Travel in Chinese Lesson 82 Humble Administrator´s Garden

拙政园

男：这里就是拙政园了.这里可以说是江南古典园林的代表.

雪梅：这么多湖,好像满花园都是水.

女：是啊,拙政园里的主要建筑都临水,而水又占了全园的五分之一呢.

雪梅：拙政园有多长时间的历史了?

男：有500多年历史了.这里先后被建成有钱人家的宅院啊、寺庙啊,到明朝时,取名为拙政园.

女：据说小说<<红楼梦>>里的大观园就是以这里为素材的.

雪梅：还真有点儿像颐和园.我听说颐和园里有些地方和苏州园林是一样的.

男：你知道这是为什么么?因为清朝的皇帝曾经来到这里,看到这里的造园艺术非常讲究,皇帝十分欣赏,所以在修建皇家园林时就照搬过去了.

女：雪梅,你知道么?在颐和园还有一个地方叫苏州街呢!

雪梅：我去过那儿.

男：你们看,这里就是远香堂,这里是整个拙政园的中部,站在这儿可以四面观景.

女：这儿一向以荷花著名,每年来赏荷的人特别多.

雪梅：中国人喜欢荷花是因为佛教的原因吗?

男：我想这并不完全是佛教的原因,中国文人一向喜欢荷花.

女：雪梅,你看.这就是西园,在西园可以看到很多有名的花草树木.

男：这里不光四季有花,还有专门用来赏花的房子.比如说玉兰堂就是用来看玉兰的.

雪梅：那这里是看什么花的?

女：这里是看山茶花的.

雪梅：我倒觉得这些松树和假山很好.

男：是啊.山茶花开的时候,和假山、松树相映,好像一幅立体图画一样.

雪梅：难怪皇帝看到后都要搬回去一些呢,我都想搬了.

男："搬回去?"

雪梅：你不是说皇帝搬了很多,放到颐和园里吗?

女："搬"?噢,雪梅.他说的"搬"不是搬家的搬,是"照搬"吧?
 

Translaiton:

Colleague1: This is the Humble Administrator's Garden. It's a typical example of the classical gardens south of the Yangtze River.

Xuemei：There are so many lakes. It seems like the garden is full of water.

Colleague2: Yes. All the main structures of the Humble Administrator's Garden are built next to the water. And about one fifths of the garden is water.

Xuemei：How old is the Humble Administrator's Garden?

Colleague1: More than 500 years. It's been a tycoon's mansion and a temple, among other things. It was named the Humble Administrator's Garden from the Ming dynasty.

Colleague2: Some say Daguan Yuan in the novel "A Dream of Red Mansions" was based on this place.

Xuemei：It looks quite like the Summer Palace. I've heard that some places in the Summer Palace are like Suzhou gardens.

Colleague1: Do you know why? The Qing emperor once came here, and he was so impressed after seeing the elegant Suzhou gardens. He had some features copied when he built the royal gardens.

Colleague1: There's even a Suzhou street in the Summer Palace!

Xuemei：I've been there.

Colleague1: Look! This is Yuanxiang Hall, the centre of the Humble Administrator's Garden. If you stand here, you can admire the views all around.

Colleague2: It's particularly famous for its lotus flowers, and draws crowds all year round.

Xuemei：Do Chinese people like lotus flower because of Buddhism?

Colleague1: I don' t think it's because of Buddhism completely. China's literati have always been fond of lotus flowers.

Colleague2: This is the west garden. You can see lots of famous flowers and plants.

Colleague1: Not only does this place have flowers that bloom in every season, but also it has rooms for appreciating them. For example, the Yulan Hall is for observing the jade orchid.

Xuemei：Then what's this room for?

Colleague2: This is for observing the camellias.

Xuemei：The pines and rockery are nice.

Colleague1: When the camellias are in bloom, the view of the rockery, pine trees and camellias together is so vivid. It' s like a three-dimensional picture.

Xuemei：No wonder the emperor moved some back to his Palace. I'd like to take some, too.

Colleague1: "Moved back?"

Xuemei：Didn't you say the emperor moved a lot of the stuff back to the Summer Palace?

Woman: "Moved"?Xuemei, he didn't mean to move. He meant"copied"?
 

Bookmarks

1、先后 respectively, in order, one by one

（例）去年，他先后到日本、美国、英国等国家旅游。

Last year, he travelled to Japan, America, UK and other countries in order.

（例）下课之后，学生们先后离开教室。

After class, the students left the classroom one by one.

Sign Posts

Gardens of Suzhou

The earliest gardens of Suzhou can be traced far back to the Spring and Autumn period in the 6th century B.C. And it was during the prosperous Ming and Qing Dynasties that the garden building here reached its zenith. Here you will find the largest number of, and finest examples of classical Chinese garden architecture.

Different from the imperial gardens of Beijing, the gardens of Suzhou are the epitome of landscaping art for the private garden. They are better known for their delicacy, intimacy, and simplicity rather than grandeur. Laid out within a limited area by the house, a classical garden of Suzhou is a microcosm of the world made of the basic elements of water, stone, plants and classical architecture. Like Zen gardens in Japan, there are few flowers and no fountains in the gardens of Suzhou. These gardens are designed to give the illusion of a natural scene, a microcosm laid out by master craftsmen over the centuries.

In 1997, United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) added to its prestigious list of world cultural heritage sites the Humble Administrator's Garden 拙政园, the Master-of-nets Garden网师园, and the Lingering Garden 留园.

Substitution and Extension

满+n. full, all over

（例）洗衣机坏了，弄得满地都是水。

The washing machine is broken. It poured water all over the floor.