I. The Summer Palace, a treasure of royal gardens located in the western suburbs of Beijing, is like a bright pearl, exuding unique charm. It is not only the pinnacle of ancient Chinese royal garden art but also an outstanding model in the history of world gardens. Along with Chengde Mountain Resort, Humble Administrator’s Garden, and Lingering Garden, it is known as one of the four famous gardens in China and enjoys the reputation of ‘Royal Garden Museum’. Every year, countless tourists are attracted to immerse themselves in its magnificent scenery and profound cultural heritage. So, what kind of story does this garden have? Let us travel through the long river of history and unveil the mysterious and charming veil of the Summer Palace.
II. Emerging Prominently: The Beginning of the Construction of the Summer Palace
(I) Historical Background
The construction of the Summer Palace is closely related to the prosperity during the Qianlong period. At that time, the Qing Dynasty reached its peak in national strength, with political stability, economic prosperity, and cultural flourishing. Emperor Qianlong was ambitious and had extremely high pursuits and unique insights into art. Moreover, he was extremely filial. On the occasion of the sixtieth birthday of his mother, Empress Dowager Xiaoshengxian Niohuru, to show his filial piety and also to demonstrate the majesty and wealth of the royal family, he decided to build a large royal garden in the Wengshan-West Lake scenic area in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing. This is the predecessor of the Summer Palace – the Garden of Clear Ripples.
During this period, the national treasury was abundant and could provide sufficient financial support for the construction of the garden. At the same time, the prosperity of culture and art also injected rich connotations into the design and decoration of the garden. Numerous highly skilled craftsmen and talented literati gathered here and jointly contributed to the birth of this garden, making it possess extremely high artistic standards and cultural tastes from the very beginning.
(II) Site Selection and Planning
The Summer Palace is located in the Wengshan-West Lake scenic area in the northwestern suburbs of Beijing. This place has both mountains and waters and excellent feng shui. From the perspective of the overall concept of feng shui, China is high in the northwest and low in the southeast, and water flows from the northwest to the southeast. Here, water flows into the West Lake from the northwest and then flows away to the southeast, which exactly matches this pattern.
Wengshan and the West Lake form a landscape framework of north mountain and south water. Although the relationship between mountains and waters in this site was initially lacking, with the wisdom and skills of the ancients and combined with the water conservancy projects in the northwestern suburbs, it was cleverly improved, making this place have natural advantages for building a royal garden. The garden takes Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake as the main body and carefully constructs multiple areas such as the palace area, the front mountain and front lake scenic area, and the back mountain and back lake scenic area.
It cleverly combines natural landscapes and artificial buildings to form a hierarchical and well-proportioned garden layout, which not only shows the majestic momentum of royal gardens but also does not lose the quiet and elegant charm of natural landscapes.
(III) Construction Process
In 1750, the construction project of the Garden of Clear Ripples was officially launched.
Firstly, large-scale expansion and dredging of the West Lake were carried out, significantly increasing its water surface area and forming the prototype of what is now known as Kunming Lake, with Wengshan renamed as Wanshou Mountain. Subsequently, numerous palaces, pavilions, and temples were constructed on Wanshou Mountain, these buildings were strategically positioned along the mountain contours, creating a spectacular and layered visual effect by fully utilizing the topographical advantages. Concurrently, along the perimeter of Kunming Lake, colonnades, pavilions, and bridges were built as landscape facilities, linking various scenic spots organically and forming a continuous and varied tour route.
During the construction period, Emperor Qianlong visited the site multiple times, personally directing and supervising the progress of the project, strictly controlling every detail in an effort to make Qingyi Garden an unparalleled masterpiece of imperial gardens. After years of meticulous crafting, by the 29th year of Qianlong’s reign (1764 AD), Qingyi Garden was finally completed, presenting to the world a magnificent and grand imperial garden, becoming an outstanding representative of imperial garden construction during Qianlong’s era and leaving behind a precious cultural heritage for future generations.
III. Turbulent Times: The Bumpy Destiny of the Summer Palace (1) Destruction by the British and French Forces In the tenth year of Xianfeng’s reign (1860 AD), the British and French forces initiated the Second Opium War, looting and burning their way into Beijing. The predecessor of the Summer Palace, Qingyi Garden, was not spared and was extensively plundered and then set ablaze by the British and French forces.
Countless precious cultural relics and treasures within the garden were plundered, and the exquisite buildings were reduced to ashes in the raging flames. The once prosperous and magnificent imperial garden was instantly turned into ruins, which was not only a huge loss to Chinese garden art but also a painful scar in the history of the Chinese nation, witnessing the brutality and greed of the powers and the helplessness and sorrow under the decline of the Qing dynasty’s national strength.
(2) Reconstruction and Renaming During the Guangxu era, when the situation of the Qing dynasty slightly stabilized, Empress Dowager Cixi, to satisfy her own desires and under the banner of ‘nurturing one’s health in old age’, diverted a large amount of funds, including naval funds, to start the reconstruction of Qingyi Garden. In the 14th year of Guangxu’s reign (1888 AD), the reconstruction project was basically completed, and the garden was officially renamed the Summer Palace, becoming a place for Empress Dowager Cixi to live and indulge for a long time.
This reconstruction restored some of the landscapes of Qingyi Garden to a certain extent, but due to financial and technical limitations, it still had some gap compared to its former glory, and it also sparked many controversies. Many people believe that this action seriously affected the construction of the national navy and indirectly led to the failure of the First Sino-Japanese War, further plunging China into difficulties in the process of modernization.
(3) The Second Destruction by the Eight-Nation Alliance and Subsequent Restoration In the 26th year of Guangxu’s reign (1900 AD), the Eight-Nation Alliance invaded China, and the Summer Palace suffered disaster once again.
The Eight-Power Allied Forces wantonly destroyed and looted in the park. Many buildings that had just been restored不久 were destroyed again. Cultural relics and treasures were looted, and the garden once again fell into a dilapidated state.
Afterwards, after Empress Dowager Cixi returned to Beijing from Xi’an, she used a large amount of funds to restore the Summer Palace. However, at this time, the Qing Dynasty was on the verge of collapse. The restored Summer Palace was difficult to restore to its previous level in terms of quality and scale. Many high-rise buildings were forced to be shortened and the scale was reduced due to funding problems.
For example, the Wenchang Pavilion city tower was reduced from three floors to two floors, and the Le Shou Tang was changed from double eaves to single eaves. The Suzhou Street was also burned down and never recovered. It only roughly retained the basic pattern and style of the garden, making it barely maintain the dignity and grandeur of the royal garden, but it was also difficult to hide the vicissitudes left by years and wars.
It became a vivid portrayal of the rise and fall of Chinese modern history.
IV. The reappearance of the splendid scenery: The rebirth road of the Summer Palace
(I) Protection and restoration after the founding of New China
After the founding of New China, the Summer Palace ushered in new vitality and hope. The Party and the government attach great importance to the protection and restoration of this historical and cultural treasure and regard it as an important part of the cultural heritage of the Chinese nation. The government has allocated special funds many times to carry out comprehensive and systematic cleaning, restoration and maintenance of the Summer Palace, and is committed to restoring its former glorious style.
In the 1950s, the stone-carved railings by the Kunming Lake were strengthened successively, and the long-term accumulated garbage and sundries in the park were cleaned up, which significantly improved the garden environment. At the same time, elaborate restorations were carried out on core buildings such as the Tower of Buddhist Incense, Dehe Garden, Tingli Hall, Hanyu Hall, Yulan Hall, and Paiyun Hall to ensure the structural stability and exquisite appearance of these buildings.
In the 1970s, large-scale restoration and maintenance were carried out on important buildings such as Jingfu Pavilion, Xieqiu Pavilion, Tingli Hall, Yunsong Nest, Shao Wo, Nanhu Island, and Stone Boat, further enhancing the overall quality and ornamental value of the garden. Since then, the restoration work of the Summer Palace has continued to advance steadily. From 1987 to 1990, the shopping street in Houhu (Suzhou Street) was restored.
In 1992, the Jingming Tower on the West Embankment was restored. In 1996, the Danning Hall in the east of the back mountain was rebuilt. Each restoration adheres to the principles of respecting history and protecting culture, and strives to restore the original style of the Summer Palace to the greatest extent, making this ancient garden glow with dazzling brilliance again and becoming an important window for people to appreciate the charm of ancient Chinese royal gardens.
(II) Listed as a key cultural relic protection unit and successful application for World Heritage status
On March 4, 1961, the Summer Palace was announced by the State Council as the first batch of national key cultural relic protection units. This marks that the protection of the Summer Palace has entered a new stage and is strictly protected and highly valued at the national legal level. Its historical and cultural value has been widely recognized and demonstrated.
Since then, the protection and management of the Summer Palace have become more standardized and scientific, making it one of the models for the protection of China’s cultural heritage. In November 1998, the Summer Palace was successfully listed in the World Heritage List due to its unique garden art, profound historical and cultural connotations, and outstanding world cultural value. This honor not only highly affirms the value of the Summer Palace itself but also strongly proves the important position of ancient Chinese garden art in the field of world cultural heritage.
As a world cultural heritage site, the Summer Palace has attracted global attention and has become an important bridge for cultural exchange and dialogue between China and other countries, allowing the world to better understand China’s long and splendid history and culture, as well as its exquisite garden art. It has also set a new benchmark for the protection and inheritance of China’s cultural heritage, inspiring more people to engage in the protection of cultural heritage and jointly safeguard the treasures of human civilization.
Garden Gem: The Unique Charm of the Summer Palace (I) Garden Layout and Landscape Features The layout of the Summer Palace is unique, with Longevity Hill and Kunming Lake as the core, where mountains and waters complement each other. Longevity Hill runs east-west, stretching about 1000 meters, like a giant dragon lying in the garden, with majestic mountains and undulating peaks. The buildings are scattered among the peaks and slopes, skillfully using the height difference of the terrain to create a rich and varied spatial hierarchy.
Kunming Lake is vast and boundless, covering an area of about 220 hectares, which is three-quarters of the total area of the garden. The lake surface is sparkling, and the water is clear to the bottom, like a huge mirror, reflecting the beautiful shadow of Longevity Hill and the pavilions, towers, and halls on the shore, forming a wonderful scenery of virtual and real. In the overall layout of the garden, the front mountain and lake area is open and bright, with magnificent architecture, showing the majesty and grandeur of the royal family; the back mountain and lake area is quiet and secluded, with dense forests and winding paths, full of natural wild interest and tranquil atmosphere, forming a sharp contrast with the front mountain and lake, yet harmoniously integrated into one, together forming a picturesque garden landscape, making people feel as if they are in a fairyland.
(II) Introduction to Main Attractions The court area, as the political and living area of the Summer Palace, includes buildings such as the Hall of Longevity and Health, the Hall of Happiness and Longevity, and the Jade Ripple Hall. The Hall of Longevity and Health is where Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu handled government affairs. The hall is richly decorated and solemn, reflecting the authority and dignity of the royal family; the Hall of Happiness and Longevity is the bedroom of Empress Dowager Cixi, with a spacious courtyard and exquisite architecture, and the flowers and strange stones in the garden add a bit of elegance and leisure; the Jade Ripple Hall was once the residence of Emperor Guangxu, witnessing the ups and downs of the court during the late Qing Dynasty.
The architectural style is simple and generous, but it does not lose the solemnity and elegance of the royal family.
The Front Mountain and Front Lake scenic area is the essence of the Summer Palace. The Buddha Fragrance Pavilion, as the iconic structure of the entire garden, stands on the hillside of Longevity Hill, approximately 41 meters high, with eight sides, three stories, and four eaves, exuding grandeur and majesty, making it the visual center and soul of the Summer Palace. Ascending the Buddha Fragrance Pavilion, one can take in the panoramic view of Kunming Lake, with boats crisscrossing the lake surface like twinkling stars; the long corridor along the shore resembles a ribbon, meandering and zigzagging.
The corridor’s beams are adorned with exquisite paintings, totaling more than 14,000, covering historical stories, myths, legends, landscapes, flowers, and birds, earning it the title of ‘The World’s Number One Corridor’. Strolling through it feels like flipping through a vivid historical scroll.
The Seventeen-Arch Bridge spans across Kunming Lake, connecting Nanhu Island with the east bank. The bridge is composed of 17 arches, elegantly shaped like a rainbow lying on the waves. The bridge railings are carved with over 500 stone lions, each with a unique form, vividly depicted, as if each lion is narrating an ancient tale, adding a mysterious and unique charm to the Summer Palace.
The Back Mountain and Back Lake scenic area is relatively tranquil. The Harmonic Garden is a small and exquisite Jiangnan-style garden courtyard, centered around water with pavilions, terraces, towers, arbors, corridors, and bridges surrounding it, arranged in an orderly and picturesque manner, with winding paths and lush flora, embodying the rich characteristics of the Jiangnan water towns, making it an ideal leisure and entertainment spot for emperors and empresses.
Suzhou Street, modeled after the marketplaces of Jiangnan water towns, is distributed along the banks of the Back Lake, with shops lining both sides of the street, exuding an antique charm. Although Suzhou Street today is not what it used to be, it still conveys the bustling commercial atmosphere of the past, allowing visitors to experience the charm and ambiance of the ancient Jiangnan towns as if traveling through time.
(III) Cultural Connotations and Artistic Value. The Summer Palace contains rich cultural connotations, integrating Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, fully reflecting the profoundness of traditional Chinese culture. Confucian culture is often reflected in the garden, such as the Renshou Hall, named after the ‘Analects’ which states ‘The wise find pleasure in water; the virtuous find pleasure in mountains,’ highlighting the Confucian concepts of ‘benevolent governance’ and ‘ruling the country with virtue’.
It reminds the emperor to care for the common people while enjoying the garden, embodying the Confucian ideal of ‘self-cultivation, family management, state governance, and world peace’. Buddhist culture is displayed in the Buddha Fragrance Pavilion, Wisdom Sea, and the Four Continents on Longevity Hill, among other structures. These grand and imposing buildings house numerous Buddha statues and Buddhist scriptures, serving as important sites for Buddhists to worship and practice, reflecting the Qing royal family’s reverence and belief in Buddhism, and adding a solemn and sacred religious atmosphere to the garden.
Taoist cultural elements are also integrated into the garden. On the Nanhu Island, the Guangrun Lingyu Temple, which enshrines the Dragon King of the West Sea, serves as a place for rain prayers within the garden, reflecting Taoist thoughts of nature and praying for favorable weather conditions. The southern city gate, named ‘Purple Qi Comes from the East’, originates from the story of Laozi passing through the Hangu Pass, symbolizing auspiciousness and good fortune. These Taoist cultural elements blend harmoniously with the natural landscape, conveying a tranquil and refined spiritual realm.
In terms of artistic value, the Summer Palace’s architecture, painting, and sculpture are perfectly integrated, showcasing superb craftsmanship and unique aesthetic tastes. Architecturally, it combines the grandeur and magnificence of northern imperial buildings with the delicacy and agility of southern gardens, such as the majestic Buddha Fragrance Pavilion contrasting with the delicate Xi Qi Garden, yet harmoniously coexisting and complementing each other within the garden. The long corridor’s murals are rich in content, exquisitely detailed, and brightly colored, using traditional techniques like fine brushwork and gold dusting, which not only hold high artistic value but also contain abundant historical and cultural information, making them a treasure of ancient Chinese painting art.
The garden’s sculptures are countless, from the wood, stone, and brick carvings on palace buildings to the stone lion carvings on bridge railings, all displaying the exquisite skills and unique creativity of ancient craftsmen. Each sculpture is meticulously crafted, lifelike, and vivid, with characters and creatures of various forms, making them excellent works of ancient Chinese sculpture art, adding endless artistic charm to the Summer Palace and making it an artistic palace that integrates various forms of art such as architecture, painting, and sculpture, leaving visitors spellbound and in awe.
Historical Mirror: The Value and Significance of the Summer Palace (I) Historical Witness
The Summer Palace, as an important witness to modern Chinese history, has witnessed the entire process of the Qing Dynasty’s rise and fall, carrying the glory and decline of the Chinese nation. From the prosperity of the Qianlong era to the painful invasions by the British and French allied forces and the Eight-Nation Alliance, and then to the turmoil at the end of the Qing Dynasty, every inch of land and every building in the Summer Palace is engraved with the marks of history.
It is not only a garden but also a vivid historical textbook, allowing future generations to deeply remember the sufferings and setbacks the country has experienced, inspiring patriotic feelings and national pride, and constantly reminding us to cherish peace, strive for strength, and protect our country’s beautiful landscapes and cultural heritage, preventing the repetition of historical tragedies and allowing the Chinese nation to stand proudly among the nations of the world in the new era.
(II) Cultural Heritage
The Summer Palace is a treasure of ancient Chinese garden art, integrating the gentle and beautiful charm of the Jiangnan water towns with the grand and atmospheric northern imperial gardens, perfectly blending various artistic elements such as landscape, architecture, plants, painting, and sculpture, showcasing the profoundness and unique charm of traditional Chinese culture.
The Summer Palace embodies the quintessence of garden art, architectural skills, literary poetry, and philosophical thoughts, which have been passed down and protected from generation to generation, continuing to this day. It has become an important carrier and symbol of the excellent traditional culture of the Chinese nation.
These precious cultural heritages not only belong to China but are also the common wealth of all humanity. They hold immeasurable value in inheriting human civilization and promoting cultural exchange and integration.
They inspire us to continue to promote and inherit the excellent traditional Chinese culture in modern society, to drive cultural innovation and development, and to let the ancient culture breathe new life and vitality in the new era.
This contributes uniquely to the diversity of world culture.
