Abstract:
Qingyuan Prefectural Junpu Garden in the Southern Song Dynasty was renovated frequently due to the short tenure of officials. The garden’s history can be mainly divided into two periods, namely the period of “Taoyuandong” and that of “Xintaoyuan” respectively dominated by Cheng Tan and Wu Qian. Based on historical image-text materials and archaeological results, this research restores the schematic plan of the garden, proposing that the garden landscape in different periods was greatly influenced by the aesthetics of the officials and the times, but maintained similar gardening intentions because of the inclinations of officials. Junpu Gardens typically integrate the private space for personal recreation of officials and official etiquette space for ritual activities. Being unnecessary for Junpu Gardens, the open space shared with the public is also not found in Qingyuan Prefectural Junpu Garden. In addition, Junpu Gardens pay attention to the protection of ancient and famous trees to commemorate the political achievements of previous officials, and some scenery names therein have the implication of displaying local scenic spots, advertising the virtues of officials and emperors, and boasting of political achievements. This research reveals the preference of officials in the Southern Song Dynasty for space construction, plant cultivation and landscape naming of government gardens, and also has a certain significance for the research on style characteristics of gardens in Song Dynasty.