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Slender West Lake and Historic Urban Area in
Yangzhou |
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State,
Province or Region: Slender
West Lake, formerly Baozhang Lake, is located in
the northwest of Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province, covering an area of two
square kilometers. In the mid-18th century, the moats and a large number of
suburban villas of salt traders along the moats built in different locations
and in different historical period (Sui, Tang, Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing
dynasties) were connected elaborately and delicately to welcome the south
inspection of Emperor Qianlong, thus forming a beautiful belt of the lake
with garden scenery combining natural and human landscapes characterized by
the most famous 24 scenes of "rolling stone archway, winding water in
west park, spring pillow on the long bank, bright cloud in white pagoda"
etc. The typical layout of Chinese scroll-type picture was recorded by royal
painters and filed in imperial storehouse due to its unique aesthetic value.
Thanks to the impact of the south inspections by Emperor Qianlong and the
support of its salt economy, Yangzhou had became the garden-building centre
in China, represented by classical garden cluster around the Slender West
Lake. As well-known as "Yangzhou Gardens is second to none in South
China" and "Yangzhou Gardens is the best in China", it
embodies the most advanced art in terms of layout, architecture, stone
laying, water conservation, plant arrangement, etc. As a masterpiece in
garden-building after Yuanmingyuan Park during the
reign of Emperor Kangxi in the Qing Dynasty, a lot
of experiences can be drawn from it in the construction of the Chengde Mountain Resort. The
historic urban area in Yangzhou refers to the Yangzhou City built on the
basis of Luocheng City of the Tang Dynasty and Dacheng City of the Song Dynasty in the Ming and Qing
dynasties covering an area of 5.09 square kilometers which made great
contributions to the economic, political and cultural development of Chinese
feudal society and had a significant impact on world culture. Relying on its
highly developed salt economy, Yangzhou still kept strong vitality and had a
great influence in the Ming and Qing dynasties. The original city layout,
streets and lanes, water system, and ancient and elegant city landscape
embody the characteristics and styles of water city in South China. A large
number of ancient cultural heritages, such as residential houses, gardens,
temples, government offices, old stores, ancient bridges, ancient wells and
famous trees that are well preserved in the historic urban area display the
city's solid cultural background. Till today, quite a few residents in the
area are still engaging in the traditional handicraft production and
commercial activities, including lacquer, jade ware, paper-cut, etc. Such
handicraft as Yangzhou lacquer and Yangzhou jade ware, and such popular
entertainment as Yangzhou Ditty, Yangzhou storytelling, Yangzhou puppet show,
etc, have been listed as intangible cultural heritage at national level and
have been regarded as precious treasures of Chinese nation. Slender West Lake in Yangzhou
is a typical demonstration of Chinese traditional public tourism destination,
representing the taste and life style in Chinese traditional society. He Gar-den and Ge Garden
illustrate the changes on people's taste and way of life in the revolutionary
phase of China society from feudal to modern times. He Garden and Ge Garden are the representative works and outstanding
example of Chinese art of garden design. Slender West Lake is an excellence
of the design of Chinese ancient cities. Historic Urban Area in
Yangzhou shows the principles and thoughts of Chinese city plan and
construction, as well as the special way of development of Chinese old
commercial cities. Slender West Lake represents the relationship between
nature and human within Chinese traditional city, as well as cultural
landscape and natural environment. The long and good traditions
of Yangzhou people to built gardens can be traced back to the Western Han
Dynasty. According to historical literature, gardens had been built around
the Slender West Lake since the Southern Dynasties, and the scale had been gradually
expanded since the Tang and Song dynasties. The remained classical gardens
are all private gardens built by wealthy salt traders and famous men of
scholars
in the Ming and Qing dynasties. Detailed record of Slender West Lake Gardens
can be found in the historical literature of the Qing Dynasty and during
Republic of China period, such as Collection
of Yangzhou Painted Boat, Collection of Yangzhou Places of Interests,
and in various inscriptions, stone-carving, tablets, paintings, etc. To keep
its original landscape, the government has paid great attention to its
maintaining and repairing, consolidating rockeries, cleaning water system as
well as landscaping. Since
Yangzhou was listed as a historical and cultural city in 1982, the
government, together with the coordination and cooperation of the departments
concerned such as city planning, construction, heritage conservation, etc.,
has been actively restoring and preserving the historic urban areas built in
the Ming and Qing dynasties. They successively compiled Special Plan for the Protection of the
Historical and Cultural City of Yangzhou, Detailed Control Plan of the
Historic Urban Area of Yangzhou Built in the Ming and Qing Dynasties,
cleared the moat and inner river course in the historic urban area to
guarantee their functions of water supply, flood discharge and tourism,
restored the streets and lanes in the historic urban area, keeping the
residing functions of the well-preserved historical blocks such as Dongguan Street, Nanhexia and Renfengli, etc., and evacuated population as planned to
increase their vitality. Up to now, over 20 classical gardens have been
restored and open to the public for the purpose of bringing their social
effects into full play. Such old and famous shops as Fuchun
Teahouse, Lvyang Travel Agency, Yangzhou Bathroom,
etc, stick to the manual production mode in their traditional site, and carry
forward their typical cultural atmosphere. After repairing, various museums
have been established on the site of traditional buildings to publicize,
inherit and promote Yangzhou's traditional culture. In addition, the cultural
heritages, such as city walls of different dynasties, city gates, etc, and
former residence of historical celebrities are effectively interpreted to
ensure the consistence of Yangzhou culture. As
the masterpiece of Yangzhou classical gardens, Slender West Lake is an
organic combination of imperial gardens in the north and private gardens in
the south of Yangtze River. This is different from Suzhou Gardens listed in
the World Heritage List,
which are typical private gardens in the south of Yangtze River. Due to the
discrepancy in terms of location and cultural background, the difference
between these two still lies in: Firstly, Yangzhou lies in the convergence of
the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal and the Yangtze River, and had been the most
important distributing center of goods along the coast in Southeast China and
a key economic town for a long time. Developed economy brings prosperous
culture. Yangzhou not only became an important place for Chinese men of
letter to exchange ideas, but gathered many scholar officials, such as Du Mu,
Ouyang Xiu, Su Dongpo, Wang Yuyang, etc., and
Cui Zhiyuan, Puhaddin,
Marco Polo forged an indissoluble bond with Yangzhou as well. As a result,
Yangzhou was developed into a city with cultural diversity and laid the
spiritual foundation for the forming of Yangzhou classical gardens. Secondly,
convenient transport created conditions for the exchanges of garden designers
and craftsmen all over China, thus determining the regional style of Yangzhou
gardens characterized by combining "the grandeur of North China"
and "the delicacy of South China". Thirdly, most of the owners of
Suzhou gardens were government officials; while those of Yangzhou gardens
were mostly wealthy salt merchants. Accordingly, the former longed for
delicate and complicated layout and elegant style; while the latter paid more
attention to open space and personal style. Fourthly, Suzhou gardens can be
classified as urban private gardens; while the Slender West Lake be suburban gardens of imperial grandeur. Compared
with Pingyao County of Shanxi Province which has
been listed in the World
Heritage List, we can find some generalities between Pingyao County and the historic urban area in Yangzhou.
For example, both are comparatively developed industrial and commercial
cities in Chinese feudal society, whose strong economic strength backed the
city's development. However, their differences are more obvious: First, Pingyao was a local city with developed industry and
commerce in the middle of Shanxi area; while Yangzhou was a commercial
metropolis which affected the economic, political and cultural development of
Chinese feudal society. The latter's influence is much more significant than
the former. Second, since it is situated in the south of the Yangtze River,
Yangzhou is characterized by delicate, elegant and water-friendly features,
typical of water cities in South China. The Pingyao
City located in North China, however, is more primitive and imposing. Third,
as a place with long cultural traditions and attracting a large number of
great men of letters, Yangzhou's influence in terms of culture far exceeds
that of Pingyao. Source:
http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/5327/ |