Nanzhong Yuanyouand Yangzi mountain Yuanyou. The earliest existing garden is Wudan mountain tomb. Garden plants and animals are the main elements in this period.②Qin-Han period and three kingdoms is the development period of Sichuan garden, and the main type was royal gardens, powerful families'estates, temple gardens and cemetery gardens. Royal gardens have multiple functions such as water storage, culture and ornament, and most of them were built based on the pool because of construct of the city in Qin dynasty. The main function of the powerful families' estate is agricultural planting, and the brick relief unearthed recent years showed the situation of it. The cemetery garden has some development and the main element is plants. The most important feature in this period is the generation of the temple garden with simple form.③Two Jin Dynasties and the Northern and Southern dynasties is the stagnant period of Sichuan garden. The economy and culture developed slowly in this period comparing with the former dynasties due to the chaos caused by war, and the garden also has no achievement.④The first high tide of the Sichuan garden development appears in the period of Sui Tang and Five dynasties. The type of Sichuan garden is rich and the main types are the temple garden and the official garden in this period. The temple garden began to transfer to mountain in Sui and Tang dynasties where has good natural environment, the typical representative of Sichuan garden is Qingcheng mountain Taoist architectures. Many cultural celebrities came to Sichuan to work or lecture, such as Du-fu, Li-deyu, Wei-zhuang and so on. Especially, the prevalence of "flowery school" literature in Sichuan promoted the development of Sichuan garden and improved the cultural quality. Thanks to those reasons, Sichuan garden got the first high tide in Sui Tang and Five dynasties. The construction of official garden was flourishing in Sui and Tang dynasties, and Sichuan also built many excellent official gardens such as Xifan East Lake and Fang Lake.⑤The period of Song and Yuan dynasties is the stable stage for Sichuan garden. The economy and culture of Sichuan continued to develop after the Flourishing Tang dynasty, especially in Chengdu plain. The fashion of leisure drives the development of Sichuan garden, particularly the royal garden and the private garden. During the Song dynasty, the ethos of the honoring confucianism prevailing and many confucian temple were built, thereupon, the garden of confucian temple generated, and the type of Sichuan garden becomes more rich.⑥The period of Ming and early Qing is the turning period for Sichuan garden. The economy and culture declined because of the war disaster, and the war during the late Ming lead to the fall sharply of the population, and many temples and gardens were destroyed by fire. Sichuan garden experienced the most disaster since generation. The period of Ming and early Qing, Sichuan garden came to the turning stage of from its flourish time to downfall, and then to the rebuilt gradually.⑦The second high tide of the development is the period of middle Qing dynasty. Since middle Qing dynasty, the economy of Sichuan gradually recover, and many garden damaged in war began to rebuild, and the quantity of the temple garden and memorial garden are the most, such as Wenshu temple, Du Fu thatched cottage, Wangjiang Tower Park, Gui Lake and Emei mountain, and so on. Furthermore, with the development of the education of Sichuan, new types of Sichuan garden appear, they are academy gardens. The immigration from HuGuang to Sichuan province promoted the prosperity of the guildhall, and guildhall garden also emergences. The existing typical gardens are Xiqin Guilds in Zigong and Guangdong Guilds in Luodai. In the period of middle Qing dynasty, the type and the quantity of Sichuan garden all have the most development and the garden style tended to mature. Sichuan garden came to the second high tide stage in middle Qing dynasty.⑧Since the Opium War in 1840, with the Capitalism culture invasion and the rise of the thought of democracy and republic, until the modern landscape theory was introduced in the end of 20th century, Sichuan garden comes to new times of diversification. The main type of Sichuan garden is Urban Public Landscape.3. The similarities and differences between the Chinese garden and the Sichuan garden are compared. The development stages of them are similar before Sui and Tang dynasty. But after the stable stage in Song and Yuan dynasties, Sichuan garden was destroyed by the war during the late Ming dynasty, it is a serious damage to Sichuan garden. Otherwise, Chinese garden comes to mature based on the development in Tang dynasty.