A Study Of Foshan Liangs’ Garden Original Appearance And Repair

Foshan Liangs’ Garden, the collective name of Liang family’s private gardens, is oneof the most famous gardens of the central Guangdong in Qing dynasty. This garden wasdelicately constructed by Liang Airu (minister of central parliament and famous artist ofnorth China) and his nephews (Liang Jiuhua, Liang Jiuzhang and Liang Jiutu) in the year ofJiaqing and Daoguang, Qing dynasty. During the year of Xianfeng, Liangs’ Garden reachedto its biggest scale, taking up more than200mu, which includes “Shiershi Room”ofSongguili,“Hanxiang Pavilion”of Xixianli,“Qunxing Humble Cottage”of Xianfeng OldPath and “Fenjiang Humble Cottage”, etc. But it was no longer complete by the beginningof PRC, because of the lack of repair. Considering the tremendous value of history, art andappreciation, Foshan Government began to rebuild it since the1982, finished restoringQunxing humble cottage and Hanxiang Room, the area of which is2200M~2. Buildingslike Cishi Family Temple, Yun Bridge, Marble Boat, Hexiang waterside Pavilion, Bucao Diand parts of garden sceneries were rebuilt since1993, the total area of which is up to13300M2. Despite of this, other four of the main architecture clusters of Liang garden, namely,Hanxiang Pavilion, Shiershi Room, Buxiedai Room and Fengjiang Humble Cottage werenot restored.Foshan government put the restoration project of Liangs’ garden in agenda again in2012, now they are planning and designing it. To maximize the original face of Liangs’garden and reach the goal of “restoring without changing the original” while meeting themodern requirements, it is important to have a systematical study of its original face. Therestoration work should start with the clear understanding of the original face of Liangs’garden, so as to know to what extent the restoration goes and make a harmonious mixtureof the “old” scenery and that of the “new”. Therefore, the restoration project can draw a lotfrom the exact understanding of the original face of Liangs’ garden and the summarizedexperience of previous restoration and design.I am horned to take part in the restoring project from1994to1996and the later works,such as engineering research and design. By comparing and confirming with a great deal ofdate, I believe the restoring project should obey these principles:“restoration based on theoriginal face”,“restoration not just for the purpose of making old”and not against therelative laws about city design. By depending on sound scientific theories, we can show thegarden’s values of history, art and appreciation, and create new functions for this garden,which enables it to be a good place for modern tourism. The restoring project should in the first place follow the special culture development principles of Liang garden, so thisprinciple and the scenery ecology would not be harmed during the restoring process.1. The restoring project of Liangs’ garden should not be fixed in total copying, instead, itshould extract the major parts to restore while completing other good parts by scientificmeans, and to have a high-level use of them; try to restore the best parts according tothe original layout and shape. Considering the current situation of given place and thedifficulty of scenery restoration, these five garden groups-Shiershi Room, FenjiangHumble Cottage, Hexiang Pavilion, and Qunxing Humble Cottage could be thepriorities of restoration.2. In terms of layout, unique features of Lingnan gardens-houses, ancestral halls andgardens-should be kept, and its special personalities of Liang garden of Foshan shouldbe highlighted among ancient gardens in China.3. Redisplay the main scenery centered by lakes and pools of great scale. Restore lakesand pools and various architectural scenic spots placed along them, such as FenjiangHumble Cottage, Fenjiang Sing Pavilion and waterside Pavilion; and those are in thelakes and pools, such as Yun Bridge, Marble Boat and Huzhong Stone to display howthese spots form the unique Lingnan features by beautifully mixing with lakes, poolsand trees which make these spots light and transparent, and by the use of delicatedecorations and sculptures.4. Reasonable concentration of Liang family’s private gardens. By rebuilding the mainpart of Shiershi Room and Hexiang Pavilion, which are popular in Songguili andXixianli, in the south side of Liangs’ garden, to show the colorfulness and variousformations of Liangs’ garden.5. Restore the multiple organizations and changes of gardens which are a unique feature ofLingnan gardens, e.g. the scenery-making methods used in Qunxing Humble Cottage,“Stone Temple” of Shiershi Room,“Temple in Water” formed by Rock, Marble Boatand Huzhong Stone,“Temple of Trees and Stones” of Hexiang Pavilion and “WaterTemple” formed by Waterside Pavilion, He Pool and Shuisong Embankment.6. Maximize to show the extraordinary ideas and poetic and picturesque romance ofliterati gardens. The focus should be on the beauty of “Lang Jie Hua Jin， Lu Bi WengWu”、“Ceng Xuan Mian Shui, Xiao Chuang Zhi Shan”formed by Rock, Li Temple, GeXuan, Shuiweng Dock, Marble Boat, Huzhong Stone; the elegant artistic conceptioncontained by Yun Bridge scenery spot, such as “Feng Huang Cheng Yun”,“Chuang Qian Shu Yun” and “Tang Zhong Qin Yun”; the fun of nature formed by reading roomsand yards whose tables are all made of stone, such as “Sheng Yi Rao Ting”,“XiangLian Jin Lv”, and “Ji Ai Cheng Yin， Lou Ri Wu Xi”.7. Highlight the elegant and natural feature of Liang garden. keep a great scale of lotuspool, embankment of pine and bank of willow and show the various changes, such as“Yi Shui Hua Di”,“Jian Liu Chan Chan”,“Qi Wan Zhang Shen” and “Jing Qu XiaoQiao Duo”.8. Show enjoyable gardens which are featured with extraordinary stones and summits. Torestore the carefully selected and organized stone scenery formed by stone groups,scattered stones, single stones and artificial hills, such as enjoyable mountains andstreams, cliffs and paths, stone settings in front of and behind a house, which are tomake the effect that stones themselves become the scenery.9. Redisplaying the greenery scenery consisting of various fruit trees of Lingnan andflowers. Concentrate on the selective tailoring of the shape of trees and the function ofhierarchical organization of brush. Be sure to make arbor scenery, proper use ofbrushwood, completion of the kinds of Lingnan fruits and lasting fragrance of differentflowers so the gentle and natural Lingnan style could be achieved.