Study On Art Characteristics Of Bashu Academy Gardens

As a special educational institute of the feudal social institution in ancient China, academy is a place for the ancient Confucian scholars to assemble, deliver lectures, store books, learn skills, and recreation. Its almost1000years’ history can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty and the Five Dynasties. Its evolution started from the late Qing Dynasty, after the development from the Song Dynasty to the Yuan Dynasty and the Ming Dynasty. From the Qin Dynasty and the Han Dynasty on, the culture of the ancient Bashu district (now Sichuan and Chongqing) developed rapidly despite of its remote location and inconvenient transportation. Academies in the Bashu district sprung up in the Tang Dynasty. Till the Qing Dynasty, the number of the academies in the Bashu district ranked the second in the whole country. These academies have important influences on this area’s politics, economy, culture and education. As an external embodiment of the academy culture, the academy garden contains profound intrinsic cultural spirit.As a branch of the classical garden system, the academy garden is a special type. Most academy gardens are built and operated by refined scholars, and the ideology of the construction originates from the scholars’ reclusive culture. To some extent, the academy garden draws on the private garden’s elegance and the temple garden’s quietness. Therefore, the academy garden has formed its unique style which is different from the magnificent royal garden and the delicate private garden. One can feel the Zen embedded in the poetic quality and the quiet elegance in the simplicity. Nevertheless, under the influence of the ambivalent "elite culture", the academy garden displays a quality transcending the secular world on the one hand, and it also exhibits a yearning for the official career via the imperial civil examination on the other hand. Hence it manifests the idea of the commensalism of elegance and vulgarity.The academy garden in Bashu has inherited the classical academy garden’s traditions of naturalness, tranquility, openness and refined simplicity. Skillfully blending the natural shape of the rock and water into the garden, the academy garden pays particular attention to the over-all environment of the mountain and water, forming its own characteristics which are simpler, more natural and brighter. The research on the academy garden in Bashu does not only enrich the research system of the gardens in Bashu district, but it also provides reference to the spreading and inheritance of the culture in Bashu district which is glorious and long-standing. Therefore, the research on the academy garden in Bashu is of great significance.Firstly, this thesis summarizes and organizes the origin, the development and the historical inheritance of the academies in Bashu district. Then, based on consulting related documents, the analysis of the artistic characteristics of the academy gardens in Bashu district will be made with abundant examples of the academy garden, including the site selection, landscape elements and the characteristics of the space construction. Lastly, this thesis will analyze the cultural connotations reflected by the academy gardens in Bashu district, discarding the dross and selecting the essential. I hope that this thesis can provide reference and enlightenment to the inheritance and innovation of the essence of the academy gardens in Bashu district, and inject new vitality to the modern landscape construction.