Study Of The Color System In Suzhou Classical Garden

Garden color is an abstract modeling element. It is among the most important visual factors that influence the spatial atmosphere, artistic conception and regional landscape characteristics. What it reveals and implies are intuitive and abstract, scientific and perceptual, visual and spiritual, catering to visual physiological needs while giving psychological guidance, etc. In short, while stimulates visual sense and induces emotional associations, garden color, the element of the greatest importance in forming the garden visual feeling, promotes the inner feeling expression that leads to the association of garden artistic conception. Because of these dialectical characteristics and abstractness in expression, people are more accustomed to depicting the scenery and rendering the garden conception by sensible objects. With the constantly increasing social demands, developing of the landscape architecture profession, and innovating of technology, color as an abstract form and spiritual symbol regains its attention. Therefore, there are theoretical value and practical meaning in researching the garden color.This thesis takes the classical gardens of Suzhou as the main research object, using the methods of document query, field survey, statistical analysis and quantitative data processing. The researcher paid12times’ visit within four years to the classical gardens of Suzhou for data collecting, during which more than30,000pictures for color study were acquired. Separately, the natural color of the light and the inherent color of the Suzhou gardens are studied according to the color-producing law. The factors contributing to the static and dynamic state of the garden color are statistically analyzed in regard to their traits. The frequency of the artificial color’s element is mathematically examined so that each color element can fit into the calibration on the international color atla. With respect for the features of the professional landscape descriptions, the overall rules of the color are resolved from the aspects of color space structure layout, regional facade color proportion analysis, artistic conception of spots and color composition law, with the help of the method of professional color quantitative processing. From the views of cultural background of diverse fields--garden history, architectural history, history of literature, painting history, ideological history, folk custom history, art history, literati mentality history, this thesis aims at analyzing the inner cultural secret of the aesthetics of Suzhou gardens’color. Involved with landscape architecture, color theory, color geography, city planning, psychology and other disciplines’knowledge, the results of the research into the color system of the classical gardens of Suzhou are as follows:1. Color aesthetics for Suzhou garden has a strong local character. The key for the classical gardens of Suzhou being regarded as an essential component of Chinese garden culture lies in the area’s geographical and resource advantages. Its picturesque scenery, rich resources, warm and humid climate, clear seasonal change, and soft light natural conditions all make the landscape characteristics of the white walls and black tiles, scarlet balustrade and emerald green tree screen. Next in importance comes the human factor owned solely by Suzhou, encouraging the development of literati garden which reflect the fresh, quietly elegant literati aesthetics.2. Based on the fact that the garden’s natural factors account more for their main characteristics, the color is divided into static and dynamic groups. A set of international color number bearing practical value is sorted on the basis of investigation data, providing a complete set of color protection system for the world cultural heritage garden of Suzhou.3. The data obtained by using the method of systematic quantitative analysis of the color system of9largest classical Suzhou gardens will benefit the protection of artistic conception, the translation of traditional color, and establish a solid technological foundation for carrying forward the traditional Chinese color preference.4. This paper perfects the research system of Chinese traditional landscape color through detailed study on the Suzhou classical gardens’color system.5. According to the research demands, two sets of garden color analysis software have been developed.