★ Tourist location: Suzhou Lingering Garden

Although I have a special liking for the Humble Administrator's Garden, my father still loves the Lingering Garden. He believes that although this private garden is much smaller in scale than the Humble Administrator's Garden, the victory is that it is just the right size and the layout is exquisite. Of course, if it is small, it is only compared to Humble Administrator's Garden. In fact, the Lingering Garden is also a large-scale classical private garden, covering an area of 23300 square meters. It is famous for its superb architectural art and ranks among the four famous gardens.

The Lingering Garden was built in the 21st year of Wanli of the Ming Dynasty. It was a private garden owned by Xu Tai, the Shaoqing of Taipu Temple. It was called the East Garden at that time. Yunfeng is now piled by Zhou Shichen, a stone master. The yellowstone stone under the rockery in Chixi may still be a relic of that time. After Xu Taishi's death, the East Garden gradually became obsolete. In the fifty-ninth year of Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty, Liu Shu of Wu County purchased the garden, rebuilt it on the old site, and renamed it the Lingyu Garden. This was because many white pine trees and Wu bamboos were transplanted at that time. The bamboo in the garden is clear and cold, also called Liu Garden. Liu Shu also loved Shi. When managing the garden, he searched for the twelve peaks and moved them to the garden. The famous painter Wang Xuehao also painted the "Twelve Peaks of Hanbi Village." In the tenth year of Xianfeng, Suzhou was attacked by soldiers outside Changmen Gate. Fortunately, Hanbi Villa survived. During the Tongzhi period, Shengkang purchased Liu Garden for repairs and additions, which is said to be more majestic and magnificent than in previous years. When it comes to the name Sheng Kang, not many people may know, but his son is famous. He is Sheng Xuanhuai, one of the famous representatives of the Westernization Movement in the late Qing Dynasty. Under his management, the Lingering Garden became a famous garden in Wuzhong. Yu Yue called it "the crown of the famous gardens in Wuxia", which shows that the Lingering Garden was also prosperous at that time.

The gate to the Lingering Garden was dark and looked inconspicuous. If it weren't for the word "Lingering in the Garden" on it, we might have thought it was an ordinary residential house. Although this kind of low-key gate has no style at all, it is because the owner of the park wants this kind of low-key that is hidden in the city. If you want luxury and refinement, you can do it yourself behind closed doors. There is no need to show off.

The entrance was very narrow, and between the two high walls was a winding corridor, which was actually more than fifty meters long. At the end, you will find the lakes and mountains of the central scenic spot. Instead of rushing to see the garden, we went around to see the residential area. In fact, after walking through the garden, I realized that there was no need to rush. It was the same to visit when I came back.

The middle screen of the foyer is embedded with a panoramic view of the Lingering Garden decorated with jade. This was made by Yangzhou craftsmen using 2500 jade sheets of various types when commemorating the 2500th anniversary of the founding of the ancient city of Suzhou in 1986. Engraved on the back is the "Lingering in the Garden" written by Mr. Yu Yue.

Arriving in the middle of the Lingering Garden, there are six leaky windows on the white wall. Through the leaky windows, you can see the large rockery and wide pool in the middle, but they are only covered in scales. These six windows are all in different patterns, and the scenery seen by each window is different. This is also a kind of step-by-step change.

Walking through the powder wall, my eyes suddenly became clear. Most gardens have a relatively large pond or lake, and many exquisite buildings and rockery are built around water. When visiting, you can walk clockwise along the pond and basically you won't miss the key attractions. Of course, if you want to play fully, you still need to check for leaks and fill in gaps in the periphery.

The Green Shadow Pavilion is a small open pavilion facing the water and on a hard mountain top. The name of the pavilion comes from Gao Qi's poem of the Ming Dynasty,"The bright hair is bright in the red light, and the clusters are lined by the green shade." It is said that a green maple tree that has been planted here for more than 300 years, and Xiaoxuan is shrouded in the shade, so it is named "Green Shadow". The name on the forehead was written by Wang Geyi, a disciple of Wu Changshuo, a famous master of calligraphy, painting and seal carving. A stone forehead is embedded on the wall of Xuannan, and the "Huabu Small Building" on it was written by Qian Daxin. The Chinese word connects flowers and the word "Bu" connects port. To translate it is Huabu Xiaozhu, because near the Lingering Garden is a river port for loading and unloading flowers and trees. This area used to be called Huabu Li.

Going north of the pavilion is the two-story Mingse Tower, with a rolling shed resting on the top of the mountain on one side, and open tiles and windows on the three sides of the upper floor. The name of the building comes from the words "Eyes are opposed to fish and birds, and the eyes of the water are clear to the seers" in the Notes on the Little Classics. Pebbles, jars, and porcelain are used to form various patterns such as goldfish, cranes, and lotus roots on the ground, commonly known as Flower Street. The stairs are outside and are made of Taihu Lake stones. The words "A Staircase Cloud" are engraved on the peak beside the stairs, taking the artistic conception of "a monk going upstairs and stepping on a Staircase Cloud". On the east wall of the staircase, there is a brick plaque written by Dong Qichang of "Full Clouds".

Looking from the outside, the building of Mingse Tower looks like the front cabin of an ancient pleasure boat, so the tea room below is named Qiahang. This is based on Du Fu's "Southern Neighborhood","Autumn water only adds four or five feet, and the wild voyage is just affected by two or three people." Poetry. This name existed when Sheng Family founded the garden.

Around Mingse Tower is the terrace adjacent to the pool. It is relatively spacious and a good place to enjoy the lotus in midsummer. It is also known as the Lotus Terrace. At this moment, the lotus flowers had almost blossomed, but the lotus leaves were still green and quite ornamental. From here, you can also see the rockery opposite. Yellowstone fills the bottom and lake stone serves as the top. It combines the masculinity of Yellowstone and the femininity of lake stone.

Hanbi Mountain Room is the main hall of the Central Garden. A building with the name "Hanbi" is relatively common in the garden. This is taken from Zhu Xi's poetry of "One water is filled with green, and a thousand forests have turned red." The face is three wide, and the rolling shed is built on a hard mountain. When the Liu family called it the rolling stone house, which is the name changed by the Sheng family. Because it faces the lotus pond in front of it, it is often called the Lotus Hall. The decoration in the hall is simple and generous, with no walls on the north and south sides, and the light is very bright. The name of the house on the plaque is seal script, which was written by Pan Zhongrui, a scholar of Xiangchan, by Sheng Kang.

Ancient trees stand tall on the rockery in the middle, and the mountain is built all the way to the edge of the pool. The ancient trees, rockery and pool form a pattern of high, medium and low. If Humble Administrator's Garden is famous for its water and Lion Grove is famous for its rockery, then this landscape in the Lingering Garden is a highly unified landscape.

There is a climbing corridor on the west side of the mountain house, where you can move steps and change the scenery. It is a natural tourist route. It is called the Lingering Garden Corridor. It is one of the three famous corridors in Suzhou Gardens, with a total length of more than 300 meters. On the west wall of the central part, there are "Two Kings 'Festivals" carved by Dong Hance, a famous stone master in Songling, Wujiang in the Ming Dynasty-including "Fengcheng Orange","Qingqing" and "Send Pear". The law inscriptions were first carved during the Jiajing period of the Ming Dynasty and were carved during the Wanli period, which lasted for twenty-five years in two dynasties. Liu Shu liked calligraphy and famous paintings, so he embedded the articles he wrote and the ancient fatile stones on the corridor wall in the garden. Later garden owners were probably all elegant people who loved calligraphy and painting, and most of them inherited this trend. Therefore, this kind of book stone, which is about one meter long and about 40 centimeters wide, with articles, poems or calligraphy by famous artists engraved on the stone surface, has formed the characteristics of the book stone in today's Lingering Garden. So far, 359 square books, strips and stones have been preserved in the Lingering Garden, making it a unique sight in the Lingering Garden.

Wenmu Xiangxuan is the tallest building in the central garden. It is said to be a pavilion, but it is actually a semi-pavilion built along the corridor. Mugu is another name for osmanthus. We know that this is a place to admire osmanthus. There is a couplet in front of the pavilion: "The strange stone contains the beauty of the ages, and the fragrance of osmanthus affects the mountains and autumn." Needless to say, the neatness of the couplet is the most wonderful thing is the word "han" in the first couplet and the word "move" in the second couplet. I suddenly feel that this scenery is lively and fragrant.

Crossing the small stone bridge and winding along the stone path, there are several century-old ancient ginkgo trees standing proudly among the rocks of the rockery and creek. In the middle is Keting. This small pavilion with six-corner cornices and a collar is a vase upside down. It is said that this was an emergency work during the renovation in 1953. The word "pavilion" is interpreted as "stop ye" in "Shi Ming", which means that you can stop here because there are scenery to enjoy. There is a stone table in the pavilion, which is Anhui Lingbi Stone. Standing in Keting, you can see the grand view of the central garden of the Lingering Garden, surrounded by plum blossoms.

The name of Yuancuige comes from Fang Gan's poem "The mountains in front contain distant green, listed in front of the window." The architectural form of this pavilion is somewhat similar to a building, with a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain, and open tiles and windows on the three sides above. Walking down, there are three small islands in the center of the small pond, called Little Penglai, using the landscaping technique of "one pond, three islands". The two are connected by a curved bridge, and above it is a pavilion style wisteria flower stand. The three words "Little Penglai" are engraved on Huangshi, which was newly inscribed after liberation. There was a small Penglai in the garden during the Sheng family's time, but I don't know if it refers to this place.

Haopu Pavilion is a small square pavilion, built with a single eaves on the mountain and raised out of the water in the north. Hao and Pu are the names of ancient rivers. Zhuangzi once fished on Pu water, and also watched fish on Hao with Huida. The ancients used fishing to express their interest in retreating into the mountains and forests. There is a moonstone by the pool next to the pavilion, and its reflection is reflected in the pool like a moon.

Quxi Tower is based on the story of Wang Xizhi's flowing wine in the winding water. The building is two-story high and has a single eaves resting on the top of the mountain. Below is a long and narrow corridor, about ten meters long from north to south. Turn right into the West Tower. The top of the mountain is on the single eaves. It is named because it is located on the west side of Wufeng Fairy Hall. The east is decorated with wooden water chestnut flowers, the west is decorated with pink walls, leaking windows and cornices, and the east and west sides are connected to Wufeng Fairy Hall and Quxi Tower respectively.

Guoxi Tower is the Qingfeng Pool Pavilion, which opens to the west and rests on the top of the mountain. Su Shi's "Red Cliff Fu" has the sentence "The breeze comes slowly, but the water waves do not flourish". In the future, the museum's name will also be very long,"The breeze rises, and the pool is cool." This is probably a good place to rest in summer. There is Ji Gu's obstacle behind it, which means that you need to use long ropes to dig deep wells. If you want to gain profound knowledge, you must use the right method and put great effort into it.

The sky is clear and green in the shade, and the ancient trees cross with each other and leave green traces.

Smell the fragrance of sweet clover from afar, and leave good dreams in the garden.

--Seven Wonders