Suzhou [antikvár]

iVj;. j'li.iiii Suzhou Gardens Architectural MasterpiecesSuzhou in Jiangsu Province is a city of beauty. Its traditional-style gardens, in particular, have been appreciated through the centuries by Chinese and world travelers as architectural masterpieces. They do in fact harmonize natural, painted and poetic beauty, give fine expression to the art of architecture, and are treasures among China's cultural legacies.Landscape gardening in China dates back to the Yin (also known as Shang) and Zhou dynasties more than 3,000 years ago when "enclosures" planted to trees and stocked with fowl and animals served the monarchs as hunting grounds. In the Qin (221-207 B.C.) and Han (206 B.C.-A.D. 220) dynasties there were built in these "enclosures" magnificent hunting lodges for monarchs on their tours out of the capital. In time, lesser imperial families and noble households followed suit, building gardens of their own, though pared down in scale. Imitating nature, they cultivated flowers, had trees planted, ponds dug and the earth piled up in artificial hills. As more ponds were dug, the mounds increased, until the gardens were practically either hills or water. In the Tang (618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties these "hill and water" gardens multiplied. Scholars, officials, weahhy merchants and landowners began building gardens around or near their dwellings, a degree of popularization that led to notable improvement in the art of garden architecture and a flourishing of rustic charm in great variety. Suzhou gardens were laid out from the 10th to the 19th century, throughout the Song, Yuan (1271-1368), Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties. The Green Wave Pavihon {Cang Lang Ting), Lion Grove (Shi Zi Lin), Humble Administrator's Garden (Zhuo Zheng Yuan),