Objective  This research reviews the development of landscape architecture wisdom in recent times, explores the potential value of landscape architecture wisdom based on 13 groups of Eight Scenes of the cities in the Han River basin from a systematic perspective, and seeks ways to protect the landscape characteristics of cities along Han River.

Methods  Based on the clustering of Eight Scenes of the cities in the river basin section, this research considers the dual value of analyzing local or overall river basin landscape architecture wisdom from the perspective of urban fragment or scene combination, as well as the nature of the Han River (Hubei section) basin as part of the river civilization, and the distinctive spatial variations of “high mountain valley − lake network plain − lakeside hill” respectively in the upper, middle and lower reaches of Han River (Hubei section), which add greatly to the richness of the river basin’s landscape wisdom. Therefore, the research takes the Han River (Hubei section) basin as the base and locates the study area along Han River (Hubei section). Since the Eight Scenes of the cities along Han River (Hubei section) are best recorded in the county records of Qing Dynasty, the research, by the three methods of ancient textual interpretation, induction, and cultural landscape mapping, has the above-mentioned contemporary administrative divisions superimposed with the administrative boundaries of Qing Dynasty to form a collection of Eight Scenes of the cities along Han River (Hubei section) in Qing Dynasty, consisting of 13 prefectures and counties, with a total of 114 scenic spots. By the same three methods, the research analyzes the Eight Scenes of the cities along Han River (Hubei section) in Qing Dynasty to reveal the landscape construction wisdom in the river basin.

Results  The research figures out that the Eight Scenes of the cities are the expression of local landscape construction wisdom in the Han River basin, and are the poetic expression of the “feelings” about local landscape in the river basin. When the national strategic urban situation is transformed into the poetic mountain and river scenery, the Eight Scenes of the cities will become an important place for promoting the characteristics of landscape situation and cultivating national spiritual consciousness. In the plain areas where the landscape tends to be homogeneous, the “humanistic atmosphere” may endow them with distinctive characteristics, as exemplified by the “Ten Scenes of Jingling”. The laws of organizing and utilizing local landscape are clarified through the “regularity of time and space”, which indicates that the layout of Eight Scenes of the cities is likely to show a balanced response to the orientation, weather, season and even soundscape of local natural landscape. Based on these general characteristics, the city-landscape layout characteristics based on the combination of local natural landscape patterns are derived, such as “internal gathering and external control”, “scenery connection with landform”, “scenery connection with water”, “scenery rendering by mountain and water”, and “decentralized multipoint”. The pattern featuring “regularity of time and space” originates from Taoism and also reflects the Eight Scenes of the cities’uses of the natural landscape The relationship between bottom-line thinking and flexible adaptation. It is clear that the Eight Scenes of the cities are a high echo of the overall landscape pattern of the Han River basin, and the overall landscape pattern of Han River in the longitudinal direction is summarized as “big mountains and rivers, big ups and downs, high in the west and low in the east, screen in the left and court in the right, three-level Kunlun fairyland, and a great place for people”. From the aspect that the Eight Scenes of the cities are the product of the wisdom embodied in the overall landscape pattern of the Han River basin, it is clarified that the Eight Scenes of the cities are well echoing with the overall landscape pattern of the river basin, and have become the symbolic connotation of the river basin’s genius loci.

Conclusion  The culture of the Eight Scenes of the cities is complemented by the humanistic accumulation of “preferring landscape” and “using landscape as a metaphor for virtue”, which not only enriches the connotation of natural landscape protection, but also makes the Eight Scenes of the cities an important means and method for protecting local landscape features. The Eight Scenes of the cities are also the product of public wisdom underlying the poetic integration between local culture and natural landscape, and the sense of local belonging thereof can effectively enhance the protection of natural landscape features. By means of historical and cultural inculcation, landscape virtue education, and ideological and political propagation, the Eight Scenes of the cities have become an important tool for “edification and cultivation” and a “guiding rule” for the protection of urban landscape features, with their cultural effects of gathering people’s hearts and strengthening national spirits greatly consolidating the results of river basin landscape protection.