Analysis of Suzhou Yi Garden’s Shanshui (Landscape) Tourism Experience:Taking GU Wenbin’s Touring Route in 1877 as a Clue

It will be helpful to understand the true design ideas and the purpose of the spatial arrangement behind it by analyzing the shanshui (landscape) tourism experience of a garden with the touring route planned by the garden owner or designer. Taking Suzhou Yi Garden as a case, and on the basis of sorting out the latest historical materials, this paper makes a textual research of the touring route of Yi Garden described by the owner Gu Wenbin in the third year under the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty (1877). In the process of making a complete analysis of the shanshui tourism experience in the Yi Garden with the GU Wenbin's touring route, this paper concludes that the route is essentially a balance between “a quick overview of the whole garden” and “a meticulous taste of specific scenes”. Such a perception may contribute to an in-depth understanding of the Yi Garden construction art.