The typical cultural spirits of Southern China are crystallized in the gardens of Suzhou and the small towns along the canals of the region. Chinese gardens are often understood as expressive landscape paintings and three-dimensional poetry, meaning its aim is to stimulate the interpretation of viewers. It strives for the ultimate goal of integrating oneself into nature in order to achieve a state where there is no boundary between oneself and other beings. This longing generates the re-creation of natural settings within compact pieces of land using elements derived from nature. Based on a structural policy that advocates elegance and tranquility; mounds are accumulated into knolls and hollows are made into ponds; pavilions are built, flowers and plants are grown. The rich essence of nature has been extracted and put into these tiny plots of land where urban people can enjoy the wonderful moments of direct contacts with nature. 　　The series of oil paintings on Suzhou gardens and canal towns by Mao Yi Gang, following his series of landscape paintings on Guilin, is a tribute to the expressive aspect of traditional Chinese culture. To Zong Bai Hua, the expressive dimension is "the most central and world-contributing aspect of Chinese cultural history", with which Yi Gang agrees immensely. The opportunity of establishing the theme for each of his Suzhou gardens paintings with the angle of a poetic expression has laid down a crucial step for the artist's lengthy periods of the painting process. 　　In a presentation of natural landscape, the critical factor for the success of a work lies in the angle of the chosen target as well as the changes of light and shadow. However, for Suzhou gardens, whose natural settings have already been subjectively expressed, is it possible to casually select a particular angle for presentation? Yi Gang's answer is a negative one. He thinks that although the gardens are enriched with strong cultural aestheticism, this rich connotation is not able to evoke any respective response without the spiritual participation of viewers. The painter' s illustration of the garden scene is equivalent to a subjective response by a viewer on an actual garden setting. The feeling is sure to be an accentuating one, ever more subjective. Suzhou gardens have embodied the ideal spiritual state aspired to by Chinese literati. Therefore, painters can easily find echoes of their thoughts and feelings in gardens, amongst the changes of seasons and natural atmospheric elements where the most favourite lights and angles are found. If a garden is said to be a three-dimensional landscape filled with the expressive quality of a painting, then a painting is the conversion of this expressive quality directly onto the canvas. For the viewers, Yi Gang's poetic garden paintings act like a reliable medium from which the original aim of the garden creator can be grasped, and one's emotions can be rested. The Suzhou series extends the nostalgic theme of Yi Gang's series of Guilin landscapes and Old Time Beijing. Besides, it has an extra layer of a hermitage touch. Let's compare Yi Gang's paintings with poems and column couplets found in gardens that contain hermitage 　　thoughts: for example, the couplets of Frost-waiting Pavilion in Humble Administrator's Garden wrote: "The tranquility of the mortal world amongst the feather fans; the fragrance of country paths against the purple plum and yellow cucumber." Another example, carrying a similar hermitage touch, can be found in Dao Ming Tang of Canglang Pavilion. These poems project a sense of tranquility away from the mortal world featuring wandering celestial beings in the deep of forests and spring. They all advocate a negative sense of escapism that is desired by government officials. This longing is expressed through the clarity of flowing waters and the serenity of pavilions as presented in Yi Gang's paintings. The weak yellow sunlight has to work hard to go through layers of mist in order to shine on the white wall; whereas the evening sunlight adds a touch of warm yellow on the tops of buildings and trees. With the expression of tranquility, I think paintings are much more capable than the garden itself. When we stroll in the gardens, the kind of tranquility felt belongs more to the physical world, whereas the tranquility experienced in paintings is more on the psychological and the spiritual level. The latter tranquility is able to remove distracting thoughts and render peace of mind to achieve reconciliation with our own Self.

作者：MaoYiGang