Study On The Concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin And Its Selected Examples In Suzhou In The Ming And Qing Dynasties

Cheng Shi Shan Lin?may could be understood in Latin Rus in Urbe?,is one of the core concepts that are frequently mentioned and discussed by many famous scholars in the context of modern Chinese garden history research.The classical interpretation of this concept formed by the academia provides interconnected underlying interpretation logic and key guidelines for the construction techniques,social-cultural interaction,and sites observation,selection,environmental evaluation of existing gardens.At the same time,however,existing research has long lacked specific attention to the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin in historical contexts,and adequate attention to the possible semantic rheology and diversity of this concept.This neglect will,to a large extent,lead to a tendency to generalize and paradigmize the understanding and application of the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin,resulting in its value and potential in the study of contemporary Chinese garden history underestimated.Therefore,this dissertation will choose the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin in the historical context as the research object,useing conceptual history,design principle and other garden historical dimension as basic researching methods,and attempt to understand,analyse and summarize the origins and development of the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin in the history through retrieval,collation and interpretation of the relevant historical materials,so as to extract"a new clue"and exemplarily examine its specific performance in Suzhou gardens in Ming and Qing Dynasties by following that clue.At last,this dissertation will re-examine the connotation of this concept and its value to the study of Chinese garden history.The main structure of this dissertation consists of 2 parts,5 chapters in total.The 1^st part named"The Clues of Selection"contains the chapter 2,"The Expansion of Concepts:The Speculative Origin and the Changes in the Dimension of Space and Artistic Conception of the Concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin".It mainly involves three specific research contents:one is to construct the historical context that help re-recognize the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin;the second is to analyse the influencing factors of the historical generation of this concept based on the context constructed;the third is to study what the concept refers to in terms of space and artistic conception based on the same context and finally rethink the concept.The2^nd part,"Analysis of Examples"contains chapters 3 to 6,aims to further demonstrate four important issues of the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin by analyzing four"Cheng Shi Shan Lin Examples"in Suzhou during the Ming and Qing Dynasties.The chapter 3 takes the Garden of Unsuccessful Politician in Suzhou as an example to understand the semantic changes of the artistic conception of Cheng Shi Shan Lin in literati's ideas in different periods.The chapter 4 takes the Garden that Last Forever in Suzhou as an example to comprehend how a"Cheng Shi Shan Lin Example"can continue to realize the artistic conception and experience of Cheng Shi Shan Lin under adverse condition of increased construction.The Chapter 5 takes The Mountain Villa of Embracing Beauty in Suzhou as an example to get a glimpse of the most important artistic conception type of Cheng Shi Shan Lin and its analytical methods.The chapter6 takes the Garden of Pleasure in Suzhou as an example to reveal how the ideal of Cheng Shi Shan Lin profoundly affects the artistic conception construction and the experience expression of a new garden.The research in the 1st part mainly draws the following specific conclusions:Firstly,Cheng Shi Shan Lin is a compound concept closely related to the problem of chooseing where to live of ancient Chinese literati class.It can eventually be generated at the end of Yuan Dynasty,benefiting from the relation building and speculation of"Chengshi?city?"and"Shanlin?landscape?"among the literati from mid-Tang to Song Dynasties.Secondly,a large number of examples from the Yuan Dynasty to the end of the Qing Dynasty indicate that what the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin refers to in terms of space and artistic conception is beyond the scope of its classical interpretation,which is embodied in the semantic diversification in three dimensions:spatial location,garden type and artistic conception type.And then,the core implications of the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin is to create a sense of illusion that is different from the human realm and the early world.It does not depend on the specific garden type,nor is it limited to any artistic conception type.Finally,the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin as a clue has the potential to diachronically connect the most outstanding examples in Jiangnan gardens,especially Suzhou gardens since the Yuan Dynasty,which could give a glimpse of the changes of literati's ideas and practices on gardening in the same region and during the same period.The research in the 2^nd part mainly draws the following specific conclusions:Firstly,since the establishment of the model of"Cheng Shi Shan Lin Example",it has been undergoing the process of interpretation,"reappearance"and even reconstruction and the semantic understanding of the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin differs among literati in different periods.The so-called"reappearance"is probably just in line with the understanding of the concept Cheng Shi Shan Lin in the current literati's ideas.Secondly,through the exquisite planning of architectures and their courtyards and the changes in the way of appreciation,it is possible to find a balance between the literati's pursuit of artistic conception and material needs.And then,the"Paradigm of Mountain Expression by Viewing and Traveling"can be effectively analyzed through the evaluation strategies with five steps:to trace the rockery ideas of the gardeners,to analyze the layout of the landscape,to observing the rockery from a distance,to visit the landscape spaces of the rockery,and to examin the detailed handling of the mountain.And the scene density and experience richness achieved by this Paradigm may be an important reason why it had become the mainstream of the artistic conception of Cheng Shi Shan Lin.Finally,the ideal of Cheng Shi Shan Lin can still have a decisive influence on the design ideas of a garden and its travelling experience until the end of traditional Chinese gardening activities.