| With both an increase in quantity and quality of private gardens,and a development in both craftsmanship and theories of gardening,a golden era of gardening emerged in Jangnan(the southern area of Yangtze River)during the late Ming Dynasty.Geographical speaking,the garden construction activities mostly concentrated in the Tai Lake basin,where Shaoxing is not located exactly in,but it doesn’t place any influence on the garden prosperity of Yuezhong(an alternative name for core area of Shaoxing prefecture in Ming Dynasty).According to "Yuezhongyuan tingji "(Record of the Gardens and Pavilions of Yuezhong)by Qi Biaojia(1602-1645,who is a famous literati,garden enthusiast and designer),the amount of private gardens in Shanyin and Kuaiji counties has reached some 190 during the late Ming Dynasty,among which the sites of some renowned gardens could be found,the prosperity had reached to a height as never before.Shaoxing is the economic and cultural center of eastern Zhejiang province,a natural landscape of mountains and waters is an environmental privilege.And economic affluence provided material conditions for the garden construction.Most importantly,a trend of founding literati groups and organizing gatherings and social activities inside a garden raised a demand for the garden-making.However,during the Qing Dynasty,which thrived from the fell of Ming Dynasty,Shaoxing became a military basement for the Ming reminders to gather troops and conspire against potentate,which had a negative influence on the economic and cultural development of Shaoxing.The declining of the once popular social life in garden is inevitable,which left not even ruins of these gardens to be researched on.Due to the search oriented for ’physical spaces’ of Chinese gardens in remains and literature,the current researches on Jiangnan gardens are more concentrated in places like Suzhou,Yangzhou and Hangzhou where there are more physical references of private gardens to be researched on.The importance and value of tradional gardens in Shaoxing are therefore underestimated due to the lack of researching objects.Therefore,this dissertation will base on the "Yuezhong yuan ting ji",and choose Shaoxing gardens in late Ming dynasty as research objects,using historical dimension as basic researching methods,and attempt to understand,analyse and summarize the urban,figure,conceptual and construction features of them through text interpretation and site visiting.And eventually,rediscover their unrecognized values.The main structure of this dissertation consists of 5 chapters:There are two strings in the second chapter:the first one is the rising of garden constructing and corresponding nature,urban,society and times background,and the second would be the rising of relevant garden writings,and referring the"Yuezhong yuan ting ji" as representative.The third chapter mainly focuses on the distribution of Shaoxing gardens and main families devoted to garden construction activities at that time based on"Yuezhong yuan ting ji".The fourth chapter refers to the specific examples of famous Shaoxing gardens which seclected from "Yuezhongyuan tingji" in the late Ming Dynasty.The fifth chapter introduces the artistries of Shaoxing gardens in late Ming based on "Yuezhong yuan ting ji".including mountain and rocks,water organization,architecture and plantation.The sixth chapter discusses the garden conception of Qi Biaojia based on his "Yuezhong yuan ting ji" and other relevant texts and individuals.Regarding the concept of "garden",perspective of garden records,aesthetic point of view,discussion on privacy and public,and judgement of garden making and social life within those gardens.The research of this dissertation indicates that the gardens in Shaoxing in the late Ming Dynasty have represented a relatively high level of Jiangnan gardens both in quantity and the quality of construction.Apart from the common virtues of Jiangnan gardens,the artistries and concepts of Shaoxing gardens,which reflect the influences of the local natural environment and the cultural circumstances,also show the distinctive characteristic and diversity in many aspects,and constitutes an important part of the traditional Chinese gardens.Such conclusions can be drawn:First,the gardens in Shaoxing rose in the period from Longqin(r.1567-1572)to the early years of Wanli(r.1573-1620),and have reached the apex in the period of Chongzhen(r.1628-1644)when Qi Biaojia wrote the book "Yuezhong yuan ting ji".Secondly,the gardens mentioned in the book were mainly distributed in two areas.Inside the city they were more near the Three Mounts area(Long Mount,Ji Mount and Gui Mount)and in the southeast of the inner city.The gardens out of the city were mainly located in Nantang outside the Gate Changxi and in the vicinity of Lufeng Peak and Tianzhu Peak outside the Gate Jishan.Thirdly,the figures related to the gardens in the book mostly came from several prestige families such as Tao Family and Shang Family from Kuaiji,Zhang Family and Qi Family from Shanyin and Lv Family from Yuyao.In addition,the garden conception of the writer,Qi Biaojia,is different from the present ideas.The way he record the gardens contains two important perspectives:the owner and relvant literary activities,and the physical scenery.He also pursued the change of nature and space during the aesthetic process of organizing the space and appreciating the scenery.The evaluations and discussions of the gardening activity by people at that time are also diverse.The gardens in Shaoxing in the late Ming Dynasty were mainly characterized by the reliance on the natural beauty,supplemented by artificial construction.When it came to the end of Ming Dynasty,more emphasis was put on the pursuit of artificial beauty like the creation of mountains and architecture. |
