![]() The West Lake still clearly conveys the idea of a 'lake with cultural meaning', as all the key components that were created by the time of the Song dynasty can be read clearly in the landscape, and the beauty of the ten views can still largely be readily appreciated. The skylines of the buildings are under the strong municipal regulations to maintain current heights and mass limits and to stop expansion that might impact on the skyline of West Lake. However, considering the drastic urban changes of Hangzhou city over the past 10 years, from a regional town to a metropolis of eight million people, the property's visual integrity toward the city side is well managed. The views to the east are vulnerable to further expansion of Hangzhou city. The visual integrity of the property is well maintained towards the three hill sides, which seem to have been almost similar for the past 1,000 years. Thus none of the key attributes that relate to Outstanding Universal Value are under threat. No signs of neglect are detected and the deterioration processes seem mostly controlled. The Lake itself and surrounding landscapes, along with scenic places, historic monuments and sites are well maintained. The physical fabric of the property and its significant features are mostly in excellent condition. The property contains all the key attributes of Outstanding Universal Value in terms of the lake, the wooded hills surrounding it on three sides up to their skyline and the causeways, islands, bridges, temples, pagodas and ornamental planting that create the beautiful landscape within which are the ten, celebrated, poetic views. The value of that tradition has persisted for seven centuries in West Lake and has spread across China and into Japan and Korea, turning it into a tradition of outstanding significance. The 'improved' West Lake, with its exceptional array of man-made causeways, islands, bridges, gardens, pagodas and temples, against a backdrop of the wooded hills, can be seen as an entity that manifests this tradition in an outstanding way.Ĭriterion (vi): The Tang and Song culture of demonstrating harmony between man and nature by improving the landscape to create pictures of great beauty, captured by artists and given names by poets, is highly visible in the West Lake Landscape, with its islands, causeways, temples, pagodas and ornamental planting. The notion of ten poetically named scenic places persisted for seven centuries all over China and also spread to the Korean peninsula after the 16th century, when Korean intellectuals made visits to the West Lake.Ĭriterion (iii): The West Lake landscape is an exceptional testimony to the very specific cultural tradition of improving landscapes to create a series of 'pictures' that reflect what was seen as a perfect fusion between people and nature, a tradition that evolved in the Tang and Song Dynasties and has continued its relevance to the present day. Its causeways, islands, bridges, temples, pagodas and well defined views, were widely copied over China, notably in the summer Palace at Beijing and in Japan. The visual parameters of this vast landscape garden are clearly defined, rising to the ridges of the surrounding hills as viewed from Hangzhou.Ĭriterion (ii): The improved landscape of West Lake can be seen to reflect Buddhist ideals imported into China from India such as 'Buddhist peacefulness' and 'nature as paintings', and in turn it had a major influence on landscape design in East Asia. The key components of West Lake still allow it to inspire people to 'project feelings onto the landscape'. The landscape of West Lake had a profound impact on the design of gardens not only in China but further afield, where lakes and causeways imitated the harmony and beauty of West Lake. ![]() ![]() West Lake is an outstanding example of a cultural landscape that display with great clarity the ideals of Chinese landscape aesthetics, as expounded by writers and scholars in Tang and Song Dynasties. ![]() Since the Southern Song Dynasty (thirteenth century) ten poetically named scenic places have been identified as embodying idealised, classic landscapes - that manifest the perfect fusion between man and nature. The main artificial elements of the lake, two causeways and three islands, were created from repeated dredgings between the 9th and 12th centuries. In order to make it more beautiful, its islands, causeways and the lower slopes of its hills have been 'improved' by the addition of numerous temples, pagodas, pavilions, gardens and ornamental trees which merge with farmed landscape. Its beauty has been celebrated by writers and artists since the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). West Lake is surrounded on three sides by 'cloud-capped hills' and on the fourth by the city of Hangzhou. ![]()
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