RESEARCH ON SHANGHAI FAMOUS HISTORIC GARDENS AND PARKS SANGHAJ TÖRTÉNETI KERTJEI ÉS PARKJAI – ÉRTÉKVÉDELMI KUTATÁS SZERZŐ / BY: DAIXIN DAI, MAN YUAN ABSTRACT Park Conservation Research, is dilated. It aims at developing a reasonable regis- Historic gardens and parks have signif- tration process, including 6 steps, and icant cultural meanings and their ultimately recommends a list of famous heritage value has been widely recog- historic gardens and parks selected from nized. Including classical gardens, which around 160 existing ones in Shanghai. are supposed to maintain their original design and keep their constant func- tions and features, Shanghai historic 1 BRIEF HISTORY OF SHANGHAI CITY gardens and parks are in a contin- uous changing to meet various needs. Comparing with many other ancient Both preservation and transfor- Chinese cities, Shanghai has a history mation of historic parks should be of only hundreds of years, starting from taken into account in the urban renewal 1292 A.D. when the government of Yuan process, for their historical significance Dynasty established Shanghai County. not only lies in their cultural relics and However, the outstanding charac- historic sites, but also contemporary teristics and uniqueness of the city characteristics from updating. Shanghai history lie in more recent times. Due Park Management Center attempts to its geographic position in Yangtze to look into the issue and formulate River Delta, Shanghai has become new policies to conserve and manage the centre of cotton spinning cottage historical gardens and parks under industry. Since opened as one of the fast urbanization. This paper intro- foreign trading ports in 19th century duces 3 research projects in this field after the Opium War, the city has played conducted by Tongji University recently. a leading role in China’s moderni- One of the projects, Shanghai Historic zation process. As a result, “Foreign 54 4D 44 BOOK.indb 54 07/09/17 10:27 1 Photo 1: Winter Scene of Yu Garden (source: https:// www.behance.net/ gallery/1576403/ snow-in-yuyuan- garden) and Chinese Divided” city organizations and restoration of Chinese classical and management system were intro- gardens. The main restoration started duced by foreign concessions, and then from 1956 and lasted about 30 years. these were merged into local system. Chen Congzhou (1918-2000), a well- After the establishment of eople'sP known Chinese garden designer and Republic of China in 1949, Shanghai has scholar, was in charge of this reha- gradually became a nationwide indus- bilitation and restoration project. trial and economic center, as well as a He also transformed and enlarged rapid changing world-class metropolis. it to meet new needs while rehabili- tated the existing part. As a result, the garden, which is now representative 2 THREE TYPES OF GARDENS of Shanghai classical gardens, is listed AND PARKS IN SHANGHAI for its unique cultural significance. After the middle of Qing Dynasty, According to the main period of modern gardens and parks (from 1840 development, Shanghai gardens – the year when Opium War broke out, can be classifi ed into three types. to 1949 - the establishment of People’s Ancient/classical gardens go back Republic of China) emerged, some of to Northern and Southern Dynasties, them simply modernized out of existing and construction of gardens reached a historic gardens. During this period, climax in Ming Dynasty (15th century). many private gardens were opened to For example, Yu Garden typically repre- the public, including Huangpu Park. sents the highest theoretical and tech- Due to its location near the bund, nical standard of the classical gardens which is often regarded as represent- of the region (Photo 1). Moreover, the ative of the city’s image of modern- garden is a model of rehabilitation ization, the park has gone through RESEARCH ON SHANGHAI FAMOUS HISTORIC GARDENS AND PARKS | 4D 44. SZÁM 2017 | 55 4D 44 BOOK.indb 55 07/09/17 10:27 2 1 3 Photo 2: French Figure 1: Master Garden Elements in Plan of Fuxing Park Fuxing Park (surveyed and Photo 3: Chinese drafted by tongji Garden Elements in students) Fuxing Park (source: https://s- media-cache-ak0. pinimg.com/564x/3 b/0e/27/3b0e27893e f42cb2461cdf6c364 e4d61.jpg) several modifications and it is difficult There are also masterpieces of to read its original design. However, gardens built in contemporary time it is still listed, not only because it is (1949-now), of which Fangta Park is the very first public park of China, but a superb example (Photo 4, Figure 2). also the unique historic and cultural Designed by Feng Jizhong, another meaning of this historic site. Modern famous domestic garden designer and gardens and parks in Shanghai scholar, the park originated from the generally were designed and built in conservative garden of an ancient tower the colonial period and reveal a combi- built in Song Dynasty and other ancient nation of eastern and western style. buildings and relics in different periods, An example is Fuxing Park. It is also meanwhile it illustrates distinctive listed as an outstanding represent- artistic imagery by using modern ative of both French and Chinese clas- methods of design and techniques. It is sical garden style (Photo 2-3, Figure 1). also listed for its demonstration of Feng’s 56 4D 44 BOOK.indb 56 07/09/17 10:27 garden construction theory and it is the on a landscape-based approach harmonious combination of ancient and on historic heritage preservation. contemporary aesthetics and technology. Shanghai government is also seeking It is a fact that historic gardens are approaches to adapt, disseminate, facil- places which bear witness to human itate and monitor its implementation. behavior and reflection to local events and trends in history, which occupy an important place in forming local identity. 3 RESEARCH PROJECTS ON SHANGHAI Moreover, they take the responsibility PARKS BY TONGJI UNIVERSITY as necessary places for outdoor expe- rience and recreation of contemporary Recently there are mainly three ongoing times. Besides, the recent UNESCO research projects on Shanghai parks recommendation on the Historic Urban and gardens conducted by Department Landscape (HUL) put an emphasis of Landscape Architecture, College of RESEARCH ON SHANGHAI FAMOUS HISTORIC GARDENS AND PARKS | 4D 44. SZÁM 2017 | 57 4D 44 BOOK.indb 57 07/09/17 10:27 2 4 Photo 4: Scenery (7) Trench of Fangta Park (8) East Gate Figure 2: Master (9) Bamboo Plan of Fangta Park Appreciation Pavilion (1) North Gate (10) He Lou Pavilion (2) Corridor (source: thanks to (3) Tian Hou Temple courtesy of (4) Screen Wall department of (5) Fangta Tower landscape (6) Lawn architecture, caup) Architecture and Urban Planning (CAUP) 4 REGISTRATION OF SHANGHAI of Tongji University. Starting from 2015, FAMOUS HISTORIC PARKS the first one aims at setting up a GIS supported database for Shanghai gardens After one-year’s work, the second and parks, including spatial information research project Shanghai Historic Park such as feature layout, vegetation type, Conservation Research has come to a and dynamic data for better manage- conclusion in March 2016. Taking the ment, momentary number of visitors as evaluation of landscape heritage as example. The second one is to announce a the main starting point, and Shanghai list of famous historic gardens and parks, public gardens and parks as the study as a result of reorganizing documentation, objects, the research group selected and investigating their current conditions, announced a list of 25 parks as The First and assessing their values. The third one List of Shanghai Famous Historic Parks. is looking forward to formulating proper and practical rules and regulations to 4.1 Clarification on Definition conserve and manage Shanghai historic The research started from clarifying the gardens and parks. Although different definition of famous urban historic parks. groups work separately, methods, data On one hand, various definitions such as sharing and necessary communica- international heritage conservation codes tion ensure an efficient collaboration. and regulations were put into comparison. 58 4D 44 BOOK.indb 58 07/09/17 10:27 On the other hand, similar domestic defi- Firstly, the UNESCO Operational 1 United Nations Educational, Scientific nitions and relative local regulations were Guidelines for the Implementation of the And Cultural Organization, Operational Guidelines for the Implementation of also analyzed to work out reasonable World Heritage Convention1 states that the World Heritage Convention [EB/OL]. descriptions and indicators for Shanghai the registered world heritage should 2015[2015-06-14] http://whc.unesco.org/ Famous Historic Parks. The final definition satisfy two requirements: 1. Meet the document/137843 2 Historic England. Designation Register clarifies primary standards of listing: The outstanding universal value (OUV) evalu- of Parks and Gardens Selection Guide- Shanghai famous urban historic parks ation; 2. Have characteristics of integrity Urban Landscapes [EB/OL]. are those which were built more than 30 and/or authenticity, and have adequate years within the city limit, which have protection and management mecha- unique impact on urban development and nisms to ensure that the heritage is well cultural life in certain historical periods protected, as the premise of the OUV. and within certain areas, which have Secondly, the UK Designation Register distinctively essential spatial patterns of Parks and Gardens Selection Guide- or elements preserved in their history. Urban Landscapes2 divides gardens and parks into three categories according to 4.2 Comparative Analysis their main stages of development, and Second phase of the project was to set sets up different criteria of registration. up a process of registration. Several Thirdly, the identification and eval- comparative analyses were conducted uation of historic landscapes of the as case study and references. United States contains a complete RESEARCH ON SHANGHAI FAMOUS HISTORIC GARDENS AND PARKS | 4D 44. SZÁM 2017 | 59 4D 44 BOOK.indb 59 07/09/17 10:27 set of working procedures and regu- integrity and authenticity, describe the 3 J.