Chapter 7 Section 2 Water management - the lifeblood of ancient gardens

The water in ancient Chinese gardens, ranging from vast rivers, lakes and seas to small trickles, is the object of waterscape creation that gardeners are unwilling to let go.There are almost no gardens without water. With the construction of gardens, various forms of water in nature are also incorporated into the landscape of the garden for use, which is called water management.The use of water in garden art once again embodies the evaluation that gardens are humanized nature. In ancient gardens, the most common water features are pools. There are many names for pools, some are called goldfish ponds, some are called lakes, and some are called marshes.Any garden with a pond appears either as the center of the whole garden or as the center of a scenic spot in the garden, and often cooperates with the rockery to form the basic pattern of the landscape garden, which is the most basic structural condition for gardening. .

The water must have a source, and the treatment of the water entering the garden must be natural, and the downstream must also be accounted for.The treatment of the exit of the garden is as important as the water inlet. In this way, the water in the garden can be alive, can move in silence, and the ins and outs of the garden can be clearly explained. Even a pool of stagnant water can still produce a sense of life.Soil and stone are the materials that make up the real mountain. Due to artificial collection and stacking, it becomes a fake mountain.Water is an element that constitutes rivers, lakes, seas, torrents and waterfalls. After artificial changes, it becomes a water feature in gardens. It is not unfounded to say that they are fake lakes, fake streams, and fake waterfalls.This is the same concept as modern artificial lakes and waterfalls.However, the form of water in ancient gardens has more attention and pursuit.

Unlike rockery, the shape of the pool is not formed by water, but is outlined and constrained by stacked soil and stone banks. The planes of the pools in the garden are almost irregular, and some are only in the main hall near the water. In front of the building, there is a neat square mooring. In fact, the balcony of the hall extends to the water's edge. This irregular plane should show the wildness of various watersides in nature, some protruding into the water, and some recessed into the shore. of.If it cannot be expressed with soil, it is built with stones, and the rocks along the bank and the rockery by the pool are stacked together, which is called Chishan. "Yuan Ye" said: "The pool on the mountain is the first victory in the garden." The mountain and the pool, which are interdependent and reflect each other, are ranked as the number one scenery in the garden, mainly referring to the water.Water is an essential feature in a garden. Sometimes, a garden exists only because of water.

Qingyi Garden, the predecessor of the Summer Palace, was chosen to build a garden here because of the convergence of springs and streams in the northwest suburbs of Beijing, forming a rare "West Lake View" water village in the north.The first step in gardening is to expand the water surface into Kunming Lake.Therefore, Emperor Qianlong said something: The purpose of digging the lake is to control the water. With the beautiful scenery of the lake and mountains, will there be no embellishment of pavilions?This is a typical example of water management before gardening.Among the ancient gardens, there is a type of waterscape garden. In fact, most of the existing ancient gardens can be classified into this type, and only a few gardens are short of water.Some people say that there is no water in the Qianlong Garden in the Forbidden City, and it is the same in fact. There is no pond and no marsh. The winding stone trough is called Liubeiqu, which imitates the story of Lanting Xiuyu.Above the stone trough, there is a water tank connected to the stone trough. Once the stone trough is filled with water, the small wine glass can float and flow.The water here can be said to be the only visible water in the garden.At the same time, this garden that wins by stacking mountains also has some ravines and flying bridges. Although there is no water, it also represents water as a metaphor.This technique is used in many gardens.

Another garden with little water is the Canglang Pavilion in Suzhou. Compared with the whole garden, the pool in the garden is too small.But the gate of Canglang Pavilion is facing the water. From the front, it looks like Canglang Pavilion is on an island, and you must pass a stone bridge to enter. The water outside the garden makes up for the lack of water in the garden.In fact, the Nanhu Island in the Summer Palace and the Yanyu Building in Jiaxing Nanhu are surrounded by water, and there is no water on the island. No one has raised the issue of no water here. The overall layout of the royal garden has a pattern of one water and three mountains, praying for immortality.The one water among the three mountains refers to the sea.Therefore, the largest water surface in the Old Summer Palace is called Fuhai. The island in the sea has a scene of Pengdao Yaotai. Pengdao refers to Penglai, one of the three mountains on the sea.The Summer Palace, the North Sea, and waters that were once occupied by the royal family in ancient times, such as West Lake in Hangzhou and Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing, all have such meanings. This is the treatment of large water surfaces in gardens.These water surfaces all need abundant water sources, and in order to keep the lake clean and sufficient, a series of water conservancy projects such as water storage, water supply, silting prevention, and drainage are required.Therefore, in the process of water management in gardens, advanced engineering and technical knowledge is required.Like Kunming Lake, a water area of ​​more than 3,300 mu, which has both ornamental functions and water storage functions. Originally, there were high-water lakes and water-raising lakes in the west of it to realize the functions of sedimentation and water supply, so as to ensure the clarification of Kunming Lake. And a certain ornamental water level.The water outlets of the lake are also thoughtful. There are eight water outlets around the lake that can be controlled and adjusted for drainage and irrigation of the surrounding farmland. One of the outlets is dedicated to the Fuhai and other lakes in the Yuanmingyuan.The main water outlet is placed under the Xiuyi Bridge at the southern end, and it flows into the long river, which becomes the waterway for the emperor and empress to come to the garden by boat, and also the water source for the three seas in the city.This is a comprehensive treatment and comprehensive utilization project. So far, Kunming Lake is still partially responsible for some of the functions mentioned above.It can make tourists intoxicated in the beautiful scenery of rippling blue waves and forget to return.

The water system in natural landscape gardens is a very important waterscape guarantee.The water source of West Lake in Hangzhou is mainly injected by streams, and then into canals and city rivers.The Daming Lake in Jinan, relying on the convergence of springs, flows into the Xiaoqing River and belongs to the Bohai Sea.The water of Xuanwu Lake comes from the northern foot of Zhongshan Mountain, and after several twists and turns, it flows into the Yangtze River at its mouth.The maintenance of these lake views depends entirely on the maintenance of the water system. From ancient times to the present, they are closely related to national river projects, and are an important aspect of urban construction that not only meets the needs of life and production, but also beautifies the city's appearance.

The water surface of private gardens is small, and they are all connected in series with the city's river network. There is no river network to connect with, and they rely on groundwater and artificial injection by digging wells.The ornamental requirements of these gardens are mainly the requirements for water.One is that the water level is required to be just right. Many small gardens with stacked rocks on the shore need to be viewed from a certain height above the water in order to enjoy the best view.The second is to live. For stagnant water, mountains and rocks should be piled up to cover it, making a fake source of living water, or a place where water comes out.In some gardens, holes are deliberately made at the root of the wall facing the water, so that water can enter the other side of the wall or the base of the building to achieve the effect of the source of living water.The third is to be curved. The waterway must be curved to a certain extent, so that the end cannot be seen at a glance. This is a technique of blocking the scenery on the water. In addition, mountains, buildings, flowers and trees must be used to cover it.The fourth is to alternate between wide and narrow, and to produce changes in space.The fifth is to divide the scenic spots, one area has one water, one water has one area, and there is water in every area.The scenery of the water in the garden is not only the scenery of the pool, but also some common techniques.

The waterfall is a water feature, and the waterfall at the entrance of the rocky cave simulates a water curtain cave.The turbulent flow with small drop, simulates the continuous flow of mountain springs.The creek flowing through the rocks is like a trickle in the valley.For these effects to occur, one requires water and the other requires stones.The water mainly depends on the change of the terrain, leading the high water level lake water to the low terrain to form the scenery.The Yuqin Gorge in the Garden of Harmonious Interests uses the terrain formed by natural rocks to attract water from the back lake of Kunming Lake to guide the landscaping.When there is no natural terrain available, the rainwater from the roof of the building can be collected into the reserved water storage pits on the top of the rocks with gutters. Waterfall, this is a kind of fun of "sitting in the rain and watching the spring"; when it is not raining, the cliffs and ravines piled up by mountains and rocks are reminiscent of the water scenery of waterfalls.The stacked stone mountains here imitate the mountain streams in nature.This method of processing is quite complicated. The gentle mountain springs are piled up, not only to arouse the water splash, to see the water flowing, but also to hear the sound of the water, so that people can hear the sound before seeing the scene. You can only see it by looking for it by the sound, and you have to go around the mountains, stones, corridors and pavilions to get close.To stack such a scene, you must have certain techniques, and the selection of stones is very strict. There are so-called water-sending stones, water-splitting stones, and water-exciting stones.As the name suggests, this impressive waterscape did not come by accident.Song Huizong Zhao Ji built Genyue in Tokyo (Kaifeng), and there was a scene of "waterfall screen" made of huge stones pasted on Yizhen Mountain. At that time, water was stored in water tanks behind the mountain and water was released manually, which was very spectacular.

Another form of water in ancient gardens is the spring.Jinan is a city of springs. Appreciating, listening to, and tasting springs are all part of garden tours.In scenic spots, there must be springs.In Lanzhou's Wuquan Mountain, the five springs stand side by side, the waterfalls hang in the air, and the clear water flows over the ground, which can be heard and enjoyed.Huishan in Wuxi is the second spring in the world, and West Lake in Hangzhou has three famous springs: Hupao, Yuquan and Longjing, all of which are worthy of appreciation.The bamboo stove mountain house next to the second spring is specially used to evaluate the second spring water.

We have talked about the water in the garden from a pool, a lake, to a cup.Finally, let's talk about the big place, that is, the water on which the three famous buildings in the south of the Yangtze River rely.The Yellow Crane Tower was built on the banks of the Yangtze River, the Tengwang Pavilion was built on the banks of the Gan River, and the Yueyang Tower was built on the banks of Dongting Lake. These famous buildings that have been destroyed and rebuilt several times form a unified landscape with the rivers and lakes they overlook. . "Where is the township pass at sunset, the mist on the river makes people worry", this is the mist of the Yangtze River under the Yellow Crane Tower. "The sunset and the lone duck fly together, and the autumn water is the same color as the sky." This is the autumn water of the Ganjiang River by His Excellency Prince Teng. "To Ruochun and Jingming, the waves are calm, and the sky above and below is a vast expanse of blue." This is the vast expanse of waves of Dongting Lake under the Yueyang Tower.What's more, the sea is captured in the picture, this is Penglai Pavilion in Shandong.

The use of water features in ancient gardens can be seen everywhere.There is a poem describing the spoon garden in Beijing in the Ming Dynasty, in which two lines: "When you come to the door, you can only see water, and when you enter the house, you will be suspicious of boats", which refers to the landscape effect of water.Another famous Southern Song poet Lu You's poem "Sinking Garden", in which there are two lines: "The green spring under the sad bridge was once a shadow of a frightening Hong", which is the feeling produced by the waterscape of the garden.