拙政园英语导游词

Humble Administrator

’

s Garden

Now we have been in the Humble Administrator

’

s Garden, which is one of the

four most famous gardens in China. In the mid-Ming Dynasty, imperial censor

Wang Xianchen resigned from his post, returned to his hometown and built this

garden on the site of Dahong Monastery. The name of the garden comes from a

line

“

administration by the inept

”

in Idler

’

s Prose written by Pan Yue of the Jin

Dynasty (265-420).

The

designer

of

the

garden

was

Wen

Zhengming,

one

of

the

four

outstanding

painters

in

the

Ming.

It

took

sixteen

years

to

complete

the

garden

between1509-1525. The principal element in its layout is water, which accounts

for one-fifth of its total area. And in its central part water occupies one third of

the

area.

Most

of

the

major

buildings

are

constructed

beside

water

’

being

the

largest of Suzhou

’

s gardens, it takes up 5.2 hectares of land and consists of three

sections

—

east, middle and west. Since 1961, it has been the historical monument

for

national

preservation.

In

1997

it

was

inscribed

on

the

World

Cultural

Heritage List by UNESCO.

East Section

The

East

Section

lies

right

inside

the

main

entrance.

It

is

said

that

after

the

founder of the garden passed away, his son lost the garden in gambling.

Three

winners divided it into three parts. The east part was owned by Wang Xinyi, who

named his new possession Return-to-countryside Garden Villa. It had long been

neglected. Reconstruction was started in 1955 and finished in early 1960. ponds

were

dug,

rockeries

built

and

trees

planted

against

a

setting

of

low

mounds,

lawns

and

bamboo

groves.

Orchid

Snow

Hall

Lotus

Studio,

Heavenly

Spring

Pavilion View Gazebo and Millet Fragrance Hall were restored to carry forward

the traditional style and bring forth some spacious ideas.

Orchid Snow Parlour

The Orchid Snow Palour is the first classical building across the yard from the

garden

’

s entrance to the east section. It houses a large lacquer screen, on which a

carved picture shows the layout of the entire garden.

The name of the parlour is based on the line from an ancient poem which goes:

“

Gentle breeze sprinkles over orchid and snow.

”

The owner of the garden used it

to

express

that

he

was

aloof

from

politics,

material

pursuits

and

worldly

considerations.

Cloud-embellished Peak

It is

made of the

Taihu Lake stones and keeps

visitors from viewing the entire

scenery

of

the

east

part

of

the

garden.

In

terms

of

Chinese

classical

landscape

gardening,

its

function

is

known

as

the

view-concealing

or

view-blocking.

Its

purpose is to make visitors eager to see the scenes behind the peak.

Lotus Pavilion

The waterside Lotus Pavilion is built partially on water and partially on land. In

the distance over numerous green lotus leaves

is a zigzag stone bridge with low

balustrades,

which

is

a

typical

Ming-dynasty-style

bridge.

From

this

pavilion

visitors can obtain a fine view of a lotus pond reaching out to a huge hill.

It is a scenic spot for appreciating lotus flowers in summer. This garden has vast

water

surface.

That

’

s

why

lotus

is

grown

in

many

places.

Many

classical

buildings

in

the

garden

are

named

after

lotus

or

regarded

as

the

best

spots

to

view lotus. Among them are the Drifting Fragrance Hall, Lotus Breeze Pavilion,

Fragrant

Islet,

Lotus-root

Fragrance

Waterside

Studio

and

Stay- and-Listen

Parlour.

Since 1996 the garden has made the lotus festival every summer an annual event.

Shown in the garden are over 100 kinds of lotus such as the king lotus

，

the lotus

grown in

–

bowls, etc

Heavenly Spring Pavilion

This

octagonal

pavilion

is

the

largest

pavilion

in

Suzhou’

s

gardens.

It

’

s

named

the Heavenly Spring Pavilion, which houses an ancient well in center of its floor.

The well was dug in the Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368), and it is much older than the

garden itself. The pavilion

’

s large size matches well with the surrounding open

space.

The walkway alongside the hill-side brook leads to the central section and passes

the Millet Fragrance Hall.

Millet Fragrance Hall

This hall faces a brook and a well-afforested island with a pavilion atop. Behind

the hall is

the garden

’

s northern boundary, beyond which there used to be the

paddy fields.

The character millet here refers to rice in our area south of the

Yangtze River.

When

rice

ripens,

its

fragrance

can

spread

afar.

Hence

the

name.

Once

it

was

used as a tea house for many years, and now it houses a souvenir shop.

Around the hall we can see lots of different trees such as ginkgo, magnolia, crape

murtle, sycamore, camphor, boxwood, cypress, maple, etc.

Walking along the corridor with shelter and viewing scenery behind the lattice

windows set on the white wall, visitors can appreciate trees, water in the pond,

hillocks and classical building appearing or disappearing. This is the magnificent

view of the central section, which is the main attraction of this garden.

Central Section

This

is

the

quintessence

of

the

garden.

Walking

westward

from

the

Millet

Fragrance Hall, we can see a long corridor with 25 windows in different patterns,

and then come to the Rainbow-Embraced Pavilion. Most of the garden

’

s scenery

can be seen from here. Another pavilion beyond the ponds is named the Pavilion

of

Different

Universe,

or

the

Pavilion

of

Another

Wonderland.

These

two

pavilions set each other off from a distance, forming opposite scenes.

The towering North Temple Pagoda a kilometer away from the garden seems to

be in the west section

of the garden.

This is the method of

“

borrowing scenes

”

used in the art of garden construction

in Suzhou. It gives the garden an art of

depth and serenity. The pagoda is 76 metres high with nine stories. It was built in

the Song Dynasty some 850 years ago. It

’

s an octangonal pagoda protected by the

central government.

Secluded Pavilion of Phoenix Tree and Bamboo

It

is

a

unique

pavilion

that

has

four

moon

gates

on

all

four

sides,

providing

frames for some exquisite scenes.

Hung inside the pavilion is a pair of couplets

and

a

wooden

tablet.

Shown

on

the

tablet

are

four

characters

written

by

Wen

Zhengming for the name of the pavilion.

The pair of couplets consists of fourteen characters which read:

Gentle breeze brings refreshing cool, and moonlight illumination.

Flowing water expresses movement, and mountains stillness.

Please

look

out

over

the

northern

side.

Through

the

moon

gate

we

see

two

phoenix

trees

grow

by

bamboo

graves.

Phoenix

tree

is

a

popular

name

for

Chinese parasol tree.

In late September or early October, a few leaves of the very tree begin to fall. In

China

an

old

saying

goes,

“

one

leaf

knows

autumn.

”

That

means

“

One

leaf

falling, one knows that autumn comes. So the Chinese parasol tree is the first to

report the coming of the autumn.

Frost-Awaiting Pavilion

Crossing

a

zigzag

stone

bridge,

we

can

arrive

at

the

hillock

with

the

Frost-Awaiting Pavilion at its top. Suzhou produces tangerines, which are deep

green

in

autumn.

After

they

are

frost- bitten

in

winter,

tangerines

turn

red.

So

that

’

s why the pavilion is surrounded with some tangerine trees.

Snow-Fragrance-Abundant-Clouds Pavilion

This is a rectangular pavilion, which is built on the top of the highest hillock in

the garden. Looking southward beyond the lotus pond, we can catch a glimpse of

the main building of the garden, named the Distant Fragrance Hall.

The tablet hung under the roof has six characters that read:

“

Amidst Mountain

Flowers and Wild Birds.

”

Hung

on

two

pillars

of

the

pavilion

is

a

pair

of

couplets

written

by

Wen

Zhengming, which reads:

The shrilling of cicadas makes the forest more peaceful;

The twittering of birds brings the hills more tranquility.

We know Wen Zhengming designed this garden. He was one of the four famous

painters

in

the

sixteenth

century,

who

organized

Suzhou

Painting

School.

This

Suzhou-style Painting School is still active today in our city.

Lotus-Breeze-on-Four-Sides Pavilion

Walking

down

from

the

highest

hillock,

we

arrive

at

the

Lotus-Breeze-on-Four-Sides Pavilion where the pools meet. Here, in mid summer,

luxuriant

willows

provide

a

cool

shade,

lotus

flowers

thrust

upward

from

the

water, and lotus-scented breezes caress the visitor

’

s face. On two of the pavilion

’

s

columns hangs an old couplet:

Lotus on four sides and willows on three,

Half a pool of autumn water reflects a hill.

Located west of the pavilion is a winding bridge which leads to the long corridor,

named

the

Willows

’

Shade

and

Winding

Path.

The

bridge

is

of

light

and

airy

construction

with

low

balustrades.

Bridges

have

the

effect

of

separating

and

integrating the water surface and the surrounding scenery, playing a big role in

Suzhou’

s classical gardens. Sitting in the pavilion, we can have a good a view of

such

scenes

as

the

Mountain-in-View- Building,

Fragrance

Islet,

Little

Flying

Rainbow, little Gentle Waves and Distant Fragrance Hall.

Mountain-in- View-Building

Following the corridor named the Willow

’

s Shade and Winding Path toward the

northeast, we can arrive at the Mountain-in-View Building which has water on

three sides; and instead of stone steps, a rockery is piled up next to the building,

providing access by means of a covered corridor rising through the rockery and

leading to the second floor.

During

the

period

of

the

Taiping

Uprising

(1851-1864),

one

of

the

princes,

Li

Xiucheng by name, stayed here. His office is known as Loyal King

’

s Residence,

which

is

Suzhou

Historical

Museum

now

and

protected

by

the

central

government.

Seen across the pond from distance, the Mountain-in-View Building looks like a

dragon. It is a crouching dragon which is about to fly into the sky. The building

may

be

regarded

as

its

head

and

the

rising

corridor

takes

resemblance

to

its

body.

Fragrant Islet

This is a unique classical building, which looks like a boat, anchoring in shore.

There is a small bridge leading to this boat. The bridge without rails is regarded

as the gang board. We can see the two characters Fragrant Ialet on a horizontal

tablet, which were written by Wen Zhengming, the designer of this garden. The

upper section is called the Watching

–

Clear- Water.

A large mirror in the cabin

reflects

the

necessary

across

the

pond.

This

is

a

good

example

of

the

garden-building

technique

of

contrasting

the

real

with

the

unreal

and

of

borrowing scenery.

Such a classical building is known as a dry boat. It combines four basic forms of

Chinese architecture: pavilion, terrace, chamber and tower. The terrace serves as

the

deck

of

a

boat.

Linking

the

boat

is

a

stone

bridge

without

rails,

which

is

regarded

as

the

gangplank.

The

pavilion

serves

as

the

shelter

in

front

of

the

passengers

’

cabin.

The

cabin

is

actually

a

water-side

chamber.

The

tower

with

two

stories

indicates

the

boat

is

a

double

deck

boat.

If

tome

permits,

let

’

s

go