范本,还是注脚?——18世纪英国“中园西渐”小考

A Role Model or a Reference:on the Journey of Classical Chinese Garden Ideas to the West in the Eighteenth Century

英国自然风景园于18世纪成为欧洲主流。在当时相关理论话语和'英中式'园林称谓的引导下,论者常谓这一新造园形式得益于中国古典园林的影响。而本文试图通过考察'中园西渐'的历史而对此种影响进行探询。本文发现,这种'影响'更多表现为英国将中国古典园林视为一种用以正当化其造园范式变革的注脚,而非可仿效之优秀范本。如此或可更为实事求是地理解中英建筑交流的历史,以及中华民族传统建筑对世界的贡献。

In the 18th century,the English landscape garden became the dominant style in Europe.It has long been argued that the style was influenced by Chinese classical gardening,as implied by its French-coined appellation Jardin Anglo-Chinoisand comments from gardening theorists at the time.This paper attempts to cross-examine such an argument through an investigation into the journey to the West by the carrier of Chinese garden ideas.It suggests that English gardeners looked to the Far East as more of a reference to seek justification for their own gardening revolution than a role model for inspiration or imitation.This could well invite a more factually-based understanding of the Sino-English architectural interactions as well as the Chinese contributions to the world architecture.