苏州城西、太湖之滨的吴中第一古镇木渎镇，在明清时期容纳了30多处私家园林，这真是个奇迹。木渎园林的主人身份各异，有文人雅士、退休官员、富商巨贾，因而这30多处园林各园有各园的个性，但由于同一方水土的浸染，因而各园又形成了精雕细琢、幽深雅致的共性。
严家花园是木渎造园艺术最高的园林。它在数百年内几易其主，首先是乾隆年间诗写得好、连皇帝也佩服的江南名士沈德潜安顿在这里；接着是道光年间的木渎诗人钱端溪购下此园，取名“端园”；光绪时此园又转让给木渎首富严国馨，并由香山帮建筑大师姚承祖率能工巧匠重新修葺，于是这座花园更加显得婉转多姿：它中间是住宅，春夏秋冬四园如群星拱卫。春园由一株枝繁叶茂的古玉兰点题，书屋山房掩映其间，夏园以“接天莲叶无穷碧，映日荷花别样红”的荷花命名，夏日荷风四面，暑气尽消，令人心旷神怡。秋园则含丹桂拾趣之意境，桂花绽放之际坐于临水的轩亭，沏上一杯清茶，微凉的风送来阵阵芳香，加之偶尔几点金色的花朵飘落杯中，谁还能辨是天上人间?冬园自然用“暗香浮动月黄昏”的梅花助兴了。红英绿萼一片烂漫，五曲梁桥婉转有致，又有一堵粉墙作烘托，别有一番韵致。四园独立成景又由长廊贯通，亭台楼阁错落，假山池沼映衬，漫步其间步移景换，裁一角，剪半边，都是一幅完美的图画，就算读它千遍也不会厌倦。
虹饮山房则是木渎最大气的园林。主人好酒，乾隆名臣刘墉戏称其为“虹饮”，虹饮山房因此得名。山房也像它的主人一样旷达爽朗，房与房之间的距离拉得很开，宽阔敞亮，让人看了心胸舒展。虹饮山房兼“溪山风月之美，池亭花木之胜”，据说乾隆下江南必到此处游历。天子入民间，虹饮山房也沾染了皇气。园中的二层古戏台飞檐翘角，俨然立于中庭，台前是一片开阔的空地，两侧连以廊庑，应是当年皇帝和臣僚们品茗听戏之处。整个木渎只有虹饮山房有这般气派的戏台，它印证其“民间行宫”的辉煌。
古松园是清末木渎四大富翁之一蔡少渔的旧宅，因后花园一株高逾十米、树龄过五百多年的明代罗汉松而得名。古松园微形大境，充分利用曲折之妙，空间虽小却让人觉得幽深无尽。园中别具一格的双层雕花长廊把亭台楼阁连成一个整体。漫步其中，近树远山，别有一番风情。
那榜眼府第就规矩多了，前堂、中堂、卧室、书房、花园等沿着轴线一字排开。如果说其他的木渎园林是行书，那么榜眼府第便是楷书了。府主人冯桂芬是晚清著名政治家，为学讲究“经世致用”，他的府第也就带了点主人的脾气，讲究实用。冯宅建筑以砖雕、木雕、石雕为特色，尤以石雕《姑苏繁华图》为镇宅之宝。此图以清人徐扬在乾隆年间所绘《盛世滋生图》为蓝本，由木渎民间艺人流畅地镌刻在八块首尾相接的灵岩山砚石上，细腻生动地展现了一幅姑苏富庶胜景长卷。
木渎镇的每一个园子在设色上都力求清雅，白的墙，黑的瓦，亭台楼阁的漆色也在岁月中沉潜变为一种接近黑色的老栗，没有彩画的热闹，也没有金碧的夺目，但它却衬得绿树更绿、鲜花更鲜，事事物物都更纯粹。木渎的每一个园子又都注重打造细节。游目所至，即可看见镌刻着的诗文图画，让空间的每一处都氤氲着墨韵书香。随地形高低铺设的爬山廊，让线条更加曲折多变，用卵石在地面铺出各色花卉人物图案，让艺术充满各个角落，用漏窗勾勒出一窗窗的风景，更让人觉得每一眼都是图画。木渎的假山石是各园的主角，或依水岸，或列庭院，或成洞穴，或成山峰，或独立成景，或层叠成屏，或朴拙厚实，仪态万方，多姿多彩!
家园，家园，家有了个“园”才够得上完美与理想。拥有2500年文化的木渎，用匠心营造这许许多多美丽的家“园”，堪称我国一绝!园林木渎，这是历史的礼物，让我们知道什么是生活的艺术，什么是艺术的生活。
Mudu, a Town of Ancient Gardens
By Ye Yanli
Located on the Taihu Lake and west of Suzhou City, Mudu Town has been distinguished as Number One Town in southern Jiangsu Province for a long time. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, more than thirty private gardens in the town were built, modified, and owned by scholars, retired government officials, business tycoons and others. Showing different personalities, these gardens, however, have something in common: exquisite workmanship, elegance and subtlety.
Yan's Garden showcases the finest workmanship of all. During its history of several hundreds of years, the ownership changed hands several times. Two poets owned the garden respectively in the Qing Dynasty. Then Yan Guoxin, the richest local tycoon of his days, bought it in the remaining years of the Qing Dynasty. He engaged a brilliant architect and builder and his assistants to modify the garden. They worked to create what the garden looks like today. The living quarters sit in the center of the garden, with four mini gardens like satellites around it. The miniature gardens are named after four seasons respectively. The Spring Garden has a single towering magnolia tree to highlight the theme; the Summer Garden is blessed with a large lotus pond; the Autumn Garden features sweet-scented osmanthus trees; the Winter Garden is dotted with plum-blossom trees. The four gardens are connected by a long corridor, intermingled with pavilions and rockeries. Each step amazingly reveals a new scene, faithfully reflecting an architectural philosophy practiced by garden builders in this part of China.
If Yan's garden is most poetic and elegant, then Hongyin Villa is the most spectacular garden in town. Because the owner had a penchant for wine, Liu Yong, a prominent minister of the Qing Dynasty, jokingly referred to the way he boozed as rink like a rainbow The owner fancied the casual remark so much that he later adopted it as the name for his private garden. The garden is known for its magnificent openness. Buildings are spaced widely with sceneries as natural and gorgeous as Xanadu. It is said that the private garden offered so many beautiful things within its miniature landscape that it became a must for Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty whenever he toured the south of his large empire. The Son of Heaven brought some royal touches to the villa. In the garden stands a two-storied theater stage, with upturned eaves. In front of the stage is a broad yard flanked by a corridor on each side. Of all the gardens in Mudu, only Hongyin Villa boasts such a stage. It testifies to the imperial splendor in a private garden.
The Ancient Pine Garden was once owned by Cai Shaoyu, one of the four major tycoons in town in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. The garden was named after a 10-meter-tall pine towering behind the house. The pine can be traced back to more than 500 years ago in the Ming Dynasty. The garden, though tiny in size, displays a magnificent style through ingenious architectural design. A unique double-layer carved corridor connects pavilions and other buildings. Ambling slowly through the garden offers a unique view of trees nearby and hills in the distance.
The Bangyan House highlights another style. Bangyan was a proper Chinese noun for the runner-up in a palace examination. Feng Guifen, the owner, was a prominent statesman of the later period of the Qing Dynasty. His lifelong philosophy was to apply knowledge to practice. The house reflected his style. The front and central halls, study, and living quarters were all built along a central axis. The scholar's house is characterized by fine sculptures on bricks, wood, and stone. The most famous sculpture was a copy of a painting about Suzhou during the years of the Qing Dynasty. Artists sculpted the painting onto eight pieces of stone. The sculpture, renamed as Prosperous Suzhou, was regarded as the symbol and treasure of the house.
All the gardens in town were designed in a style that pursued elegance. The walls are white and tiles on the roofs are black in a fine contrast. Time has deprived the pavilions and halls of their flamboyant colors. With their original dazzling reduced to a kind of darkish brown, however, the trees and flowers around them are set off in a better contrast. It can be said that time has purified these gardens. Visitors today may be more easily attracted to wonderful details in the gardens: carved poems and paintings can be seen almost everywhere, corridors zigzag over undulating slopes, grounds are paved with pebbles showing flower patterns and human figures, windows capture landscape and fragment it into mesmerizing pictures, and rocks extend to small streams, or form into caves, or stand as a solitary hill, or pile one upon another like a screen.
These ancient gardens showcase the 2,500-year history of Mudu, and relate what the ancients believed about art, life, home, man and nature.
(Translated by David)
苏州城西、太湖之滨的吴中第一古镇木渎镇，在明清时期容纳了30多处私家园林，这真是个奇迹。木渎园林的主人身份各异，有文人雅士、退休官员、富商巨贾，因而这30多处园林各园有各园的个性，但由于同一方水土的浸染，因而各园又形成了精雕细琢、幽深雅致的共性。
严家花园是木渎造园艺术最高的园林。它在数百年内几易其主，首先是乾隆年间诗写得好、连皇帝也佩服的江南名士沈德潜安顿在这里；接着是道光年间的木渎诗人钱端溪购下此园，取名“端园”；光绪时此园又转让给木渎首富严国馨，并由香山帮建筑大师姚承祖率能工巧匠重新修葺，于是这座花园更加显得婉转多姿：它中间是住宅，春夏秋冬四园如群星拱卫。春园由一株枝繁叶茂的古玉兰点题，书屋山房掩映其间，夏园以“接天莲叶无穷碧，映日荷花别样红”的荷花命名，夏日荷风四面，暑气尽消，令人心旷神怡。秋园则含丹桂拾趣之意境，桂花绽放之际坐于临水的轩亭，沏上一杯清茶，微凉的风送来阵阵芳香，加之偶尔几点金色的花朵飘落杯中，谁还能辨是天上人间?冬园自然用“暗香浮动月黄昏”的梅花助兴了。红英绿萼一片烂漫，五曲梁桥婉转有致，又有一堵粉墙作烘托，别有一番韵致。四园独立成景又由长廊贯通，亭台楼阁错落，假山池沼映衬，漫步其间步移景换，裁一角，剪半边，都是一幅完美的图画，就算读它千遍也不会厌倦。
虹饮山房则是木渎最大气的园林。主人好酒，乾隆名臣刘墉戏称其为“虹饮”，虹饮山房因此得名。山房也像它的主人一样旷达爽朗，房与房之间的距离拉得很开，宽阔敞亮，让人看了心胸舒展。虹饮山房兼“溪山风月之美，池亭花木之胜”，据说乾隆下江南必到此处游历。天子入民间，虹饮山房也沾染了皇气。园中的二层古戏台飞檐翘角，俨然立于中庭，台前是一片开阔的空地，两侧连以廊庑，应是当年皇帝和臣僚们品茗听戏之处。整个木渎只有虹饮山房有这般气派的戏台，它印证其“民间行宫”的辉煌。
古松园是清末木渎四大富翁之一蔡少渔的旧宅，因后花园一株高逾十米、树龄过五百多年的明代罗汉松而得名。古松园微形大境，充分利用曲折之妙，空间虽小却让人觉得幽深无尽。园中别具一格的双层雕花长廊把亭台楼阁连成一个整体。漫步其中，近树远山，别有一番风情。
那榜眼府第就规矩多了，前堂、中堂、卧室、书房、花园等沿着轴线一字排开。如果说其他的木渎园林是行书，那么榜眼府第便是楷书了。府主人冯桂芬是晚清著名政治家，为学讲究“经世致用”，他的府第也就带了点主人的脾气，讲究实用。冯宅建筑以砖雕、木雕、石雕为特色，尤以石雕《姑苏繁华图》为镇宅之宝。此图以清人徐扬在乾隆年间所绘《盛世滋生图》为蓝本，由木渎民间艺人流畅地镌刻在八块首尾相接的灵岩山砚石上，细腻生动地展现了一幅姑苏富庶胜景长卷。
木渎镇的每一个园子在设色上都力求清雅，白的墙，黑的瓦，亭台楼阁的漆色也在岁月中沉潜变为一种接近黑色的老栗，没有彩画的热闹，也没有金碧的夺目，但它却衬得绿树更绿、鲜花更鲜，事事物物都更纯粹。木渎的每一个园子又都注重打造细节。游目所至，即可看见镌刻着的诗文图画，让空间的每一处都氤氲着墨韵书香。随地形高低铺设的爬山廊，让线条更加曲折多变，用卵石在地面铺出各色花卉人物图案，让艺术充满各个角落，用漏窗勾勒出一窗窗的风景，更让人觉得每一眼都是图画。木渎的假山石是各园的主角，或依水岸，或列庭院，或成洞穴，或成山峰，或独立成景，或层叠成屏，或朴拙厚实，仪态万方，多姿多彩!
家园，家园，家有了个“园”才够得上完美与理想。拥有2500年文化的木渎，用匠心营造这许许多多美丽的家“园”，堪称我国一绝!园林木渎，这是历史的礼物，让我们知道什么是生活的艺术，什么是艺术的生活。
Mudu, a Town of Ancient Gardens
By Ye Yanli
Located on the Taihu Lake and west of Suzhou City, Mudu Town has been distinguished as Number One Town in southern Jiangsu Province for a long time. During the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties, more than thirty private gardens in the town were built, modified, and owned by scholars, retired government officials, business tycoons and others. Showing different personalities, these gardens, however, have something in common: exquisite workmanship, elegance and subtlety.
Yan's Garden showcases the finest workmanship of all. During its history of several hundreds of years, the ownership changed hands several times. Two poets owned the garden respectively in the Qing Dynasty. Then Yan Guoxin, the richest local tycoon of his days, bought it in the remaining years of the Qing Dynasty. He engaged a brilliant architect and builder and his assistants to modify the garden. They worked to create what the garden looks like today. The living quarters sit in the center of the garden, with four mini gardens like satellites around it. The miniature gardens are named after four seasons respectively. The Spring Garden has a single towering magnolia tree to highlight the theme; the Summer Garden is blessed with a large lotus pond; the Autumn Garden features sweet-scented osmanthus trees; the Winter Garden is dotted with plum-blossom trees. The four gardens are connected by a long corridor, intermingled with pavilions and rockeries. Each step amazingly reveals a new scene, faithfully reflecting an architectural philosophy practiced by garden builders in this part of China.
If Yan's garden is most poetic and elegant, then Hongyin Villa is the most spectacular garden in town. Because the owner had a penchant for wine, Liu Yong, a prominent minister of the Qing Dynasty, jokingly referred to the way he boozed as rink like a rainbow The owner fancied the casual remark so much that he later adopted it as the name for his private garden. The garden is known for its magnificent openness. Buildings are spaced widely with sceneries as natural and gorgeous as Xanadu. It is said that the private garden offered so many beautiful things within its miniature landscape that it became a must for Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty whenever he toured the south of his large empire. The Son of Heaven brought some royal touches to the villa. In the garden stands a two-storied theater stage, with upturned eaves. In front of the stage is a broad yard flanked by a corridor on each side. Of all the gardens in Mudu, only Hongyin Villa boasts such a stage. It testifies to the imperial splendor in a private garden.
The Ancient Pine Garden was once owned by Cai Shaoyu, one of the four major tycoons in town in the last years of the Qing Dynasty. The garden was named after a 10-meter-tall pine towering behind the house. The pine can be traced back to more than 500 years ago in the Ming Dynasty. The garden, though tiny in size, displays a magnificent style through ingenious architectural design. A unique double-layer carved corridor connects pavilions and other buildings. Ambling slowly through the garden offers a unique view of trees nearby and hills in the distance.
The Bangyan House highlights another style. Bangyan was a proper Chinese noun for the runner-up in a palace examination. Feng Guifen, the owner, was a prominent statesman of the later period of the Qing Dynasty. His lifelong philosophy was to apply knowledge to practice. The house reflected his style. The front and central halls, study, and living quarters were all built along a central axis. The scholar's house is characterized by fine sculptures on bricks, wood, and stone. The most famous sculpture was a copy of a painting about Suzhou during the years of the Qing Dynasty. Artists sculpted the painting onto eight pieces of stone. The sculpture, renamed as Prosperous Suzhou, was regarded as the symbol and treasure of the house.
All the gardens in town were designed in a style that pursued elegance. The walls are white and tiles on the roofs are black in a fine contrast. Time has deprived the pavilions and halls of their flamboyant colors. With their original dazzling reduced to a kind of darkish brown, however, the trees and flowers around them are set off in a better contrast. It can be said that time has purified these gardens. Visitors today may be more easily attracted to wonderful details in the gardens: carved poems and paintings can be seen almost everywhere, corridors zigzag over undulating slopes, grounds are paved with pebbles showing flower patterns and human figures, windows capture landscape and fragment it into mesmerizing pictures, and rocks extend to small streams, or form into caves, or stand as a solitary hill, or pile one upon another like a screen.
These ancient gardens showcase the 2,500-year history of Mudu, and relate what the ancients believed about art, life, home, man and nature.
(Translated by David)