中国宝塔在近代欧洲花园设计中的应用

欧洲人对宝塔的兴趣和他们从乌托邦维度审视中国的历史密切相关.中国的宝塔最早出现在欧洲旅行家的传记中,随后逐渐开始了对这一建筑样式的仿造.在巴洛克时期,欧洲园林中的宝塔是专制王权权力欲望的象征.在洛可可时代,宝塔则寄寓着早期启蒙知识分子追求开明专制的政治理想.18世纪中期,欧洲人对东亚宝塔摹仿精确性的要求不断提高,这种仿造与当时人们对东方社会政治模式的平民化想像相一致.但是,到了19世纪初,围绕宝塔虚构的东方神奇世界失去了它的重要性,欧洲人建造宝塔的兴趣也随之减退.

Eastern Asian Pagodas Adopted in Modern European Garden Designs

The interest of the Europeans in pagodas was closely related to their Utopian idea of Chinese history. They began to construct pagodas after some early travelers described them in their biographies. During the Baroque period, pagodas in European gardens symbolized the absolute power of the monarch; during the Rococo period, they conveyed the political ideal of the early philosophes; in the mid-18th century, they embodied the Europeans' imagination of Asian political system. By the early 19th century, however, the mystery of the pagodas dwindled to insignificance; then the Europeans gradually lost their interest in the construction of pagodas.