摘要
An old tradition of designing with nature had existed for thousands of years in ancient China. In order to achieve ideal living environment, people believed that they should use, repair, and improve the nature in an active but abstemious way, and a complete system of design theories and techniques gradually developed. The intellectual architects, in particular, pioneered the practical and theoretical developments, especially those in Tang dynasty made extraordinary contributions. Among them, Yuan lie (元结) and Liu Zongyuan (柳宗元) were particularly outstanding. They had different experiences but similar achievements in Yongzhou area, which was a remote, less-developed region but with beautiful landscapes. In this paper, the planning and design practices of these two intellectual architects were examined and compared. Their principles and methods of Design With Nature were summarized. Also, the historical influence of their works and its contemporary value were briefly discussed at last.