旅游英语教程(朱华主编)U04.ppt

Chinese Potted Landscapes中国盆景 Chinese potted landscapes have been famous for centuries. They are described as “soundless poetry”, “stereoscopic paintings” or “living sculptures”. In a pot no larger than a wash basin, the ingenious craftsmen create a miniature reproduction of a natural scene using stunted trees and plants, rocks and sometimes water. Chinese potted landscapes started as early as in the Eastern Han Dynasty with a history of about 2000 years. When potted landscapes were first grown it was very difficult to determine because they were only a folk art in the beginning. But a mural in the tomb of Crown Prince Li Xian of the early Tang Dynasty shows that they had already won royal favor by then. Great Tang and Song poets like Wang Wei, Han Yu, Bai Juyi, Su Dongpo and Lu You all mentioned them. Potted landscapes require painstaking efforts to create, taking dozens to hundreds of years. Craftsmen devote all their lives to their art works only to have later generations enjoy them to the fullest. They are of two major kinds of Chinese potted landscapes: trees and rockeries. Miniature trees are made from old stumps. Short, easily shaped stumps are forced into the form wanted by hanging, binding, trimming and grafting. Some are made to look like running beasts, some like soaring birds, and some like beasts created from the imagination of the craftsmen. Miniature rockeries are made by carving or corroding and then either solid or absorbent rock is glued, which is decorated with slender growing plants. Absorbent rock will accept mosses. Some rockeries are imitations of paintings, but often they represent scenic spots. Nowadays, in Chinese cities, big or small, there are potted landscape exhibitions within parks. Read the travelogue carefully, and decide whether the statements are true or false. 1. ______ Chinese potted landscape is a miniature reproduction of a natural scene using stunted trees and plants, rocks and sometimes water, s