《三言》中私人花園的空間意義

全文

(1)國立交通大學外國文學與語言學研究所碩士論文. 《三言》中私人花園的空間意義 Spatial Meanings of the Private Garden in San Yan. 研究生：張雅琪指導教授：周英雄. 教授. 中華民國九十五年六月.

(2) 《三言》中私人花園的空間意義 Spatial Meanings of the Private Garden in San Yan. 研究生：張雅琪. Student：Ya-Chi Chang. 指導教授：周英雄. Advisor：Ying-Hsiung Chou. 國立交通大學外國文學與語言學研究所碩士論文. A Thesis Submitted to Graduate Institute of Foreign Literatures and Linguistics National Chiao Tung University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements For the Degree of Master in Foreign Literatures. June 2006 Hsinchu, Taiwan, Republic of China. 中華民國九十五年六月.

(3) 《三言》中私人花園的空間意義. 指導教授：周英雄研究生：張雅琪. 國立交通大學外國文學與語言學研究所論. 文. 摘. 要. 透過深入閱讀，本論文企圖分析《三言》中，緊鄰或位於家中的私人花園的空間意義。文本中的私人花園，弔詭地包含了開放性與封閉性，因而成了一個特殊的空間── 隸屬於家卻又不同於家中的其他空間。此外，作為一個家中的空間，當人們在當中從事某些特殊的活動時，花園也扮演了某些特殊的角色，而透過這些活動，花園亦與文化或社會交互相連著。既然《三言》裡大部分的故事反映了人們各式各樣的生活方式，探討《三言》中的花園可以讓我們更深入地瞭解私人花園所隱含的文化與空間意涵。在《三言》中，位於家中的私人花園提供情人們一個能暫時對抗現實的理想位址。對園主而言，花園是個可以接待賓客與放鬆自我的地方。然而，花園不僅是個舒適的地方，它同時也是個處於家與社會之間的灰色地帶。甚至，透過花園，我們可以認識到人們對於自然的矛盾態度。就這些弔詭性而言，花園無疑地是個異質空間。座落於家中的邊緣地帶，花園吸納了邊緣性的特質，隨即導致了其多樣化的弔詭性。伴隨著這些弔詭性，花園變得異常複雜。唯一能討論這些弔詭性的方法，便是將花園視為一個揉雜的空間，一個異質空間。儘管我們無法概括花園所有弔詭的、甚或自相矛盾的部份，至少透過特定的個案研究，我們可以對他們有更進一步的了解。關鍵字：花園、私人花園、家、空間、空間意義、《三言》、弔詭性、異質空間、邊緣、邊緣性 i.

(4) Spatial Meanings of the Private Garden in San Yan. Abstract. Through close reading, this thesis attempts to analyze the spatial dimensions of the private garden at or adjacent to home in San Yan.. The private garden paradoxically. embodies the feature of enclosure and openness. As such, the garden becomes a special space—belonging to home yet different from any other spaces at home.. Besides, as space at. home, the garden plays some special role as people perform special activities. Through these activities, the garden is interlaced with culture and society.. Since most stories in San. Yan reflect people’s varied ways of life, a discussion of the garden in San Yan can give us a better understanding toward its cultural and spatial significance at a deeper level. In San Yan, the private garden at home offers lovers an ideal site that is temporarily counter to reality. To the owner, it is a place for him to entertain guests or relax himself. Yet the garden is not only a cozy place, but also a gray area lying between home and society. Moreover, through the garden, we can learn about people’s ambivalent attitudes toward nature. As far as these paradoxes are concerned, the garden is definitely a heterotopia. Located in the border area at home, the garden takes in the quality of marginality, which in turn results in the garden’s various paradoxes.. With so many paradoxes, the. garden becomes quite complicated. And the only way to discuss these paradoxes is to regard the garden as a space of hybridity, a heterotopia. Even though we can’t cover all the paradoxical, even self-contradictory, parts of the garden, at least through specific case studies we can have a better understanding of them.. Key words: garden, private garden, home, space, spatial meaning, San Yan, paradox, heterotopia, border, marginality ii.

(5) 誌. 謝. 這份論文的呈現，與資格考時所構思的寫作方向大相逕庭，其實在資格考後得知要整個從頭來過，腦袋有短暫的茫然，不過也很快地振作起精神，從大綱開始將架構重新建立起，現在，看到這份完稿，很慶幸當初必須重寫，將題目縮小之後，我才能更深入文本去發掘我之前所沒有思考過的問題點。這篇論文得以完成，最要感謝的人是我的指導教授，周英雄老師。從大學起，就很喜歡上周老師的課，老師深厚的文學涵養、旁徵博引的豐富學識常令聽課的同學景仰、折服不已，我想升讀系上的研究所，有一半的原因是為了能繼續上周老師的課。能得到老師的首肯來指導我的論文，真的感到非常地榮幸與開心，那種心情，就像是某天居然能有機會當面跟 T. S. Eliot 深入討論《荒原》般地緊張、期待與興奮，但也因如此，讓我在寫作論文時戰戰兢兢，深怕自己所呈現的作品不夠好、有負老師之名。研一時太過於偏向社會學的課程讓我一度對研究所感到恐懼，甚至研三時不顧尚未成形的論文任性地跑去實習──幸好老師這一路來都十分尊重我的決定，沒有給我壓力，才能讓我在實習一年後定下心來面對我的論文。對於我大綱中天馬行空的構思，老師總是適時地將我的思路拉回來，不讓我偏離得太遠，而對於自己過於主觀的盲點，老師也會適切地提點，讓我做更完整的補充與修改…(儘管改到最後已經走火入魔地變成了看到「Rewrite」就想摔筆、看到「？」就想翻桌的歇斯底里暴走狀態)…沒有老師的支持，我想我很難完成這篇論文。儘管如今論文已經完成了，還是有二件事讓我對老師感到很不好意思，一是我的英文寫作不夠優美流暢，讓老師總是花費很多精力改正我的修辭與文法；另外一個是總在老師最忙碌的時候還很不人道地寫信去催促老師撥出時間改我的論文。趁這個機會，我要大聲的說出這四年來我最想對老師說的話：「老闆，我對不起您～～～」(涕泗縱橫的真誠懺悔心情)，還有，「四年來真是辛苦您了！…(那年，在百忙中還特地撥空到實中演講…想想，我好像總是在增加老師的工作量)…尤其是這一年來您的辛勞與付出，真的真的真的很感謝您！我實在覺得很幸運，能遇到像您這麼這麼好的老闆！！」感謝潘呂棋昌老師，大學所修習的課程讓我得以與喜愛的中國文學保持緊密聯繫，李商隱、蘇東坡的詩作至今仍讓我愛不釋手，而從《鶯鶯傳》報告發展得來的花園意象亦在這篇論文中開花結果。這篇論文，不僅是大學思維的延續，也是在交大向老師修習的最後一門課，謝謝老師二次抽空和我討論論文，讓我得以知道自己還有哪些解釋不清的地方，能就定義模糊的概念再做些補充。能圓滿修完這門畢業學分，真的很感謝您。感謝胡萬川老師，修您那門民間文學的課真的讓我學到了許多，而每週在課堂上輪流發表論文思考進度時，老師所給我的意見十分寶貴，讓我驚覺自己將問題看得太過單純，進而不斷修正，尤其老師還大方地將當時未發表的失樂園論文印給我，讓我的視野更廣，真的是萬分感激。不過最要感謝的是二次口試中，老師所提出的建議，讓我得以將脈絡解釋得更清楚、章節更連貫。感謝老師的指導，也慶幸有老師當我的口試委員。. iii.

(6) 感謝支持我的爸媽，雖然有時你們催生論文的叨唸讓我煩得快崩潰，不過相對地，當我遇到寫作瓶頸時，也是你們默默忍受我呼天搶地的鬼吼鬼叫與無病呻吟。這一年來起起伏伏的心情點滴、轉折，都是你們幫我分擔了一半的重量，讓我在抒發寫作論文的鬱悶後能再次投入文字的構築中，辛苦的媽媽更是包辦了三餐與家事，外加殺蜘蛛、打蟑螂，讓我能專心寫作無後顧之憂。一年的半閉關生活，還好有你們在我身旁支撐著我、陪我一起度過，儘管偶有摩擦、偶有爭執，但在我遭遇瓶頸低潮時，也是因為有你們的打氣，才能努力突破。我想，這一生總是要這樣讓你們擔憂著、頭疼著、操煩著，還沒畢業時憂心我的論文，通過口試後又開始煩惱我將面臨的職場競爭，擔心我沒辦法順利找到好工作，就算找到了工作之後，還是有許多大大小小的問題需要你們煩心的吧。謝謝你們，我親愛的爸媽，你們分享了我的歡樂，分攤了我的煩惱，磨圓了我的稜角，包容了我的脾性，今後，這個超級麻煩任性難搞的女兒也要繼續請你們多多包涵指教了。感謝眾多成就我論文的親朋好友們，或許，你們曾懷疑過，認識我是不是這輩子誤交匪類，但是，賊船都上了，你們就認了吧。謝謝雨澄大方提供的空間講義與指點托福迷津，能通過地獄托福的魔鬼試煉，都要歸功於你在我考前點亮的明燈。謝謝建廷，三不五時被我打擾問空間定義與論文相關程序，卻還是不厭其煩地詳細解說。謝謝俊儒，每次到新竹都麻煩你當司機，也祝你論文寫作順利，相信我，半夜聽安室女神音樂邊寫論文真的有加持的作用，再不行的話，就規定自己論文沒寫完不准去日本。謝謝柏夆一路來的相互打氣，以及相互的腦力激盪，為對方提供意見與思考方向，你要趕快把身體養好，然後放手去做自己想做的事，最重要的，是別忘了還清你欠我的日出乳酪蛋糕債。謝謝 Ruby，在我每次耍笨的閒扯淡中有耐性的回應我…(雖然我懷疑你相隔很久才回訊的原因是因為你一邊分神看電視一邊敷衍我)，期待你回台之日再相聚。謝謝薇芬大天使，已經數不清你幫過我多少忙了，不提平常的義氣相幫，二次口試時架單槍、接口委、整理場地都是你一肩挑起…(我必須說，到現在我還是很無能地不會架單槍，都是你寵出來的)…就算口試完了，我的教師甄試還是有需要你勞心勞力的地方…嗯…由於你的勞苦功高，本人在此宣佈，你從大天使升等到天使長。謝謝凱莉對我這麼有信心，當我窩在牆角耍自閉劃圈圈時，總是一再地鼓勵我、相信我能跨越…(儘管我至今還是很懷疑你對我的信心到底從何而來)…因為有你台南行的相陪解壓，才讓我灰暗陰冷的論文生涯多了一丁點的繽紛色彩。謝謝 soga，雖然加班被公司操得半死，還是不幸被我抓住幫忙解決電腦問題，那次電腦中毒，在你疲累得意識不清時還要幫我找解毒資訊，真的是太感謝了。謝謝筱雯適時傳來的關懷，以及提供辦公室中有趣的話題來豐富我的苦悶生活。謝謝 Nancy，雖然加班到昏天黑地，還是不忘找我出去吃飯搏感情。謝謝榴槤，因為你的鼓勵相伴，我才能走完這段艱辛的旅程，你也要加油，我會支持你的。謝謝 Susan，因為有你幫忙印資料，我才能將原文補進我的論文中，論文能完成，你功不可沒。謝謝 Dayne，我永遠忘不了，今年第一次也是最後一次(簡稱：空前絕後)從你手中領到的紅包，長大後第一次被你感動到，要不是今年再不畢業不僅天怒人怨還會因為領個肄業証被踹出家門，還真想賴個一年，再領你一次紅包。謝謝 Keven，(假裝)忙碌中還要被我纏著騷擾啦咧耍任性，身為堂妹真是難為你了，也謝謝四叔和四嬸，謝謝你們在台北的關切照顧與激勵。由衷感謝你們大家！ Joyce 於 2006.05.15 凌晨有感 iv.

(7) Table of Contents. Chinese Abstract........……………………………………………………………i English Abstract……....…………………………………………………………ii Acknowledgements…....……………………………………………………….iii Table of Contents........…………………………………………………………..v I.. Introduction………..………………………………………………………1. II.. Love in the Garden…………….………………………………………….17 2.1. Introduction…...…………………………………………..………………………17. 2.2. The Garden for lovers: An Ideal Site Counter to Reality...……………………….28. 2.3. The Garden: An Important Space for Lovers to Escape from Mores Temporarily.36. III.. The Significance of the Garden to the Owner, and Other………………..44. IV.. The Garden and Nature…………………………………………………..54. V.. 4.1. The Garden and the Fairyland ..………………………………………….……….54. 4.2. The Garden and Nature…………………………………………………………...62. Conclusion……………………………………………………………….70. Work Cited ...…………………………………………………………………..75. v.

(8) Chang 1. Introduction This paper does not pretend to present a comprehensive history of the Chinese garden, nor the exquisite styles of the Chinese garden architecture. What I attempt to do is discuss the significance of the garden in San Yan1 (三言), a composite title for Yushi Mingyan 《喻世 ( 明言》, publication date unknown, but is the earliest of the three), Jingshi Tongyan (《警世通言》, 1624), and Xingshi Hengyan (《醒世恆言》, 1627), three collections of short stories written by Feng Meng-long (馮夢龍, 1574-1646) in the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644).. The. origin of the Chinese garden will not be discussed here, neither will the ways of building the Chinese garden be analyzed.. Also, one may not be altogether satisfied if he/she looks. forward to a comparison between gardens from different cultures: the Western garden versus its Chinese counterpart, or the Chinese northern garden versus that in southern China; there will not be that kind of discussion, either.. What I am proposing here is a close examination. of the stories to find out what spatial significance the garden has. exactly about all the gardens in San Yan.. However, I’m not talking. What I try to deal with is simply the private garden. located adjacent to home, which I shall talk about later after I define what the garden in this paper is. I’d like to use San Yan as my texts in that during the Ming Dynasty, the development of the private garden reaches a climax.. At that time, it is fashionable for. wealthy people to maintain a garden at their leisure time.. 1. Besides, those who couldn’t. My Romanization rationale in the thesis will be Pin-yin. Only Taiwanese author names will be spelled as Wade-Giles, others (Chinese author names and book titles) will be Pin-yin..

(9) Chang 2. afford a garden would also go visiting others’ gardens instead, thus turning the touring of the garden (遊園) a vogue.. Since the garden culture is quite well-developed by then, focusing. on the garden in the Ming dynasty may give us a better understanding of its spatial meanings. Besides, Feng Meng-long is an outstanding folklorist in the Ming Dynasty, and the three collections contain various valuable folk materials.. As such, researching on the garden in. San Yan will offer us more perspectives in investigating the function or the significance of the garden. What does the “spatial meaning” refer to? Briefly speaking, it refers to the concept related to space, but it’s more than the meaning of space itself.. For example, the terms such. as boundary, center, closure, and openness all connect with space, but we can’t generalize them from the concept of space.. Boundary not only points out the position but also brings. in the topic of being exiled from the center, while core suggests the center of authority. Likewise, closure and openness don’t simply suggest the state of a space; furthermore, they also involve the relationship between the individual and society, not merely indicating space itself.. Therefore, the spatial meaning is some idea about space, but it correlates closely with. socio-cultural issues. Chris Barker has further clarification on this in Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice: Human interaction is situated in particular spaces which have a variety of social meanings. For example, a ‘home’ is divided into different living spaces—front.

(10) Chang 3. rooms, kitchens, dining rooms, bedrooms, etc.—which are used in diverse ways and in which we carry out a range of activities with different social meanings. Accordingly, bedrooms are intimate spaces into which we would rarely invite strangers, where a front room or parlour is deemed the appropriate space for such an encounter. (290) The social division of space…into the appropriate uses of kitchens, bedrooms and parlours is of course cultural. Distinct cultures design homes in different ways, allocating contrasting meanings or modes of appropriate behaviour. (291) The reason I’d like to talk about the spatial meanings of the garden is similar to Barker’s viewpoint. As a space at home, the garden must play some special role, in which people have special activities. The garden is not solely a space.. With human activities, the garden. must be interrelated with culture or society. To find out the significance of the garden, I shall focus my discussion on its spatial meanings, from which we can learn more social perspectives instead of taking it as a space only. Before I start writing this paper, I’ve searched for information on the Chinese garden. A Chinese garden normally evokes an image with a meandering path that leads visitors into its compound, where various plants grow, while fish swim in a pond circled by rocks—there is even a pavilion for visitors to take a rest and enjoy the scenes. It’s only natural that most of the data are concerned with its architectural aspects: the stones, the plants, the layout, and.

(11) Chang 4. other architectural aesthetics of the Chinese garden.. However, these points are by no means. what I am curious about, and thus I was inspired to find out my own interpretation. I’d like to focus on the spatial significance instead of historical or geographical aspects because as a constructed space, the garden shows many paradoxes.. “Paradox,” according to Cambridge. Dictionaries Online2, is: “a situation or statement which seems impossible or is difficult to understand because it contains two opposite facts or characteristics.”. In the following. chapters, we’ll go into many of the garden’s paradoxes, such as love (even sexual freedom) and mores, the public and the private, the divine and the horrible, and so on.. The. discussions to follow will hopefully highlight the fact that the garden seems to be full of various contradictories. But here I shall put off those paradoxes until the following chapters and talk instead about the garden first. What does a “garden” mean?. According to Cambridge Dictionaries Online, its. definition is: “a piece of land next to and belonging to a house, where flowers and other plants are grown, and often containing an area of grass”3. In the early Chinese dictionary. ShuoWen JieZi (《段注本說文解字》，280), “yuan refers to a place where fruits are grown”. 4. under the radical of wei (囗, which means to surround). More concretely, it is “a place where flowers, fruits, trees, and vegetables are grown, and it’s often enclosed by a wall or a. 2. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=57464&dict=CALD. http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=32191&dict=CALD. 4 My translation. The original is:「園，所以樹果也。」 From Ministry of Education’s online dictionary《異體字字典》(Yi-ti-zi Zi-dian). http://140.111.1.40/yitia/fra/fra00736.htm 3.

(12) Chang 5. fence.”5. And the reason I choose “garden” to represent yuan is that besides a place where. flowers are grown, it’s “next to and belonging to a house.” Therefore, the area I discuss in this paper is an area next to and belonging to a house with a wall or a fence around it, and an area that grows flowers and other plants. A garden is not just a place; it is also a space. What’s the distinction between “place” and “space”? In The Dictionary of Human Geography6, they are defined as: Space is organized into places often thought of as bounded settings in which social relations and IDENTITY are constituted (cf. TERRITORY; TERRITORIALITY).. Such places may be officially recognized. geographical entities or more informally organized sites of intersecting social relations, meanings and collective memory. . . . Place was seen as more subjectively defined, existential and particular, while space was thought to be a universal, more abstract phenomenon, subject to scientific LAW. The humanistic concept of place, largely drawn from PHENOMENOLOGY (e.g. Relph, 1976; Tuan, 1977), was concerned with individuals’ attachments to particular places and the symbolic or . metonymic quality of popular concepts of place which link events,. 5. My translation, according to Academia Sinica’s online dictionary: http://words.sinica.edu.tw/sou/sou.html. The original is:「種植花果、樹木、菜蔬的地方，四週通常圍有垣籬。」 6 Johnston, R. J., Derek Gregory, Geralding Patt, and Michael Watts Ed. The Dictionary of Human Geography (4th ed.). Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 2000..

(13) Chang 6. attitudes, and places to create a fused whole.. It was concerned with. meaning and contrasted the experienced richness of the idea of place with the detached sterility of the concept of space. (582) Briefly speaking, place is more specific or local, while space is more abstract and global. For example, if I am concerned about the garden at my home, or gardens in Tainan, that’s because these gardens are special to me—maybe I have grown up there, or maybe I have lots of memory that inspires my nostalgia towards them, especially when I am away from them. This kind of discussion thus puts the garden in the context of place—it’s about places “bound” to a specific locality. is the garden a space or a place?. On the contrary, space is more fluid and conceptual. Then, Here we encounter a paradox because the garden discussed. in this paper is both a space and a place.. On the one hand, I’d like to talk about the garden’s. spatial meanings—I am intrigued by the universal turns of mind behind special personal emotions, and thus the ideas of the garden are more “space” than “place”. On the other hand, I discuss the garden only insofar as it belongs to the house, where personal life experiences are involved.. As far as this point is concerned, the garden is bound to a specific. locality, and it is thus more “place” than “space”. It appears that the garden is full of paradoxes, and thus it leaves various possibilities for its discussion.. Because of the. difficulty in defining the garden, searching for its spatial significance becomes more interesting and challenging..

(14) Chang 7. What is a Chinese garden? view.. Many suggestions have been made from various points of. Some critics try to put the Chinese garden under the category of history, and define. what the Chinese garden is from dynasty to dynasty, such as Meng Ya-nan’s (孟亞男) study in Zhong-guo Yuan-lin Shi (《中國園林史》) and Chang Jia-ji’s (張家驥) in Zhong-guo Zao-yuan Shi (《中國造園史》). However, those who try to make this effort have to face the first obstacle: difficulties in tracing its origins. Meng suspects, “The origin of the Chinese garden can be traced back to the period of Shang (商, 1751-1111 B.C.) or Zhou (周, 1111-403 B.C.).”7 (2) Lou Qing-xi (樓慶西) states, “The Chinese garden has an early start, and goes through a long development in history.. According to existent documents, in the Shang. period there are gardens named yuan (苑) or you (囿).”8 (9). And Wang Duo (王鐸) argues,. “therefore the garden of the ‘mulberry forest’ (桑林) appears before the Xia Dynasty (夏, 2205-1766 B.C.). . . . Without a question, we can take it [the mulberry forest] as the prototype of the Chinese garden, as well as the spatial form of the garden’s fountainhead.”9 (41) From inscriptions on turtle decks or records in books, scholars make known their hypotheses about the origin of the Chinese garden; however, no one can be sure what the origin exactly is. Moreover, their assumptions leave a great deal to be doubted.. 7. For example, the Xia. My translation. The original:「中國古代園林的歷史，最早可以追溯到商周時代。」(2) My translation from Zhong-guo Yuan-lin Yi-shu (《中國園林藝術》). The original:「中國古代園林起源很早，又經歷了一個漫長的發展歷史。據文獻記載，遠在西元前二十一世紀的商代就有了苑或稱為囿。」 (9) 9 I translate from Zhong-guo Gu-dai Yuan-yuan Yu Wen-hua (《中國古代苑園與文化》). The original is: 「故『桑林』之園在夏代以前，已經出現…把其[桑林]作為遠古時代早期園林的雛形，作為我國園林濫觴時期的空間景象形態，應該是肯定的。」(41) 8.

(15) Chang 8. Dynasty remains a legend till now; we can’t be sure if it exists or not, let alone attribute the origin of the garden to the so-called ‘mulberry forest.’ Besides, yuan (苑) or you (囿) is originally an area for the emperor to hunt in, and the area is usually a natural forest where some animals are bred and kept.. Therefore, it’s quite different from what we think a garden. is now, and to consider yuan or you the prototype of the garden is still an open question to us. Wang Yi (王毅) says, “The history of China is too long for us to imagine what the initial garden should be.. Even if we consult historical documents, the history is that of. accumulative knowledge and can do nothing to identify the origin just according to some simple words or phrases.”10 (2-3). Because the origin of the garden is too complicated to. clarify, I won’t focus on this topic in this paper. Moreover, besides gardens in the northern vis-à-vis the southern parts of China, the gardens can be roughly categorized as imperial gardens, private gardens and public ones. It’s quite difficult to clarify what Chinese gardens are in one specific period, let alone discuss them throughout the entire duration of Chinese history.. Since it probably doesn’t make too. much sense to combine all gardens as one category, what one can do (if he indeed tries to cover them all) is make a brief introduction of each type of gardens without discussing it in depth.. 10. My translation from Yuan-lin Yu Zhong-guo Wen-hua (《園林與中國文化》). The original is:「上古以來中國的歷史實在太漫長了，憑今天我們對園林的印象去推想它初時的面貌未免謬之千里，即便是漢人對古史的解釋，因為也早已是『層累地造成的中國古史』，所以若僅僅是片言隻語，拿了來恐怕也還是茫然無所措處。」(2-3).

(16) Chang 9. Others who recognize these difficulties may then link the Chinese garden with the culture of the literati, and try to find a reasonable explanation against the literati culture, or known as the culture of shi (士) in Chinese.. This is obvious when Wang Duo and Wang Yi. talk about the relationship between the Chinese garden and the tradition of literati recluses. They both mention that out of the idea of reclusion, the garden also undergoes historical changes. One apparent example is that they both agree the design of the Chinese garden presents “a world in a pot” (壺中天地) after the Mid-Tang period (中唐), and evolves into “a mountain11 in a mustard’s seed” (芥子納須彌) in Ming—both corresponding to the reclusion of literati. “A world in a pot,” derived from a story in the Fang-shu Zhuan of Hou-han Shu12 (《後漢書‧方術傳》), is about a fantastic visit in a small pot which contains a world with gorgeous buildings and abundant food.. Wang Duo relates this concept of “a world in a. pot” to the idea of the garden, and says: That is, to build a garden in a small place, but this place includes everything, even the cosmos, and in this place people can communicate with nature and the cosmos through the spirit. When this concept is used in creating a garden, it presents a miniature of nature, where people can see the features of the universe.13 (247). 11. The mountain refers to the mountain of Xu-mi (須彌山). According to The Wei-mo Jing (《維摩經》), the mountain is 1,680,000 kilometers in height. 12 The history of the Eastern Han (東漢，25-220) period. 13 I translate this passage from Wang’s Zhong-guo Gu-dai Yuan-yuan Yu Wen-hua (《中國古代苑園與文化》). The original is:「即在小空間中營構園林，包羅萬象，涵蓋宇宙，寄託心靈與自然、與宇宙的相通。…這.

(17) Chang 10. Besides, “a mountain in a mustard’s seed” comes from Wei-mo Jing (《維摩經》).. Literally,. it means a mustard’s seed can contain a huge mountain, while this concept is extended to mean that our mind is big enough to contain universal knowledge although it’s small in size. Wang Yi relates this concept to the garden, and describes the garden as “consisting of the scenes with small but complete features and making it a perfect system of gardening.”14 (534) They use allusions of “a world in a pot” and “a mountain in a mustard’s seed” as the distinctive feature of the garden, trying to provide an evolutionary account for the Chinese garden, and this evolution is also a reflection of the development of the literati culture. They states that in the period of Mid-Tang, the literati use the concept of “a world in a pot” to build gardens next to their houses. Therefore, although the literati serve in the government, they can still retreat to their gardens after retirement.. When it comes to the Ming period, the. concept of the “pot-world” is replaced by the concept of the “mustard’s seed,” and in the small space of the “mustard seed,” the literati indulge in the entertainment of gardens.. It’s. apparent that both “a world in a pot” and “a mountain in a mustard’s seed” show a paradox that a macrocosm lies in a microcosm.. However, if we think twice, we’ll find “a world in a. pot” and “a mountain in a seed” refer to the same thing in concept—a small place containing a great variety of things—especially when it’s practiced in the design of gardens. Wang Duo and Wang Yi just play rhetorical tricks by using different terms to present one 一原則用作園林藝術創作，就…是追求一個微縮的典型自然空間，從中會意氤氳天地，神遊宇宙。」(247) 14 I translate this passage from Wang Yi’s Yuan-lin Yu Zhong-guo Wen-hua (《園林與中國文化》). The origin is:「以體量很小但十分完備的景觀要素組合為完整的園景體系。」(534).

(18) Chang 11. concept—their distinctions in presenting the Chinese garden are thus unconvincing. Furthermore, they attribute the literati’s indulgence in physical pleasure to the garden, pointing out that this phenomenon is the typical representation of the literati culture in the Ming period—this assumption is too arbitrary and leaves much to be argued.. The. indulgence in the garden is a small part of the literati’s cultural reflections and by no means represents the whole picture in the culture of the literati.. Wang Pei-qin (王佩琴) also. criticizes Wang Yi in Shuo Yuan: Cong “Jin Ping Mei” Dao “Hong-lou Meng” (《說園：從〈金瓶梅〉到〈紅樓夢〉》); she says: About the relationship between the garden and the literati, perhaps most critics will relate it to the reclusion culture of traditional literati, and in Yuan-lin Yu Zhong-guo Wen-hua (《園林與中國文化》), Wang Yi is of such a view. . . . There are many ways in presenting the reclusion culture, one of which is living in the garden.. Some literati would choose the lifestyle of living in the. garden, yet it does not mean living in the garden is for reclusion—equating the two things is indeed dangerous.15 (5) I agree with Wang Pei-qin because as I’ve mentioned before, the garden has various paradoxes. It’s not appropriate to attribute one aspect to the garden and think that it explains. 15. My translation. The original is:「關於園林與文人的關係，大概最多的說法是與傳統士人之隱文化相關，王毅《園林與中國文化》一書可謂是此說的擁護者。…隱逸文化有許多的方式，園居只是其中的一種，有些文人會選擇園居的生活方式，但是不是說園居就一定是為了隱逸，二者直接畫上等號其實是有很大的危險的。」(5).

(19) Chang 12. the whole garden culture.. Thus, either for a historical or a cultural perspective, using one. category to embody the history of the Chinese garden will sooner or later meet its impasse, and it’s likely to mislead readers into thinking such a category represents all features of the Chinese garden. To avoid such an impasse, focusing our discussion on a specific period of time is a possible way to avoid viewing the Chinese garden as a historically coherent object. Recently it has become a strategy in writing about the Chinese garden. For example, Mao Wun-fang (毛文芳) in Wu, Xing-bie, Guan-kan: Ming-mo Qing-chu Wen-hua Shu-xie Xin-tan (《物‧性別‧觀看─明末清初文化書寫新探》) uses paintings and texts to discuss the spatial meaning of the garden in the Ming period. Hou Nai-hui (侯迺慧) talks about what influence the garden has on the poems of the Tang Dynasty in Shi-qing Yu You-jing: Tang-dai Wen-ren De Yuan-lin Sheng-huo (《詩情與幽境─唐代文人的園林生活》), and Wang Hong-tai (王鴻泰) discusses the garden in the city during the Ming and Qing periods in the essay, “Mei-gan Kong-jian De Jing-ying: Ming-Qing Jian De Cheng-shi Yuan-lin Yu Wen-ren Wen-hua” (〈美感空間的經營─明、清間的城市園林與文人文化〉). be my strategy to focus on the text San Yan in the Ming period.. Actually, it will also. Be that as it may, such. strategy still runs its risk if the type of garden under discussion is not specifically defined. In Poetic Emotions and Quiet Places, Hou lumps the public garden and the private garden together without distinguishing them, thus rendering her argument confusing.. Even.

(20) Chang 13. narrowing down the range and focusing only on the private garden is not enough because the private garden can be classified as the garden next to the house, and the garden in a villa. It’s apparent the garden next to the house is more private than that in a villa because one is located within the general confine of home, while the other is simply a place for an occasional visit.. For instance, although both Mao Wun-fang and Wang Hong-tai take Qi. Biao-jia’s (祁彪佳) Garden of Yu (寓園) as an example to demonstrate that the garden owner can’t prevent the visitors from intruding into his garden, this is not persuasive in that the Garden of Yu, or Mount. Yu (寓山), is actually a little mountain. prevents the visitors from entering a mountain?. Thus, how can the owner. To keep the argument from becoming. unnecessarily vague, the first thing to do is to define what I’m going to discuss in this paper. As mentioned before, I’d like to talk about the garden in San Yan. However, I’m not going to deal with all gardens in San Yan with the exceptions of private gardens.. More. specifically, I want to talk about the private garden, not located in the villa, but at home only. Why I am so interested in the private garden at home is because it paradoxically presents the features of enclosure and openness. And under such enclosure and openness, the garden becomes a special space—belonging to home yet differing from any other space at home. Therefore, although in San Yan there are imperial gardens, public gardens, grave gardens, vegetable gardens, gardens in the temple, and gardens in the villa, they will not be discussed here.. The reason that I choose San Yan as my text is because it’s a collection containing 120.

(21) Chang 14. pieces of popular short stories.. Since most stories in San Yan reflect common people’s ways. of life, discussing the garden in San Yan can give us a better understanding toward the garden’s cultural and spatial significance. edited/adapted by Feng Meng-long.. Besides, the 120 stories are collected and. As Feng is not the original author but an editor/adapter,. San Yan contains various thoughts and customs in different times.. Thus, San Yan offers us. abundant data in discussing spatial meanings of the private garden from varied aspects. Focusing on San Yan only is sufficient for this paper. In the following chapters, we’ll find the garden is like a space located between reality and ideal. Although it belongs to home, it is different from home and like an “other” space. In other words, it’s heterotopia.. According to Michael Foucault, heterotopia is:. [S]omething like counter-sites, a kind of effectively enacted utopia in which the real sites, all the other real sites that can be found within the culture are simultaneously represented, contested and inverted.. Places of this kind are. outside of all places, even though it may be possible to indicate their location in reality.. Because these places are absolutely different from all the sites that they. reflect and speak about, I shall call them, by way of contrast to utopias, heterotopias.16 To Foucault, utopias may be perfect and ideal, but it doesn’t really exist. The real sites that. 3 Michael Foucault, “Of Other Space,” Diacritics (Spring 1996), p.24..

(22) Chang 15. differ from utopias are thus heterotopias: they exist in the lived reality. They are related to all other places, but they also contradict them.. He uses the mirror as an example and. explains that the mirror itself is a heterotopia because it exists in reality and reflects an illusory world, a utopia in the mirror. Through heterotopia, two sites contrast each other, but paradoxically reinforce their existence, and that’s why Foucault calls heterotopia a counter-site.. The garden plays precisely such a role.. In “Of Other Space,” Foucault also. relates the garden to heterotopia. He says: [B]ut perhaps the oldest example of these heterotopias that take the form of contradictory sites is the garden.. We must not forget that in the Orient the. garden, an astonishing creation that is now a thousand years old, had very deep and seemingly superimposed meanings. . . . and all the vegetation of the garden was supposed to come together in this space, in this sort of microcosm. . . . The garden is the smallest parcel of the world and then it is the totality of the world. The garden has been a sort of happy, universalizing heterotopia since the beginnings of antiquity. (25-26) What Foucault doesn’t clarify is that although the garden is a heterotopia, as a counter site to other sites outside the garden, it is simultaneously counter to itself.. Why?. Because the. garden is apparently a site created to imitate nature, and to present the natural features of nature.. But in fact, it is ironically artificial—all the plants, rocks, ponds, paths, pavilions,.

(23) Chang 16. and other structures are all set according to aesthetic designs, especially after the gardening skills and culture that evolve through time.. Therefore, the garden is quite paradoxical.. And in San Yan, such a paradoxical feature is clearly visible upon close scrutiny. In Chapter 1 I’d like to talk about love in the garden, discussing what role the garden plays in San Yan’s love stories. In Chapter 2, I’ll discuss the significance of the garden to the owner, examining the garden’s varied functions.. In Chapter 3, I’ll focus on the. relationship between nature and the garden, trying to find out why sometimes the garden is pleasant, whereas sometime it’s dreadful to us.. In every chapter I’ll compare related stories. in San Yan, looking for the garden’s meaning. After the discussion, we’ll find that the garden is quite a paradoxical space. Although the garden seems to be a common space in San Yan, it’s more than what we think it is. It not only offers a secret space for lovers, but also plays an important part in the context of culture. Only through close reading can we realize its importance hidden in the stories..

(24) Chang 17. Chapter 1 Love in the Garden I.. Introduction In traditional China, women could not be as free as they are now.. They are not. allowed to go out nor to meet males casually because they are restricted to the stern Chinese mores.. I don’t mean to criticize how unfair the Chinese mores are to women, nor emphasize. how much suffering women are in in that male-centered society.. Likewise, I don’t attempt. to suggest how free women would be, either. What I want to submit here is simply a background description so that I can develop my main argument in the following parts. Also, from the background we can learn the fact that there are still chances for women to go out, which is somehow reflected in stories.. One of the stories I’d like to discuss later is. about a situation in which a woman visits a garden and encounters her couple.. Because the. garden is a quiet, beautiful, and enclosed space, the author tends to arrange the characters’ meetings in the garden, especially in those so-called “Cai-zi Jia-ren”. 17. stories.. In Hua-ben. Yu Cai-zi Jia-ren Xiao-shuo Yan-jiu (《話本與才子佳人小說研究》) Hu Wan-chuan (胡萬川) states, “encounters in the garden are simply a means to lovers’ meeting, but it’s not all ‘Cai-zi Jia-ren’ stories do contain this motif.”18. 17. Although just as Hu says, not all “Cai-zi Jia-ren”. Scholar-beauty is Zhou Jian-yu’s (周建渝) translation about the term of “Cai-zi Jia-ren” (才子佳人). According to Christina Shu-hwa Yao, it especially refers to the idealized love story between men and women. (see her Cai-zi Jia-ren: Love Drama During the Yuan, Ming, and Qing Periods, p.3) However, the term is more than that. For further definition and discussion, please consult Zhou Jian-yu’s (周建渝) Cai-zi Jia-ren Xiao-shuo Yan-jiu (《才子佳人小說研究》) and Hu Wan-chuan’s (胡萬川) Hua-ben Yu Cai-zi Jia-ren Xiao-shuo Yan-jiu 《 ( 話本與才子佳人小說之研究》). Both deal extensively on the definition of the term “Cai-zi Jia-ren”. 18 My translation. The original is:「花園邂逅只是兩相遇的一種方式而已，並不是所有的才子佳人小說都如此安排。」(214).

(25) Chang 18. stories arrange lovers’ meeting in the garden, to some extent the garden is still significant since there are still stories relying on such an arrangement.. Therefore, before I start my. discussion over the text about meetings in the garden, I shall give a historical background about women’s sightseeing first, which is related to the practice of touring the private garden. After the Mid-Ming (Ming Dynasty, 1368-1644), traditional ideas about the Chinese mores are challenged due to the gradual shift from an agricultural to an increasingly commercial economy in urban China.. In Qie Ji Dao-xin Yu Ming-yu: Ming-dai Ren-wu. Feng-su Kao-lun 《 ( 且寄道心與明月─明代人物風俗考論》), Teng Xin-cai (滕新才) writes: After the Mid-Ming period, the historical improvement breaches the system of feudal morality, and leads to a climax in women’s liberation.. This. improvement results from the inner change in the social and economic structure. The period after the Mid-Ming is a specific period, in which the advanced development of commodity economy corrodes the foundation of more or less self-sufficient economy, and greatly changes people’s original way of living and thinking, breaking the traditional order of class, turning an enclosed society into an active one. . . . [A]nd the unstable state in business loosens the structure of family, changes social relation, turns the traditional ethics to indifference, and to some extent prompts the rise of women’s social status. Undoubtedly, the development of commodity economy does something.

(26) Chang 19. positive to women’s liberation, and also brings in new perspectives on women’s issue after the Mid-Ming period.19 (224-25) Things may not be necessarily so optimistic as Ten mentions, especially on women’s issue. We can’t help doubting Teng’s definite tone: “the historical improvement led to a climax in women’s liberation” and “prompted the rise of women’s social status”, for that there is still evidence pointing out that women are required to safeguard their chastity; moreover, women are encouraged to die for their chastity in the Ming Dynasty.. For example, in Zong-guo. Li-shi Zhong De Fu-nü Yu Xing-bie (《中國歷史中的婦女與性別》), Zang Jian(臧健) uses family injunctions as an example to demonstrate that in the Ming Dynasty, “women are more constrained by feudal mores from family injunctions than they do in the Song Dynasty.”20 (342). Besides, in Zhong-guo Fu-nü Sheng-huo Shi (《中國婦女生活史》), Chen Dong-yuan. (陳東原) takes Ming Shi (《明史》) as an example, saying that from the numerous records in the Lie Nü Zhuang (〈列女傳〉), we can see “the Ming Dynasty encourages women to safeguard their chastity the most.”21 (178). Therefore, we have to maintain our suspicion. towards Teng’s statement that the historical improvement leads to a climax in women’s. 19. My translation. The original is:「到了明朝中後期，歷史的發展卻把封建道德體系沖開了一個大缺口，形成了一個婦女解放運動的高潮。這種異動的力量來源於當時社會經濟結構內部的變化。明朝中後期是一個特殊的歷史時代，商品經濟的高度發展逐漸侵蝕了自給自足的自然經濟基礎，強有力地改變了人們固有的生活方式和思維模式，打破了傳統的等級秩序，使一個封閉的凝滯的社會驟然活躍起來。…而商業經營盈虧不定禍福無常的不穩定性，又必然使家庭紐帶鬆弛，社會關係轉型，傳統倫常淡漠，婦女的社會地位在一定程度上有所提高。毫無疑問，商品經濟的發展有利於婦女的解放，這是明朝中後期婦女問題出現了一些新動向的社會基礎。」(224-25) 20 My translation. The original is:「婦女從家法中接受封建禮教的束縛，其程度較宋代婦女實在是重了很多。」(342) 21 My translation. The original is:「明朝是獎勵貞節最力的時代」(178).

(27) Chang 20. liberation. However, one thing we can’t deny is that the development of commodity economy does bring about some changes to the society.. Among those changes, one of the. phenomena is the travel boom, especially when the participants includes lots of women.22 In traditional times, a woman is confined to her house—even parts of the houseroom.. To. appear in the public area is considered an improper behavior for women, and thus their spheres of activities are limited to the house and the inner chambers—this is especially so for the aristocracy ladies. But this situation is changed considerably after the Mid-Ming. Not only Teng Xin-cai but also Wu Ren-shu (巫仁恕) notices this. In She-chi De Nü-ren: Ming-Qing Shi-qi Jiang-nan Fu-nü De Xiao-fei Wen-hua (《奢侈的女人─明清時期江南婦女的消費文化》), Wu says: In the consumption of leisure sightseeing, the idea of women’s sightseeing is still conservative in the Early-Ming . . . however, this changes after the Mid-Ming, and we could read the change from several aspects. women from the aristocracy starts going on sightseeing trips.. First of all, From women’s. poems or essays written in the Late-Ming and Early-Qing, we read that besides going sightseeing with their husbands, it becomes a fashion for women of the aristocracy to have fun going sightseeing after they are done with their. 22. About the trend of tourism, Teng Xin-cai (滕新才) has a specific discussion in the chapter “Ming-chao Zhong-hou Qi Lü-you Wen-hua Lun” (明朝中後期旅遊文化論) in the book mentioned in note 1. Therefore, I just focus on the part of women’s tour..

(28) Chang 21. housework.23 (36) Here “sightseeing” refers to women rowing a boat in the lake, or going to the suburbs and the lakeside for an outing. In Teachers of Inner Chambers: Women and Culture Seventeenth Century China, Dorothy Ko discusses women’s trips for pleasure like this: [W]omen traveled for pleasure.. Despite the stipulation that a good woman. never ventured from the inner chambers, many ladies stole to the mountains for retreats with their families, visited local sights with other women, or took pleasure boat rides on the lakes and waterways of Jiangnan. Shen Yixiu [沈宜修] and best friend Zhang Qianqian [張倩倩], for example, went boating and drinking on a lake; records of such outings abound in the poetry of gentrywomen.. This small group of privileged women enjoyed the leisure and. means to partake in the late Ming travel boom.. These trips, too, were. considered entirely within the bounds of respectability. It is clear that there existed a gap between the ideal of a cloistered woman and a degree of de facto acceptance of her mobility and visibility, however circumscribed such freedoms were. (224) Although from this passage we learn that not every woman has the right to go on a tour freely, only women from some special backgrounds have the opportunities to enjoy such a privilege, 23. My translation. The original is:「在旅遊的消費方面，明初婦女旅遊的觀念還很保守…但明中葉以後出現了變化，這可以從幾方面看到。首先是上層社會官宦人家的婦女，開始從事旅遊了。從明末清初才女的詩文著作中也顯示，除了從夫家宦遊之外，官宦士人婦女於持家之餘出遊取樂業已成為風氣。」(36).

(29) Chang 22. “[t]hese trips, too, were considered entirely within the bounds of respectability”—the travel boom still offers women more freedom to show up in the public.. Some may query if. coming out of one’s boudoir really amounts to showing up in the public, since those women are from special backgrounds—it’s possible for them to be protected from being seen, even when they appear outside their home.. Actually, from Dorothy Ko’s passage we can’t tell. whether those women indeed “show up in the public” or not; yet if we read other data, we find that in some particular festivals like the Lantern Festival (元宵節), Tomb-sweeping Day (清明節), Dragon Boat Festival (端午節), etc., there are a great number of women participating in the sightseeing/outing, whether they are from the aristocracy or not. For example, according to Chang Dai’s (張岱，1599-1684) Tao-an24 Meng-yi (《陶庵夢憶》), “Whenever the Dragon Boat Festival comes, the capital is full of ladies, jostling to watch the boats.”25. Wu Ren-shu also gives many examples to demonstrate how numerous the women. are out in public places during festivals.26 become a special scene to men.. Moreover, the numerous female participants even. In Wu’s words, “Traditional festivals are good timing for. women to go on a sightseeing tour. . . .Because there are a great number of women participating in the tour, women become an important sight of festivals, especially to men.”27. 24. Chang Dai (張岱), alias Tao-an (陶庵). My translation. The original is:「年年端午，士女填溢，競看燈船。」, quoted from “The House by Qin-huai River” (秦淮河房) in Vol. 4. 26 See Wu’s Luxurious Women: Consuming Culture of Women in Jiang-nan in the Period of Ming and Qing (奢侈的女人─明清時期江南婦女的消費文化), page 37-38. 27 My translation. The original reads:「傳統的歲時節日，也正是婦女出遊的好時機。…正是因為節日時有大批的士女從事旅遊，婦人本身也成了節日的重要景觀，尤其是對男性而言。」(37-38) 25.

(30) Chang 23. (37-38) This is reflected in “Jin-ming Chi Wu Qing Feng Ai-ai” (〈金明池吳清逢愛愛〉) ( Jing-shi Tong-yan [《警世通言》], Chap.30), two characters invite Wu Qing to go out and say, “It’s Tomb-sweeping Day. as ants by the Pond of Jin-ming. (340). Ladies are out in force, and the sightseers are as numerous We’d like to go there with you.. What do you think?”28. When they arrive there and have a few drinks, the two characters tell Wu Qing, “We. have had enough drinks.. Why don’t we take a walk?. It’s better to see ladies and sightseers. than waste time sitting here.”29 (341) The dialogue not only mentions that on Tomb-sweeping Day there are lots of women going out for sightseeing, but also points out that women are the spectacle for males to see. In “Chang Shun-mei Deng-xiao De Li-nü” (〈張舜美燈宵得麗女〉) (Yu-shi Ming-yan [《喻世明言》], Chap.23), just because on Lantern Festival women go out for sightseeing, Chang has the chance to meet his future wife. Since it’s not uncommon for women to go out for sightseeing, especially on some special days, men and women thus have more chances to meet their mates.. Besides, the. places for women’s tours are not just such public spheres as temples, mountains, or lakes—visiting the private garden is also possible for women.. In that case, it’s not. surprising when we read “Su-xiang Ting Chang Hao Yu Ying-ying” (〈宿香亭張浩遇鶯鶯〉) ( Jing-shi Tong-yan [《警世通言》], Chap.29), in which the female character goes visiting a private garden and meets the man she’d like to marry. 28. In the Ming Dynasty, in Wu’s view,. My translation. The original is:「即今清明時候，金明池上，士女喧闐，遊人如蟻。欲同足下一遊，尊意如何？」(340) 29 My translation. The original s:「酒已足矣，不如閒步消遣，觀看士女遊人，強似呆坐。」(341).

(31) Chang 24. “We can see ladies visiting gardens in the city. Whenever peaches and (oilseed) rape blossom in Second or Third month, all ladies in Su Zhou would go out to visit such famous gardens as the Lion Forest [獅子林] and the Garden of Zhuo Zheng [拙政園]. . . . Likewise, in Shanghai’s Garden of Yu [豫園], ‘visitors crowded into it, and ladies are as numerous as clouds.’”30 (Wu 41) Therefore, Feng Meng-long (馮夢龍) embodied such a special phenomenon in his story, creating a brave and unique gem named Li Ying-ying (李鶯鶯). The garden in love stories usually plays the role of bringing lovers together. In gardens, a man and a woman meet their ideal mate and fall in love with each other—this situation is often reflected in fiction and drama. garden?. But why shall couples fall in love in the. Is there anything special about the garden that makes the couple’s union interesting,. worthy of writing about? About this, maybe we can search for answer in Zhou Jian-yu’s (周建渝) Cai-zi Jia-ren Xiao-shuo Yan-jiu 《 ( 才子佳人小說研究》), in which he says, “Romance between Cai-zi and Jia-ren . . . contains lots of ideals. For the sake of such ideals, a special environment, the garden, is set for characters.”31 (245) How can the garden be related to ideals, Zhou further explains: In fiction, the atmosphere in the garden is quiet and poetic. Cai-zi and Jia-ren present poems to each other, expressing their feelings in their poems, and get. 30. My translation. The original is:「城市內的園林也可以看到士女遊玩的身影，如蘇州的獅子林與拙政園等名園，每當春天二、三月桃花齊放、油菜花又開時，合城士女即出遊…再如上海城內的豫園，也是『遊人雜遝，婦女如雲。』」(41) 31 My translation. The original is:「才子佳人的愛情…帶有很大的理想成分。為了這種理想性質的需要，小說設置了花園這一特殊的環境，來展開故事人物之間的理想追求。」(245).

(32) Chang 25. engaged in private.. This is a perfect and romantic world.. Here, Cai-zi and. Jia-ren can do whatever they’d like to do without worrying about anything happening outside the garden.32 (246) On the basis of this quotation we may come up with a query: is the garden only meaningful and perfect to Cai-zi and Jia-ren?. Can’t the garden be significant to others, too?. Of course. the answer is negative as I shall show in the next chapter where I discuss the function of the garden from other viewpoints.. Yet in “Cai-zi Jia-ren” stories, we can’t ignore the fact that. the garden has its significant mission that makes the main characters Cai-zi and Jia-ren different from other common people.. Just as Wang Pei-qin (王佩琴) comments in Shuo. Yuan: Cong “Jin Ping Mei” Dao “Hong-lou Meng” (《說園：從〈金瓶梅〉到〈紅樓夢〉》) : The garden in the Cai-zi Jia-ren fiction is not an enclosed garden because the garden doesn’t keep common people from entering.. However, common people. can’t feel it when they enter it . . . they are incompatible with it. garden doesn’t make any sense to them.. Entering the. On the contrary, Cai-zi not only. completely realize it, but enjoy it and put it into practice by composing poems. In the garden, their talents in writing poems are inspired.. Describing the garden. is to emphasize their refinement.33 (150). 32. My translation. The original reads:「在小說中，花園的氣氛是寧靜的、富於詩意的，才子與佳人相互贈詩，以詩傳情，私訂終身。這是一個完美的、抒情的世界。在這裏，才子佳人可以做他們想做的事，而不必顧慮花園以外的世界所發生的一切。」(246) 33 My translation. The original is:「才子佳人小說中的花園並不是一個封閉的花園，花園並未阻止常人進入，只不過常人進入花園時並不能充分感受…反而扞格不入，進入花園對他們並不產生意義；相反的，.

(33) Chang 26. Because the atmosphere in the garden is “poetic,” poems play an important part in such “Cai-zi Jia-ren” stories. Through writing poems, Cai-zi and Jia-ren show their ability in art, and thus the garden is meaningful because they can appreciate the aesthetics of the garden. The characters have influence on the function of the garden. This somehow explains why in San Yen’s love stories where the garden is mentioned, sometimes the garden plays an important role, but sometimes it doesn’t. About the garden in “Cai-zi Jia-ren” stories, Zhou further comments: When the story’s narrative focus is transferred from the garden to the outside world, things become different.. What awaits Cai-zi and Jia-ren outside the. wall is another world, which is not that perfect as the garden. Once they leave the garden and go back to the outside world, their romantic love will be immediately challenged by social moralities.34 …The description of unfortunate experiences usually comes after the meeting in the garden. On the narrative structure, it is strongly counter to what’s just happened in the garden. From the contrast, we see the sharp conflicts between the two worlds . . . the ideal stands in contrast to reality.”35 (246). 才子不僅充分理解，並且還融入其中身體力行，在花園中激發了他們寫詩的能力，描寫花園正是為了突顯個人亦有「清俊」之姿。」(150) 34 My translation. The original is:「當小說的敘述觀點從花園內轉移到花園外，情況就變得不大一樣了。在一牆之隔的外面，等待才子佳人的是另一個世界，一個遠不如花園那麼完美的世界。一旦他們離開花園，回到外面那個世界，他們的富於浪漫意味的愛情就直接面對著社會道德勢力的挑戰。」(246) 35 My translation. The original is：「這些不幸的描述，往往緊接在花園相遇之後，在敘事的結構上，恰好與剛才花園內發生的一切形成強烈的對比。由此對比中，我們看到兩個世界中的尖銳衝突…理想與現實.

(34) Chang 27. Zhou is not the first one who notices the function for the garden to be distinct from the reality. In “Hung-lou Meng” De Liang-ge Shi-jie (《紅樓夢的兩個世界》), Yu Ying-shi (余英時) considers that there are two worlds in Hung-lou Meng (《紅樓夢》): one is the world in the Takuanyuan (大觀園), while the other is that outside it.. Yu states:. Two worlds in sharp contrast to each other are created by Ts’ao Hsueh-ch’in (曹雪芹) in his novel Hung-lou meng (The Red Chamber Dream), two worlds which, for the sake for distinction, I shall call the “Utopian world” and the “world of reality.”. These two worlds, as embodied in the novel, are the world. of Takuanyuan (大觀園) and the world that existed outside it.36 (260) Poetic and romantic—the world in the garden is so ideal and perfect that it seems to stand in contrast to the outside world, the reality, which is full of obstacles and troubles.. Because of. the flowers and other garden structures, the garden offers a beautiful and ideal atmosphere, and thus it is usually considered a suitable site to enact a romance story. Although romance doesn’t necessarily take place in the garden, the garden is obviously a short cut to revealing the conflict between the ideal and the reality, like the contrast inside and outside Takuanyuan. In some love stories of San Yan , we can also find the garden for lovers is set as an ideal site counter to reality.. 兩者間的對立。」(246) 36 Translated by Diana Yu..

(35) Chang 28. II.. The Garden for lovers: An Ideal Site Counter to Reality In San Yan, there are two ways for the couples to meet in the garden: One is that. the characters are neighbors, and their gardens are adjacent and separated by a wall. One day when the characters take a walk in their own gardens at the same time, they incidentally meet each other, like Madame Pi (皮氏) and Zhao Ang (趙昂) in “Yu Tang-Chun Luo Nan Feng Fu” (〈玉堂春落難逢夫〉) (Jing-shi Tong-yan [《警世通言》], Chap.24), and Wang Jiao-luan (王嬌鸞) and Zhou Ting-zhang (周廷章) in “Wang Jiao-luan Bai-nian Chang Hen” 〈 ( 王嬌鸞百年長恨〉) (Jing-shi Tong-yan 《 [ 警世通言》], Chap.34). Because in the Chinese garden architecture, gardens usually have windows on the wall for the sake of “Jie Jing” (借景, to bring in the scenery outside the garden), and thus make it likely for neighbors to meet. The other is that when one character visits a private garden, she meets another character, and they thus fall in love with each other, as Li Ying-ying (李鶯鶯) and Chang Hao (張浩) in “Su-xiang Ting Chang Hao Yu Ying-ying” (〈宿香亭張浩遇鶯鶯〉) (Jing-shi Tong-yan [《警世通言》], Chap.29). In the first part of this chapter I’ve mentioned the practice for women to go out for sightseeing, and the sightseeing spots often include private gardens.. Some may query since. the garden is private, how can it be open to the public? In early times, the private garden might be closed to the public, but after the Song Dynasty, the private garden gradually became a visiting site, especially in the Ming and Qing periods.. We can find such.

(36) Chang 29. description in Zhoug-guo Yuan-lin Mei-xue (《中國園林美學》), when Jin Xue-zhi (金學智) mentions: Generally speaking, the private garden is an enclosed space just for self enjoyment.. The owner at most invites his friends to have a party or to ramble. about the garden.. It is not open to the public. In the period from Wei (魏，. 220-265) to Jin (晉，265-420), the private garden shows its enclosed character when it is built.37 (44) It’s different in the Song Dynasty (宋，960-1279).. At that time, there are many. famous gardens in Loyang (洛陽). In Shao Yong’s (邵雍，1011-1077) Chanting the Gardens in Loyang (咏洛下園), there are such sentences as “the gardens in Loyang are not closed” and “entering the garden without the owner’s permission” Even Si-ma Guang’s (司馬光，1019-1086) Garden of Self Enjoyment (獨樂園) also makes its openness to the public and thus the name “Self Enjoyment” falls short of its meaning. . . . In Ming (明，1368-1644) and Qing (清，1644-1911), the private garden has such popular phenomenon as “letting people enter the garden freely without stopping them,” or “letting people comment on the garden without feeling offended.”. This is quite contrary to the. enclosed nature of “promptly expelling the visitor from the garden” in the period 37. My translation. The original is:「宅園一般來說都是封閉性的，是供獨家享用的，園主至多邀請三朋四友，或賞景宴酒，或遊園賦詩，它對公眾來說是不開放的。在魏晉時期，宅園一誕生就具有了這種封閉的秉性。」(44).

(37) Chang 30. of the Eastern Jin (東晉，317-420).38 (45-46) If the visitors are invited by the garden owner, we say that the garden still keeps enclosed because the visitors are chosen.. However, when visiting gardens becomes a fashion, even. the owner is not able to prevent the visitors from entering his garden. In “Mei-gan Kong-jian De Jing-ying: Ming-Qing Jian De Cheng-shi Yuan-lin Yu Wen-ren Wen-hua” (〈美感空間的經營─明清的城市園林與文人文化〉), Wang Hong-tai (王鴻泰) uses several examples to illustrate how private gardens in the city become public and are open to visitors, and the owners couldn’t really keep their gardens enclosed. Furthermore, he points out, “the situation that ‘the owner couldn’t help keeping his garden open to the public’ doesn’t mean the owner has no right to govern his estate.39. This shows that the common practice of. visiting the garden brought much pressure to the owner.”40 (155). Wang doesn’t subdivide. the private garden he discusses so that we are not sure if the private garden include the garden belonging to home, or it’s simply the garden in a villa. Just as I’ve mentioned in Introduction, because Wang doesn’t define the private garden clearly, we don’t know whether the visitor could even intrude into a garden at home without permission. statement leaves us in some doubts.. 38. And thus Wang’s. But one thing we can be sure is that people do open. My translation. The original reads:「宋代就不同了，當時洛陽有許多名園，邵雍《咏洛下園》就有『洛下園池不閉門』，『遍入何嘗問主人』之句。即使如司馬光的獨樂園，也取消了對公眾的封閉性，是名不副實的『獨樂』了。…在明、清時期宅園中這種『聽其往來，全無遮攔』或『恣其評騭』，『了不為忤』的公眾審美盛況，和東晉時期宅園中的『傖爾便趨出門』的封閉情況，幾乎是兩極的反應。」(45-46) 39 Instead, it is the public will that forced the owner to do so. 40 My translation. The original is:「這種『門不得堅扃』的情形，並非私人財產意義上的『不得』，毋寧反映了社會上已經形成的遊園風氣所構成的無形壓力。」(155).

(38) Chang 31. their private gardens to the public at that time as can be seen from San Yan.. In the begging. of “Su-xiang Ting Chang Hao Yu Ying-ying” (〈宿香亭張浩遇鶯鶯〉), Feng writes, “According to the customs in Loyang (洛陽), whenever springtime comes, no matter how large a garden is, everyone trims his/her trees and plants, cleans up pavilions, and lets visitors come sightseeing.. It’s common for both the aristocracy and common people to show off. their own gardens in competition with one another.”41 (331) The number of the visitors and their praises both speak to the accolade that a garden may bring to its owner. The garden is not only a site for visits; it also brings pride to its owners. In the stories in question, the private garden may be an enclosed space for family only, or an open space for visitors.. Whether it’s open or not, whenever the protagonists fall in. love, the garden becomes a secret and erotic space for the lovers, far away from the obstacles in reality, such as parentally arranged marriage, their separation, and other troubles that test their love. This statement may sound puzzling because a garden is supposed to be a space which embodies a microcosm in one’s own design, including plants, pavilions, paths, water, rocks, etc., and a space where people can relax themselves at home. equal to an erotic space involving sexual desire or pleasure?. Thus, how can a garden be However, in a moralistic. society, since men and women are not allowed to meet with societal approval, lovers have to. 41. My translation. The original is:「西都風俗，每至春時，園圃無大小，皆修蒔花木，灑掃亭軒，縱遊人翫賞，以此遞相誇逞士庶為常。」(331).

(39) Chang 32. find somewhere else to meet secretly.. Although women seem to have more freedom to go. out after the Mid-Ming, the sexual discipline is still stern.. Therefore, a secluded space is. necessary for lovers to see each other, and a private garden is definitely an ideal space.. The. private garden is often located in the marginal areas of a family compound where people would seldom go except for some special events.42. Likewise, because the garden is at home,. it well protects the affairs between the characters from being detected by strangers.. In the. two stories I list above, we see that their gardens are adjacent—when the characters want to see each other (on the day when the girl’s parents/husband is away from home), he or she just climbs over the wall between their gardens, and gets to the other side.. (The other situation. is that the young man stays in the girl’s family garden, and thus they can meet when the girl’s parents don’t pay attention.) space for dating.. For privacy and convenience, the garden becomes a perfect. For all that, the meaning of the garden is not that simple.. On the contrary,. because of its marginality, its spatiality becomes more complicated. The garden is located at home, and thus it should be close to the center of traditional mores—for home is the first place where people learn the moralistic manners, especially in old times.. However, because the garden is located in the border area, it could be the most. open and free space at home. “Border” means a site which is away from the center but has the potential to fight. 42. For example, the owner holds a banquet for family or guests, or the owner’s girls play or take a rest walking there..

(40) Chang 33. against the center as well.. The garden at home just plays such role.. It stays inside the. home but meanwhile it acts as if it is outside, free from family control—the garden is undoubtedly quite ambiguous.. Among its paradoxes, there lies the erotic feature. As. mentioned, the garden could be presented as an erotic space related to sexual desire. Sexual desire is repressed in old days. Located in the border area, the garden, the very space close to nature at home, offers more freedom to those who are repressed by traditional mores. ignoring mores, lovers follow their natural instinct, listening to their sexual urge.. By. For. example, in “Wang Jiao-luan Bai-nian Chang Hen” (〈王嬌鸞百年長恨〉), “Every time when Wang goes to the garden, she can see Ting-zhang and keep company with him. . . . Gradually, the idea of mores slips out of their mind and can no longer prevent them from physical contact.”43 (389). Besides, in “Su-xiang Ting Chang Hao Yu Ying-yin” (〈宿香亭張浩遇鶯. 鶯〉), when Chang Hao meets Ying-ying for the first time in his garden, to stop her from leaving, he “comes up and hugs her. Because the girl likes him, she has not the heart to reject him and leave.”44 (333). Because the control of mores is loose in the garden, without. a strong will or someone’s interruption, it’s hard for lovers to avoid intimate relations. In that case, it is not surprising when we see the garden in “Su-xiang Ting Chang Hao Yu Ying-yin” (〈宿香亭張浩遇鶯鶯〉) is presented as an erotic space. However, if we examine the story further, we can find the erotic presentation in the garden still reveals its paradox. 43. My translation. The original is:「每到園亭，廷章便得相見，同行同坐。…漸漸不避嫌疑，挨肩擦背。」 (389) 44 My translation. The original is:「遂奮步趕上，雙手抱持。女子顧戀恩情，不忍移步絕裾而去。」(333).