Home
News
All news
Classical Gardens of Suzhou [Our heritage]

Classical Gardens of Suzhou [Heritage of humanity #21]

Published on 05 April 2017 - Updated 23 June 2017
Cet article date d'il y a plus de 7 ans

International cooperation

Listed on the World Heritage List in 1997, the Classical Gardens of Suzhou, in the Jiangsu province in China, date back to the 6th century BCE when the city was founded as the capital of the Wu Kingdom. Dating from the 11th-19th century, the gardens reflect the profound metaphysical importance of natural beauty in Chinese culture in their meticulous design. Their unique design that has been inspired but is not limited by concepts of nature has had profound influence on the evolution of both Eastern and Western garden art.

Classical Chinese garden design, which seeks to recreate natural landscapes in miniature, is nowhere better illustrated than in the nine gardens in the historic city of Suzhou. They are generally acknowledged to be masterpieces of the genre. Garden masters from each dynasty adapted various techniques to artfully simulate nature by skillfully adapting and utilising only the physical space available to them. Limited to the space within a single residence, classical Suzhou gardens are intended to be a microcosm of the natural world, incorporating basic elements such as water, stones, plants, and various types of buildings of literary and poetic significance.

Online:

http://whc.unesco.org/fr/list/813

In 2017, to mark the Gardens in the Loire Valley cultural season , the series of articles dedicated to World Heritage sites will take you on a journey through gardens worldwide.