Chinese people started to build gardens more than 2000 years ago. Over this long period of time, three styles of gardens came into being: the imperial garden, the temple garden and the private garden. Among them, the most famous imperial garden extant today is the Summer Palace in Beijing, while the private gardens south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River boast a unique ambience of their own. Scattered through Suzhou, Yangzhou and other places, the private gardens are mostly legacies from the Ming and Qing dynasties. Each resembling a landscape painting, they are of unmatched charm.

中國人建造園林有兩千多年的歷史，在漫長的時間里，形成了皇家園林、寺觀園林、私家園林三足鼎立的格局?，F(xiàn)存的皇家園林如北京頤和園，就是舉世聞名的園林。在這中間，江南私家園林獨居風(fēng)味，今天在江南和長江沿岸的蘇州、揚州等地縮減的園林，多是明清那個時代留下的，它們?nèi)缤环剿?，展現(xiàn)其獨特的魅力。

——摘自《中國文化讀本》，葉朗 朱良志 著

要說蘇州園林，最出名的莫過于拙政園（Zhuozheng Garden）了，它由四大才子之一文徵明設(shè)計，足足經(jīng)過了16年才建成。院子分為三個部分，后來歸屬于不同的主人。蘇州園林幾乎都是白墻黑瓦（white walls and black tiles），園林常常采用借景（borrowing scenery），分景（dividing scenery）以及隔景（separating scenery）的手法來布置空間。通過這些手法，能夠豐富游覽者對于空間的美的感受。