感谢党恩育了风景园林学科——纪念风景园林学科成立70周年

孟兆祯

汪菊渊和吴良镛两位先生高瞻远瞩地预见到新中国城市建设的需要，联名上书主管部门建议成立造园专业。1951年成立了清华大学建筑系与北京农业大学园艺系合办的造园专业，首届毕业生被授予了两校合办的毕业证书。

1952年，我在重庆南开中学毕业后幸运地被北京农业大学（现中国农业大学）园艺系造园专业录取，看到《人民日报》上发榜有我的名字时，高兴得跳起来。当时也不知道造园专业为何，误以为是学种广柑的，更要者是去北京看天安门和我嗜好的京剧。经数日水陆交通且火车一夜未睡。到了北京兴奋压倒一切，在沙滩红楼放下行装直奔天安门。北京太大了，天安门端严壮丽，五星红旗迎风飘扬，人顿时为之振奋。祖国太伟大了。

当时的农大在复兴门外罗道庄，相当于今玉渊潭公园中段西南。校舍布置紧凑，东门外便是玉渊潭碧绿一片。浅绿垂枝的柳树，高耸深绿带蓝的钻天杨，是散步的优越环境，也是在大自然山水中清新学习的环境。

北京农业大学的师资是很优厚的，主要因为这所大学的师资是合并组成的，具有农、林、园艺、建筑和园林多学科高水平的师资。以农科而言，是由北京大学农学院、清华大学农学院等合成的。农科的基础课诸如土壤、气象、植物学等均由著名教授开大课任教。大课总有数百学生在大教室上课。如土壤学由华孟教授主讲，至今印象犹深，音容宛在。他为土壤下定义时说：“具有肥力的是土壤”，标准北京口音，声洪气足，口词逻辑性强而清晰，字字送听，便于学生记笔记。教昆虫的老师上小班课，把本来似乎有点枯燥的课讲得生龙活现。解析昆虫生活史的规律，从而定治虫方针，不仅有挂图，更有小瓶子装的鲜活虫子，学生都叫他“虫先生”。考试的时候带几个小虫考学生，要回答虫的学名、生态习性、天敌和有效的防治方法。测量教师讲授使用大小平板仪、水平仪等的原理和方法，并以北京中山公园为实习地点，带学生住在园中测山水地形和建筑等。果树老师带干果、水果上课，实物识别，削成小片品尝，加深口感印象。建筑课程由清华大学教师任教。画法几何学要通过平面认识空间，金承藻先生在清华长期教授此课，把画法原理和方法讲得很透彻，并有大量习题课，这是专业画鸟瞰图的基础。另有制图课教画水墨渲染、磨墨、过滤、分层渲染，绘画课由中央美术学院的教授任教。

我有幸成为1952级造园专业一年级新生，乃是人民赋予我的希望，以造园服务人民。后来我才知道汪菊渊先生是把我班作为实验班来办的，借此积累经验再扩大招生和发展学科。汪先生和吴先生带着清华的朱自煊先生和农大的陈有民先生为我们编制了培养目标和教学计划。汪先生在全国召集了高水平的师资，为我们开设园林艺术课程和公园花园设计课程的孙筱祥先生就是从国立浙江大学农学院借调而来的，先借后调，把我们领进中国传统园林设计之门。学生进了门才能终生修行，逐步积累成材把宝贵的传统园林传承下去。汪先生宣讲的中国古代园林史课程（图1）告诉我们中华民族有独特、优秀的园林传统，并号召学生深入挖掘和发扬光大。我们有幸把民族传统印在心中并为之奋斗终生。在学习国外经验方面，主要通过汪先生开设的外国园林史课程（图2）和反映当时苏联先进经验的城市及居民区绿化课程使学生了解城市绿化规划和设计的原理和方法。汪先生英文水平很高，但没有学过俄文，又无中译教材，汪先生夜以继日地阅读俄文原著，译为中文为我们开讲。老师讲课时眼睛布满红血丝还要打起精神为我们讲课，我们深为感动。还指导我们做绿化设计，头一题目为北京某幼儿园绿化设计。植物材料必须绝对安全，无毒无刺，借植物启迪幼儿的自然知识，如季节更替和植物的人文知识等。通过设计看地形，设计和制图把理论和实践结为一体。汪先生还带我们参观古代园林实习。我们班就7个人，四女三男，夏天汪先生请我们吃冰棍，现场讲中国园林史。毕业后，带我们做明清北京宅园的科学研究，给我们铸定了研究中国传统园林的学术方向。

1 中国古代园林史课程讲义（1980 年铅印）The lecture notes of the History of Ancient Chinese Gardens (letterpress printing in 1980)

2 外国园林史课程讲义（1981 年铅印）The lecture notes of the History of Foreign Gardens(letterpress printing in 1981)

汪先生常给我们讲园艺与造园的共性和区别，使我们明确园林设计是学科的中心。他请来的孙筱祥先生忠实和优秀地完成了这项艰巨的任务。1949年中华人民共和国成立，20世纪50年代初他就受聘于杭州市副市长余森文先生，完成了花港观鱼公园的设计。这本是西湖十景之一，但当时只剩下亭内石碑。孙先生守正创新，根据原有意境开出了花港，设计了观鱼，也种了雪松大草坪供团员和少先队过队日，并精巧地设计了自然式的牡丹园，吸取了英国自然风景园大草坪做法。他当时并没出过国，他告诉我们是学习了上海中山公园英式高尔夫球场的草坪。全园文人自然山水布局都有规划图纸，大草坪和观鱼的花港以及牡丹园都有等高线的施工图。山石驳岸结合水生植物有平面和断面图，还有钢笔和淡彩鸟瞰图，体现了集书法、绘画、诗词和印章于一身的传统，成为我朝思暮想追逐的境界。中国传统园林艺术简直就像烙印一样打在我们身上。孙先生说他是中国现代园林设计之父，这还是很实在的。他的书法绘画辅佐了园林设计，让学生逐渐学得“以文载道”和“山水以形媚道”的真功夫，不仅理论有很深的传统性，而且动手能力强，手把手地教学生。讲到植物种植设计时，更焕发出了他的专长。他的大学本科就读于国立浙江大学农学院，不仅正规地学习了园林树木和花卉园艺，还非常重视课外实践。他认识很多植物并熟知它们的拉丁学名，为了认识植物，他恳求采标本的老师傅带他上山，老师傅鉴定植物的手段有很多，不仅用眼睛观察，而且用鼻子嗅，甚至放在口中细嚼其味，准确确定植物的种和品种。有了丰富的植物知识，再结合中国山水画中植物布置上升到理论为我们讲“花木情缘易逗，园林意味深求”。植物种植的类型总结出孤植、对植、树丛、树群、树林。树丛讲三株、四株、五株、七株怎样搭配出画意，与建筑、山水和山石如何组合，生动出彩，令学生永记心中。他的学术报告和发表的文章也是园林传统艺术（图3）。

3 孙筱祥著《园林艺术及园林设计》Garden Art and Garden Design, a representative work of Sun Xiaoxiang

他的学科知识广泛深入，这与他“修行在个人”密切相关。地道农民出身，可“泥巴脚板”却又喜爱文化艺术，他哥哥是书法家，他自幼酷爱金石艺术，学习和研究木石刻图章，而基础必然是书法。我在他90岁时以我收藏最好的石料恳请他治印，他欣然接受，刻出“孟兆祯”三字下面都较长，不言而喻地教我“扎根学传统、根深才叶茂”。我还经常看他的书法与绘画，他既有中学书法绘画的基础，又有西学素描透视学的基础。他先为自己定了学科方向，那就是传统的园林艺术和园林设计，他的绘画得到徐悲鸿大师的指导，最后感到自己建筑学得不够，便到当时的南京工学院求教于刘敦桢教授。他“读万卷书，走万里路”积累了综合的学识用于园林设计，在课余还参加师生联欢，在灯谜会上他给大家出了一个字谜“春雨绵绵妻独宿”，大家百思未解，最后他讲“一”字，春雨绵绵是把“春”字去掉代表太阳的“日”字，妻独宿再去掉“夫”字，最后只剩个“一”字，我方知处处有文化的根基，我学一辈子也学不完。我暗下决心，也要学做能书、会画、可诗，能做文人写意、山水园林设计之人。发现我业余为之痴迷的京剧和园林才是民族统一的文化载体。孙先生说人脑两半，一半是管音乐的，他不擅长，学生不信，想尝试一下。其实，孙先生的文艺修养是相当高的，上课时提到受柴可夫斯基某乐章的交响感染，中华人民共和国成立前国立浙江大学话剧社演出有先进性的话剧，担任导演的就是孙筱祥先生。

1956年我本科毕业留校做教师，并值院系调整从北京农业大学迁到北京林学院，那时地名称肖庄，属北京郊区，有人打野兔。我初出茅庐，非常惶恐，听过来人的教师说，年轻的助教要承担多方面的工作，不要挑肥拣瘦，于是我担任了画法几何学、园林工程学两门课程的助教并帮孙先生画教学挂图，我绘图能力不强，更不习惯着彩色，为了让主讲教师满意而练私功，未想为孙先生画树叶受病虫害的挂图竟得到孙先生的表扬。我还担任了1956级一个班的班主任，学生有事都来找我，过元旦一人交了多少钱，买什么花钱少而效果好。归根结底是我如何进修“师傅领进门，修行在个人”。我请教了资深的外系教授，他们一致的意见是学好学科的基本理论和牢牢掌握基本技能。

我又向孙先生请教园林设计的基本理论是什么，他介绍了3本古书，计成的《园冶》、李渔的《闲情偶寄》和文震亨的《长物志》，其中我认为最难和最重要的是《园冶》，于是我筹款先后请了3位精通国学的老先生为我讲《园冶》。第一位是汪雪楣先生，他是陈毅同志同班同学，他的湖南话我听得懂，引经据典讲给我听，似有顿开茅塞之感。第二位是王蔚柏先生，年龄很高了，在文学和书法方面很有造诣，从原文引到书法绘画以增加我的认识，特别是文学的“比兴”和园林“借景”的沟通，使我初步体会到园林设计“迁想妙得”的要理。第三位是研究林业史的张钧成先生，也是在云南结交的好友，他在主讲中穿插讨论，这样又深入一层。这样我对传统的基本理论有了扎实的基础（图4～6）。

5 孟兆祯著《避暑山庄园林艺术》Landscape Art of Mountain Resorts, a representative work of Meng Zhaozhen

6 孟兆祯著《孟兆祯文集》Collected Works of Meng Zhaozhen, representative works of Meng Zhaozhen

学科的基本技能包括文学和绘画两方面，我自幼便对书法产生浓厚兴趣，砚墨、红土都练过字，开始喜欢颜字，丰满端庄，有骨有肉，我念小学一年级时，镇上油条豆浆铺的老板要我给他写“开堂”，这可乐坏我了，真有用。逐渐练欧、柳、隶体。大学毕业后练仿宋字和美术字，有一本线装的《圆明园记》是珍仿版，笔画挺拔，下笔如刀刻，字体清晰而秀丽，我从中总结了写法，编成口诀用仿宋字写出来。在制图课程中边讲边示范，后来青年教师教制图时请我宣传仿宋字。以前我仰慕人家写美术字，开会或写标语都用得上，要在比例匀称、结构丰硕、笔画细腻，人家需要时我有求必应，尽量使人家满意，这样便把工程印刷体字练出来了。对我而言，难在绘画，要画山水、建筑、山石和各种小品，不是一蹴而就的，山水参考文人山水画和名师在学刊上发表的插图，透视基本学会，画鸟瞰图就不必一点点求了。我照着《中国建筑史》后面屋盖类型的附图摹写，有零碎时间就练，久之便可用白描画钢笔鸟瞰图了。山石又是一个专项，参加韩良顺师傅假山的跟班劳动学置石和掇山，做学生毕业论文的助教总结山石张（张蔚庭）的山石结构十字诀，没钱买石头就找砂浆和捡煤核，把绳结做成小模型。其中有一段受激发的故事，我承担了《中国古代建筑技术史》（图7）置石和掇山章节的编写任务，其中不少插图，总编辑知我绘画水平便说：“你先画个草图，我们再找人画正式图出版。”这对我刺激很大，下决心要你们就用我画的草图。虽说不是十年寒窗苦，却也是画不好就撕，终于练成在打字纸上用毛笔表现山石技术。总编辑先请国画师照我的图画，艺不印术，后请建筑师画也不满意，最后真用我的草图由香港出版。

在我制定的学科基本技能中，最难实现的是置石和掇山设计。从读万卷书而言，我可以搜集深读，行万里路，我可以趁年轻尽可能跑遍三山五岳和十二洞天，天然山石之美可广采博览，难在假山施工我顶替不了假山师傅，唯有多方求师，北京的山子张、苏州的山石韩、南京的王其峰师傅、杭州的楼建勇师傅，心中拜他们为师，和他们聊堆山，帮他们理论提炼，参加跟班劳动，学习相石和掇山要领，故察名假山园和琢磨置石要领，最后转为能为师傅们接受的掇山模型设计。

提起模型又是各种困难，心中之山石画都画不好，哪里谈得上做模型呢。20世纪70年代，广州有位吴家松园林工艺美术师，专门学过雕塑而且有很多成功的作品，见面就很相投，为他做白云宾馆高楼庭院中保留几株小叶榕大树的难题，从外师造化、道法自然而言，我提出了“榕根壁”之想，真假榕根，混假于真，过些年真的长出来覆盖假的后，就融为一体，真假难分了。吴大师很赞成，而且他动手能力很强，顿时完成了生动形象的模型，向上汇报，马上获批，后来我也求他代制模型，无奈模型都大而重，难于搬运。

还是要自力更生才能解决问题，开始尝试以聚苯乙烯脂为骨，以橡皮泥为皮肉的做法。正好给西苑饭店做设计方案，骨架都搭好了，请清华学过雕塑的女研究生来贴橡皮泥假山模型，等着汇报，我在一旁观察学点手艺。未料3个多小时后依然不现石形，剩下20多分钟了，我用小钢笔杆连雕带捏，石形瞬时而出，胸中有山，丘壑、峰峦、洞穴、谷壑相继而出，形象逼真，皆大欢喜。但橡皮泥模型温度高容易变形，还是不理想，但确实建立了塑山的自信心。

用电烙铁烫山书法与绘画给了我很大的启发。我用15 W的小电烙铁不经意地碰了一下聚苯乙烯脂，发现其不仅可随意塑形，而且材料也意外地发生了变化。坚硬如石表，用手去摸还扎手，这可喜出望外了，形和意解决了，还有色彩的问题。为了不掉色，决定用丙烯颜料。但聚苯乙烯脂不容易上色，更不能将颜色吸入里层。我在丙烯颜料里加一点肥皂粉，不仅能上色，而且还能被吸入里层（图8）。

7 《中国古代建筑技术史》A History of Chinese Ancient Architectural Techniques

8 孟兆祯先生的假山设计模型Rockery models designed and made by Meng Zhaozhen

初作为北京宣武区（现西城区）大观园内薛宝钗的庭院，《红楼梦》形容山石突兀高出墙外。宝钗长于心计、外柔内阴，是个冷美人。于是假山中穿山洞，山上种带刺白花的乔木。模型比例1∶100，做出来形象逼真。由苏州韩良源师傅领班，相互配合。

第一个大作是北京奥林匹克森林公园，占地面积大而须多层叠水。总规划中景名“林泉高致”，这与古书名雷同，根据《园冶》中“时宜得致，古式何裁”的道理。当时正是中国北京承办奥运会，中心思想是“同一世界，同一梦想”。

这梦想就是世界和平，战争时期停办，和平时期倡办。据此我建议景区名为“林泉奥梦”，意释“奥，涵奥妙、奥秘等意”，就是奥运过了，还可纳入中国梦的远大志向。

先要修整现有土山，化陡坡为缓谷，改直为曲，重点部分打谷为壑，通过本区的园路均成为与掇山融为一体的路。奥运会运动员来自多国多方，故山泉之水源选择潨泉，做土山时便用等高线和百分之一的模型做出主、次两处水源，以派汇流，主流多泉或瀑，土山谷壑出来了，假山的基址便落实了，欲用岩壁石刻“异域同天”表同一世界，以“澄”名潭表示和平，毛主席诗词有“玉宇澄清万里埃”。故一个“澄”字就能代表和平。遗憾的是这些设计思想没有落在地上，上面一段掇山由韩建国师傅领班，下面一段由韩良源师傅的女婿领班，通力合作，大功告成。当时英国园林学会的主席到工地参观，问到偌大工程的掇山如何完成设计的，我们如实相告，他表示敬佩。设计单位负责人趁大雨倾盆之时视察工地，发现有溪底漏水及时解决。在山麓规划中大型茶室改为山洞茶寮。

没有中国共产党就没有新中国，没有新中国就没有中国风景园林学科。70年来之不易，理当感谢领我们入门的师恩，学科发展成而今的规模和质量，我们师生都要涌泉相报地感谢党，在党的长期阳光雨露下，学科的学会由原来附属在建筑学会变为独立的一级学科的学会，在周干峙院士任学会理事长时，恢复了中华人民共和国风景园林学科在国际风景园林师联合会（IFLA）成员国的地位，学科的喉舌《中国园林》《风景园林》无论内容还是形式都达到国家核心刊物的水平，城市乡镇园林绿化水平普遍提高。古代名山名园得到保护和修缮，人民对风景园林教育、科研和建设实践的质量的满意度日益提高。绿水青山和金山银山的向往和实践日渐深入人心。在脱贫的基础上全面进行现代化。习总书记要求我们攀高峰，师生们都要以实际行动贯彻执行。2021年庆祝建党百年华诞。党要千秋万代作为领头雁传下去。要化党中央的领导为实际行动。致力于建设人类命运共同体。习总书记最近指示，“坚持中国特色世界一流大学建设目标方向”，号召“努力构建具有中国特色、中国风格、中国气派的学科体系、学术体系、话语体系”，我们当作为长期建设不懈地贯彻，和美丽中国梦融为一体地促其实现，造福于人类命运共同体，我们的目标一定能够实现。美丽中国的中国梦一定能实现。迎着困难而上的中国和平发展得到世界多数国家支持，我们都从内心高呼庆祝中国共产党建党100周年，中国共产党万岁！

图片来源：

文中所有图片均由作者提供。

（编辑/刘昱霏）

Gratitude to The Communist Party of China for Nourishing Landscape Architecture Discipline: In Honor of the 70th Anniversary of the Founding of Landscape Architecture Discipline

MENG Zhaozhen

Forecasting farsightedly the potential demand of urban construction of New China, Mr. Wang Juyuan and Mr. Wu Liangyong wrote jointly to the responsible authority to suggest establishing the major of Landscape Architecture. In 1951, the Department of Architecture of Tsinghua University and the Department of Horticulture of Beijing Agricultural University (now China Agricultural University) jointly inaugurated the major of Landscape Architecture with later awarding of cosignatory diploma to the first batch of graduates.

After graduating from Chongqing Nankai Middle School in 1952, I was fortunately admitted to the major of Landscape Architecture of the Department of Horticulture, Beijing Agricultural University. I jumped up with joy when I found my name in the enrollment announcement of thePeople’s Daily. As a matter of fact, I didn’t know at that time what the major was. I thought I was going to learn how to grow tangor. More excited than that,I would be able to go to Beijing to see Tiananmen Square and experience my favorite Peking Opera.After several days of travel by land and water with a sleepless night on train, I finally arrived in Beijing.I was so overjoyed that I put down my luggage at the Red Building in Shatan Area to go straight to Tiananmen Square. “Beijing is so big and Tiananmen Square is so magnificent,” Facing the fluttering Five-Starred Red Flag in wind, I felt immediately inspired,“My motherland is so great.”

At that time, Beijing Agricultural University was located at Luodaozhuang of Fuxingmenwai Area (now the southwestern part of the middle section of Yuyuantan Park). The campus buildings were arranged compactly, with the East Gate facing the green and vigorous Yuyuantan Park. The light green willows with drooping branches and the tall dark bluish-green lombardy poplars provided not only a superior environment for walking, but also a good learning environment in natural landscape.

Beijing Agricultural University has a strong faculty, primarily because it integrated high-level teachers from multiple collages and disciplines,including agriculture, forestry, horticulture,architecture and landscape architecture. As far as the discipline of agriculture is concerned, the faculty in Beijing Agricultural University was an aggregate of the College of Agriculture of Peking University, the College of Agriculture of Tsinghua University, etc. The fundamental courses of agriculture, such as Soil Science, Meteorology and Botany were taught by well-known professors in lectures usually with hundreds of students in big classrooms. For example, the course ofSoil Sciencewas taught by Professor Hua Meng. I have a deep impression of him and seem to see his smile and hear his voice today as clearly as if he was standing beside me. I remember that he defined the term “soil” as “a matter that has fertility”,with a standard Beijing accent and full rich voice.His sound logic of expression and much explicit lecturing allowed students to take notes easily.The teacher of the Entomology course that had a small class could always bring a boring lesson to life. He taught us how to analyze the regularity of insect life to put forward a treatment strategy accordingly. In his class, there were not only wall charts and pictures, but also live insects in small bottles. Hence, the students nicknamed him “Mr.Insect”. For the examinations, he would bring a few small insects and require his students to make replies to the scientific names, ecological habits,predators and effective control methods of these insects. For the Mensuration course, the teacher taught us how to use sizes of plane tables and gradienters. Taking Beijing Zhongshan Park as a fieldwork site, he would take us to live in the park to survey the landscape terrains and architectures.The teacher of Pomology course often took fresh and dried fruits to classroom for identification by the students. Sometimes, he would cut the fruits into small pieces for us to taste to deepen our impression on fruit species. The Architecture course was taught by a teacher from Tsinghua University.To learn Descriptive Geometry, the students need to understand space through plane. Mr. Jin Chengzao had long taught the course in Tsinghua University. He explained the principles and methods of drawing thoroughly and gave a lot of exercise assignments to consolidate the basis for aerial view drawing. For the drawing course, the students could learn ink rendering, ink grinding, filtering, and layered rendering. The painting course was taught by a professor from Central Academy of Fine Arts.

As a fortunate freshman of Grade 1952 of the major of Landscape Architecture, I believed it is the people that gave me hope so it is my mission to serve the people with my commitment to the profession. It was not until later that I learned that Mr. Wang Juyuan took our class as an experimental class to accumulate experience so as to expand enrollment and develop the discipline. Mr. Wang and Mr. Wu, together with Mr. Zhu Zixuan from Tsinghua University and Mr. Chen Youmin from Beijing Agricultural University prepared the teaching objectives and syllabuses for us. Then Mr.Wang convened a team of well-qualified teachers from all over the country. For example, Mr. Sun Xiaoxiang who taught the courses of Garden Art and Park Garden Design was seconded from Agriculture College of Zhejiang University. It was him who ushered us into the Chinese traditional landscape design. Only after a learner entered the academic door can he or she become a practitioner accumulating persistently practical experience and passing scholarly on the precious traditional gardens to the next generation. In the course of History of AncientChinese Gardens (Fig. 1), Mr. Wang unfolded the unique and excellent garden culture of the Chinese nation and called on the students to deeply explore the tradition and carry it forward.It was a great honor to have the national tradition imprinted in our mind and strive for it in our lives.In addition, I had the opportunity to learn foreign experiences, mainly from the course of the History of Foreign Gardens (Fig. 2) given by Mr. Wang and other courses reflecting the advanced urban and residential greening practices of the Soviet Union to deepen students’ understanding of principles and methods of urban greening planning and design.Mr. Wang had a good command of English, but he studied few Russian. With no Chinese version teaching materials, Mr. Wang spent days and nights reading the original Russian works to translate them into Chinese before he started each class. I still remember that with bloodshot eyes he gathered his strength to give lectures for us. We were deeply moved. Besides, he guided us to do greening design with the first project for a kindergarten in Beijing. The plants must be absolutely safe, nontoxic and thornless and can enlighten children to acquire some knowledge about the nature such as seasonal change in addition to general humane knowledge of plants. Through terrain survey,design, and drawing, we learned how to integrate theory and practice. Mr. Wang also took us to visit ancient gardens onsite. My class consisted of only 7 students, four girls and three boys. In summer,Mr. Wang treated us ice suckers when lecturing on the History of Chinese Gardens. After our graduation, he led us on scientific research programs of Beijing private gardens of the Ming and Qing Dynasties which contributed to our academic orientation in Chinese traditional garden.

Mr. Wang often explained to us the similarities and differences between horticulture and landscape architecture, which made us realize that landscape design is the core of the discipline. Mr. Sun Xiaoxiang invited by Mr. Wang had faithfully and excellently completed this arduous course task. In 1949, the People’s Republic of China was founded.In the early 1950s, Mr. Sun was employed by Mr. Yu Senwen the vice mayor of Hangzhou to complete the design of Viewing Fish at Flower Pond Park which was one of the top ten scenes of the West Lake, but at that time there was only the stone tablet remained in the pavilion. Mr. Sun with his inheriting and innovating spirit made the design of new flower pond, fish watching area according to the original artistic conception, along with the Cedar lawn plantation for members of the Communist Youth League and Young Pioneers to spend their activity days. In addition, he designed a natural peony garden by referring to the British practice of large lawn in natural landscape gardens.He had never been abroad before that, and he told us that he learned the practice of the lawn of the English-styled golf course of Shanghai Zhongshan Park. There were planning drawings for the layouts of all natural landscapes for the park including the contour construction drawings for the lawn, the flower pond, fish watching area and the peony garden. The plane and section drawings as well as the pen and light color aerial views of the combination of rockery and stone revetment with aquatic plants reflected the genuine tradition of integrating calligraphy, painting, poetry and seal which is a higher stage I had aspired for all day and night. Chinese Traditional Garden Art imprinted us like a brand. Mr. Sun said that he is the father of modern Chinese landscape design, which is true. His calligraphy and painting complemented his landscape design enabled his followers to gradually learn the real skill of“carrying philosophy in words” and “favoring philosophy through landscaping formations”. His classes contained deep-rooted traditional theories and required good hands-on ability. He often taught his students in person hand by hand. When it came to planting design, he showed his expertise.He studied in Agriculture College of Zhejiang University as an undergraduate where he not only systematically studied Landscape Dendrology and Floriculture with plenty of field practices. He knew many plants and their Latin names. In order to know more plant species, he entreated favor from the plant specimen-collecting staff to take him into the mountains. The staff was experienced in identifying plants by observing plants with his eyes,by smelling and sometimes by chewing and tasting to accurately identify the species and varieties. With a wealth of plant knowledge and combined with the theory of planting layout in Chinese landscape painting, Mr. Sun would tell us that “It is easy to find flowers and trees pleasing, and it is difficult to find out the authentic meaning of landscape settings.” He summarized the planting regimes into solitary planting, symmetrical planting, group planting, group patch planting and forest planting.For example, when talking about group planting,he impressed the students by illustrating how the three, four, five and seven trees can be taken as units for planting design to reflect the artistic inspiration to match vividly and outstandingly with the architecture, landscape rocks, etc. His academic reports and publications are also regarding traditional garden arts (Fig. 3).

His extensive and in-depth disciplinary knowledge came from his immense efforts.He was born a genuine farmer, but he loved culture and art. His elder brother a calligrapher keen on epigraphical art, thus since childhood he studied wood and stone engraving on basis of his calligraphy skills. When he was 90 years old, I pleaded him for seal cutting with the best stone I’ve collected. He agreed with pleasure and engraved my name “孟 兆 祯”. The three carved Chinese characters presents relatively long strokes for the lower parts reminding apparently me of“taking deep roots in learning traditions to grow luxuriant leaves”. I often read his calligraphy and paintings to find that he has both the foundation of traditional Chinese calligraphy and painting and the foundation of western perspective of sketch. He first set himself a discipline orientation,that is, the traditional garden art and landscape design. He was instructed by Master Xu Beihong in painting, but he felt he was not good enough in architecture, so he then went to the Nanjing Institute of Technology to seek instructions from Professor Liu Dunzhen. He had accumulated his intelligence strength and practical expertise of landscape design by “reading thousands of books and travelling thousands of miles”. After class, he would participate in teacher-student get-togethers.At a lantern riddle gathering, his word puzzle “the spring rain keeps falling and the wife sleeps alone”baffled everyone. In the end, he said the answer was the Chinese character “one (一)”. He further explained, “the spring rain keeps falling” means the sun is missing, hence one removes the character“sun (日)” from the character “spring (春)”,and then since “the wife sleeps alone” means the husband is not home, then the character “husband(夫)” is meanwhile removed from the character to get the final answer character “one (一)”. Only by then had I realized that cultural foundations were everywhere in life and I could not finish learning them all in my lifelong journey. I then made up my mind to learn to become a person who can not only write, draw and compose, but also can make literati landscape design. Later I found that Beijing Opera and gardens which I am obsessed with in my spare time are both true consolidated cultural carriers of the nation. Mr. Sun said, “a human brain has two halves, and one half is in charge of music which I am not good at.” The students didn’t believe and wanted to challenge him. In fact, Mr.Sun has quite good artistic accomplishment too.In class, he mentioned that before the founding of new China, affected by the symphony of one of Tchaikovsky’s movements, the Drama Society of Zhejiang University performed advanced dramas,and the director was Mr. Sun Xiaoxiang.

In 1956, I graduated with a Bachelor’s degree to become a teacher in my college. At the time of department adjustment, I was transferred from Beijing Agricultural University to Beijing Forestry College (now Beijing Forestry University)located at Xiaozhuang area, a Beijing suburban site where people came to hunt rabbits. It was at the beginning of my career and I felt nervous when I was informed by elder teachers that young teaching assistants should take on many tasks and not be picky. Therefore, I took on the teaching assistant work of two courses, the Descriptive Geometry and Landscape Engineering, and helped Mr. Sun draw teaching wall charts. At that time, I was neither good at drawing nor used to applying colors. In order to satisfy the lecturer, I practiced a lot in my spare time.I had not imaged that I was praised by Mr. Sun for my wall chart drawings of leaf diseases and insect pests for him. In addition, I was appointed as the class instructor of one class in Grade 1956. Students would come to me whenever they needed help.Before the celebration of one New Year, they asked me how much everyone should hand in and how to be cost effective when buying things? In the final analysis, it is a matter of how I cultivate myself by following the motto “The master teaches the trade,but the apprentice’s skill is self-made”. I consulted several senior professors in other departments, and their consensus was to mater the basic theory and master the basic skills of the discipline.

I also asked Mr. Sun what was the basic theory of landscape design, and he introduced me the three ancient books, Ji Cheng’sYuan Ye, Li Yu’sXian Qing Ou Jiand Wen Zhenheng’sZhang Wu Zhi, among which I believe the most difficult and important one isYuan Ye. I therefore invited three old masters proficient in traditional Chinese culture to explainYuan Yefor me. The first master was Mr. Wang Xuemei, a classmate of Comrade Chen Yi. I can understand his Hu’nan dialect, and he liked to quote from classics which did enlighten me now and then. The second master was Mr. Wang Weibai, a very old man with great accomplishments in literature and calligraphy. He started from the original text and expanded to calligraphy and painting to deepen my understanding. In particular,his explanation of “Bixing” (to express figuratively in literature) and “Jiejing” (to organize landscape settings by scenery borrowing) made me initially understand the essence of “imaginal thinking leads to magical achievement” for landscape design. The third one was Mr. Zhang Juncheng who studied forestry history. As my good friend met in Yunnan,he facilitated my understanding with discussions when giving me classes. In this way, I laid a solid foundation of the traditional basic theory (Fig. 4-6).

The basic skills of the discipline include literature and painting. I have had great interest in calligraphy since childhood and used inkstone and red clay to practice calligraphy. At the beginning, I liked the calligraphic style of Yan Zhenqing because the characters in this style appear plump and dignified like a life with full bones and flesh. When I was a first grade primary school kid, the owner of a breakfast shop of the town invited me to write a shop signboard “Kaitang” (meaning “open hours”) for him. This amazed me immensely. “The calligraphy is really useful”, I thought. Gradually, I practiced the calligraphy styles of Ouyang Xiu, Liu Zongyuan and clerical script. After graduating from college, I practiced the Fangsong calligraphy style and artistic calligraphy. I have a precious threadbound replica version ofThe Old Summer Palace Recordthat contains tall straight strokes and the writing resembles knife carving beautifully. The font is clear and elegant. I summarized the writing method to a pithy formula and wrote it down in Fangsong calligraphic style for demonstration in my drawing course. Some young teachers came to invite me to publicize my Fangsong calligraphy when they taught drawing courses. I once admired the calligraphers who could write artistic calligraphy, meeting the needs of writing banners and posters with Chinese characters symmetrically structured with full delicate strokes. Whenever my writing was requested, I offered help with my best calligraphic efforts. In this way, I was finally able to write engineering printing styled characters. For me, the prime difficulty is on drawing because the competence of drawing landscapes, architectures,rockeries and various structures is never achieved overnight. To learn landscape drawing, I referred to famous teachers’ and literati’s landscape paintings and illustrations published in academic journals.With primary grip of the perspective sketching there is little need to spend much time learning how to draw aerial views. I kept imitating the attached drawings of the roof types at the end of the bookChinese Architecture Historywhenever I had spare time. As time passed, I could draw aerial views with a line drawing pen. Learning how to draw rockery was another special project. I joined master Han Liangshun’s rockery team to learn how to set stones and build rockery and worked as a teaching assistant to help graduation thesis-writing students summarize ten-character formula regarding Zhang Weiting’s rockery structuring technique. I could not afford buying stones so used mortar, partly-burned coal balls instead and tied rope knots into small models.There was an inspiring story. Once time, I was assigned the task of compiling the chapter of stone setting and rockery building in the bookHistory and Development of Ancient Chinese Architecture(Fig. 7) that contained many illustrations. The chief editor knew my drawing level and said, “Just draw a sketch first, and then we’ll find someone to draw the formal version for publication.” These words irritated me so I determined to make them use my sketches. I could affirm my achievement from hardship year after year, but I did keep practicing despite of failures until I could artistically use a brush to draw mountain stones on typing paper.The chief editor first invited a traditional Chinese painter to imitate my drawings, but the effect was unsatisfactory. Then he invited an architect to draw,again not satisfied. In the end, he gave up and decided to publish my sketches in Hong Kong.

Among all basic discipline skills that I have specified, the most difficult skill is how to design stone settings and rockeries. To exercise the motto “reading thousands of books and travelling thousands of miles”, I can collect and read as many books as I can and spend my youth visiting all the high mountains and fairylands to witness widely the beauty of natural rocks. Nevertheless, it is difficult for me to replace the rockery masters in rockery construction. The only thing that I could do to make up for this was to learn from as many rockery masters as possible including the famous Zhang family in Beijing, Han family in Suzhou, Master Wang Qifeng in Nanjing and Master Lou Jianyong in Hangzhou. I regarded them as my teachers from bottom of heart,discussing with them about piling up rocks, helped them extract theories, participated in their attendant work, and learnt the essentials of selecting stones for rockery building. With every effort in observing famous rockeries to grasp the essentials of stone setting, I became finally able to put forward rockery model designs acceptable to the masters.

When mentioning the model, I remembered that I had more difficulties to overcome. As one that cannot well portrait the mountains in mind,how can a model be made properly? In the 1970s,Mr. Wu Jiasong the garden craft artist in Guangzhou specialized in sculpture had made many successful works. My first meeting with him came to be much congenial. In order to solve his problem of retaining several little-leaf banyan (Ficus microcarpavar.pusillifolia) trees in the courtyard of the highrise courtyard of the Baiyun Hotel, I put forward the idea of “banyan root wall” from the perspective of “learning from nature and following the rule of nature”. The specific design is to mix the fake banyan roots with the real ones so that after years of growth of real roots to cover over the fake, they would be integrated to become undistinguishable.Master Wu could not agree any more. He was quick in action. With a vivid model finished very soon,he reported to the management and the proposal was approved immediately. Later, I invited him to make models for me too which however were unfortunately too large and heavy to transport.

I realized that I must rely on my own efforts to overcome difficulties. For a time I try to make models using polystyrene grease as “backbone” and plasticine as “flesh”. It happened that I was going to make a design scheme for Xiyuan Hotel. With the framework set up, I invited a female graduate student who had studied sculpture in Tsinghua University to paste up the plasticine rockery model. I stood beside her waiting, watching and also trying to learn some skills. But I didn’t expect that with more than three hours passed, there was still no shape of stones.With only about 20 minutes left, I started to carve and even pinch the plasticine with a small penholder.Then the shape of stones appeared instantaneously.With mountains in my heart, the gullies, peaks, caves and valleys came out of my pen vigorously one after another. The images were so vivid and everyone was satisfied. Although the plasticine model was easy to deform under high temperature, the event of innovation established firmly my self-confidence in building rockery models.

The application of electric soldering irons to make rockery models. Calligraphy and landscape painting inspired me significantly too. I accidentally used my 15-Watt electric soldering iron to touch the polystyrene grease to find that the polystyrene grease can be shaped at will and the materials changed unexpectedly too. It became as hard as a stone surface. When touching it with hand, I even feel prickly. I was pleasantly surprised. After solving the problems of forming and meaning, there was only the problem of color. In order to keep the color, we decided to use acrylic paint. However, the polystyrene grease does not dye easily with coloring material absorbed. Then I added a little soap powder to the acrylic paint, which easily resolved the two problems (Fig. 8).

The first work was Xue Baochai’s courtyard in the Grand View Garden in Xuanwu District (now Xicheng District), Beijing. In the bookA Dream of Red Mansions, the mountains, and rockeries were described as abrupt and higher than the wall.Xue Baochai was a cold beauty good at scheming,outwardly gentle but inwardly insidious. Therefore,I designed caves in the rockery and planted trees with spiny white flowers. The scale was 1:100 and the model was vivid. With Master Han Liangyuan from Suzhou as the foreman, we cooperated with others to put the model into reality.

The first masterpiece was the Beijing Olympic Forest Park which covers a large area and needs cascade waterfalls. In the master plan, the scenery“Lin Quan Gao Zhi” (forest waterfall hangs over)named after an ancient book is consistent with the principle of “adapting historical traditions to create updated formations to meet the development needs of the times” inYuan Ye. At that time, Beijing was hosting the Olympic Games, and the central idea was “one world, one dream”.

This dream is world peace. The Games would be suspended in time of war and hosted in time of peace. Therefore, I suggested that the scenery name could be changed into “Lin Quan Ao Meng”(Olympic dream hangs over forest waterfalls).“Ao (奥)” in Chinese means both Olympic and wonderful secrets. Even after the Olympic Games,the scenery name can be interpreted as the great ambition of the Chinese Dream.

The first step is to recondition the existing landform, change the steep slopes into gentle valleys, and straights into curves. For the key parts,valleys were made into steep gullies, and the roads in the park were integrated with hills and rockeries.The athletes of the Olympic Games come from different countries. Therefore, the mountain spring water are multiply sourced for merging.When making earth mountains, contour lines and 1:100 model were used to form the primary and secondary water sources to confluence. With the springs and waterfalls joining the main stream and formation of the earth mountains and valleys,the site base of the rockery could be determined.We once wanted to carve “Yi Yu Tong Tian”(worldly lands under the same sky) on rock wall to represent “one world” and to name the pond“Cheng (澄)” to represent peacefulness. As stated in Chairman Mao’s poems “The world becomes peaceful and dustless for thousands of miles”, the single character “Cheng” connotes peacefulness or tranquility. Unfortunately, these design ideas were not implemented in the end. The piled stone hills in the former section were constructed under the guidance of master Han Jianguo, and the latter section completed under the guidance of the sonin-law of master Han Liangyuan. The two teams worked together to achieve a great success. At that time, the chairman of The British Landscape Institute visited the construction site and asked how such a huge project design was completed.When we told him the truth, he expressed his great admiration. The person in charge of the design project inspected the construction site during a heavy rain and found water leakage at the bottom of the stream, which was solved in time. In the planning of piedmont, the large tea house in the original plan was changed into a cave tea house.

Without The Communist Party of China(CPC), there would be no new China. Without new China, the current landscape architecture discipline would be nowhere. The 70 years witnessed the indispensable contribution the first generation teachers who pioneered the discipline and guided us and whom we owe uttermost thanks. We teaching faculty and students today should thank CPC with actions. It is the warm grace and care of CPC that create conditions for Landscape Architecture discipline to develop in terms of both scale and quality as it is today. With the lasting grace nurturing and warm care of CPC, the society of the discipline has evolved from an affiliate of the Architecture Society of China to an independent first-class discipline society. When academician Zhou Ganzhi was chairing the society, the IFLA membership of the People’s Republic of China was regained. The mouthpieces journal of the discipline,Chinese Landscape ArchitectureandLandscape ArchitectureJournal in both content and form has reached the level of a core journal in China. Moreover,the landscape greening in cities and towns of the country has been generally improved. The famous ancient mountains and gardens are protected and repaired, and people become increasingly satisfied with the quality of landscape architecture education,scientific research, and quality of construction practices. General Secretary Xi Jinping’s philosophy of “Lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets” are practiced and heartfeltly accepted by the nationals. On the basis of poverty alleviation, we are going to realize comprehensive modernization.General Secretary Xi Jinping requires us to scale new heights and all teachers and students should put his call into actions. In 2021, the whole country is celebrating the 100th anniversary of the founding of The Communist Party of China who will pass on its prime leadership generation after generation.The leadership of CPC Central Committee will be materialized into practical actions to build up the“community with a shared future for mankind”.As instructed by General Secretary Xi Jinping recently, we shall “adhere to the goal and direction of building up world-class university with Chinese characteristics” and “strive to construct discipline system, academic system, and discourse system with Chinese characteristics, in Chinese style and in Chinese manner”. As a long-term endeavors,Xi’s instructions shall be implemented with our unremitting efforts by integrating with the “beautiful China” and “Chinese dream” and to benefit the community of common destiny for all mankind.Our goal will certainly be achieved, and the “Chinese dream” and “beautiful China” will surely come true. China’s peace oriented development in face of difficulties has received extensive support from most countries in the world. We all shout from bottom of our hearts to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the founding of The Communist Party of China. Long live The Communist Party of China!

Sources of Figures:

All figures are provided by the author.

(Editor / LIU Yufei)

Translator: WANG Xiyue