The Research Of Song Dynasty Public Gardens Under The Evolution Of Urban Civilization

The public gardens are important carriers of cities and urban lives. Researching on public gardens’ cultural background, target function, building way, aesthetic paradigm, etc. has a positive practical significance to complement traditional Chinese wisdom of human settlements construction experience and guide current protection and innovation of tradition city. With urban civilization in the Song Dynasty public gardens reached its peak. Under the guidance of the local government the public gardens formed a manifest political and economic goal orientation and space systems, functional compatibility, construction-set of features. The ecological wisdom of experience which combined public gardens and urban water conservancy, enlightenment place, Feng shui pattern etc. laid and affected the characteristics of the public gardens in capital city during the Yuan, Ming. From the 1990 s, a gradual rise of historical research of public gardens had concerned about the number, type of bloom in the Song. But research status focused mainly on typical City and Garden Cases, and lacked a way to grasp the overall features and excellent experience of urban public garden construction in the Song from the system level. Moreover, study conclusions are obvious differences in the construction of the main building, the target and the characteristics. So, this paper start with the use of technical route about “Foundation of the civilization evolution—System cases Study—Phase characteristics summary”, based on the evolution of urban civilization, through qualitative and quantitative interpretation of literature to build a cultural landscape of urban life in the Song. Then the study combined Chronicles graphic, landscape remains in the system cases to analyze and summarize the wisdom of experience in public garden construction. Research helps expand the historical research status in main line of the private gardens, the royal gardens, temples. This paper tries to reflect the historical achievements of landscape construction in our country and enhances the current urban landscape protection and construction. It has positive significance of theory development and practical guidance.Thesis is divided into basic research, empirical analysis, theoretical induction at three different levels. First, based on the Song Dynasty historical literature,poetry,and chronicles,this thesis does wide search for public gardens with cross discipline achievements which combine geography, urban history, architectural history. And this thesis constructs social picture for the construction of urban public gardens in the Song Dynasty via literary sociology research methods, then in a longitudinal study, it compares the development of the different times public gardens—the Elder, the Qin and Han Dynasties, the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the Ming and Qing Dynasties. This thesis analyses the impact of public touring and public gardens development on evolution of urban civilization, which under the conditions about the Song political environment, urban economic restructuring and transformation of space. It is indicated that the urbanized resident structure, free and recreational functional space layout for activities of block mart system have actuated people’s fervor for visits and appreciation, which have been the important urban cultural and geographical landmarks with the encouragement and support from government. Then, this thesis uses garden records, chronicles city building records and image research methods which relate to historical maps, archaeological materials and cultural heritage. It combines qualitative and quantitative statistical analysis of associated construction goal and points out the integrated view of environment for the construction of urban landscape in the Song Dynasty that is to guard people’s livelihood, form the educational atmosphere, and make prosperous the scenery, the thesis analyzes and summarizes the political approach and material basis for the construction of urban public gardens. The urban water conservation, traffic facilities and defense of city have also been propelled by the revolutions combined with the adjustment for the assessment policy emphasizing economy and education of officials. The memorial sites of celebrities, pools for releasing animals, and shooting area which are in line with social enlightenment, and geomantic omen, eight sights in city, pavilions and houses based on the local collective consciousness, and so on, are important material foundation for the construction of public gardens.In the empirical analysis, according to the different construction, management and opening features of the public gardens recorded in the documents, combined with the records of different gardens’ title or class in historical materials of the Song Dynasty, this thesis then, based on the garden construction and management features to concern the means for empirical observation and classification, divides the urban public gardens into three types: Hushan scenic spot, city garden, and city scenic spot. Combined with a lot of cases, it has also respectively illustrated the features of each type of gardens on location, construction and management, and visit organization with quantitative analysis. Hushan scenic spots, by virtue of grand natural landscape, are the most complicated public gardens on ownership, garden type, and construction ways. They are also the important opening space of the city in the Song and the Dynasties followed with respect to the magnificent space and abundant appreciation means. According to different landscape resources, the Hushan scenic spots are with three smaller kinds: Shanlin scenic spot, lake scenic spot, Hushan scenic spot. City gardens are within the land fully owned by the official, and with high quality for construction. They are usually constructed in enclosed ways and opened to public during festivals, presenting "public and private" functional property. According to different location and subject, the city gardens are respectively illustrated in three kinds: shire garden, house garden, and memorial garden. City scenic spots include those for overlooking famous sites, those for daily use, and those for ceremony and religion. Combined with related landscape resources, they are scattered both in and outside the city. Despite the diverse state of management orientated by the official, involved by squire and monks, city garden are vital parts recorded for public visits in the Song Dynasty.In terms of the theory of induction, the thesis has comprehensively appraised the historical stage of the construction of urban public gardens in the Song Dynasty in the course of Chinese traditional gardens, and put up the following four main features of the public gardens in the Song Dynasty: political and economic orientation, construction systematic and normalization. It has summarized the political and mechanical features of the public gardens in the Song Dynasty on reconciling social conflicts, spreading main political pursuit, and driving urban economy. It has concluded the systematized layout of the public gardens and city level, function division, and seasonal visits, and pointed out the high inclusiveness on land ownership, function division, and visits organization. Meanwhile, the thesis has emphasized that in the Song Dynasty where the aesthetic appreciation towards landscape gradually became mature, the booming developed public gardens have further propelled the normalization for the construction of city landscape. It is the key historical stage for the maturity and set of the landscape including West Lakes, Eight sights, and pavilions and houses, exerting the continuous influence to the construction of city landscape in the later ages and even in Chinese culture circle.The paper has following innovative ideas: ①proposed the close blending wisdom experience to the construction of urban landscape in the Song Dynasty, industrial development of the city, social education and landscape system; ②complemented the definition and analysis of public gardens, for the first time, points out that the urban public gardens are the initiative construction behavior of local governments, the comprehensive carrier used to reconcile class contradictions, mobilize provincial economy, strengthen social enlightenment, and to create collective memory, and also combined with the construction management features of public gardens to refined its historical classification; ③summarized the urban landscape in the Song Dynasty of West Lakes, Eight Sights, pavilions and houses, the typical models and their respective construction point of landscape constructions.