Canglangting ji 滄浪亭記

Canglangting ji 滄浪亭記 is the description of a private garden written during the Northern Song period 北宋 (960-1126) by Su Shunqin 蘇舜欽 (1008-1084), courtesy name Zimei 子美, from Tongshan 銅山 in the prefecture of Zizhou 梓州 in today's Sichuan province. He was a secretary in the Memorials Office (jian jinzouyuan 監進奏院) and a famous poet of the time.

In the autumn of 1044, Su Shunqin hosted a banquet with several renowned figures. Because he failed to invite Li Ding 李定 (1020-1087), a secretariat drafter of the Crown Prince (taizi zhongshe 太子中舍), he was slandered over this minor issue as having embezzled public funds. He was dismissed from his post and reduced to the status of a commoner. The following year, Su moved with his family to Suzhou 蘇州. There, he purchased an abandoned garden in the southern part of the city, restored it, and named it Canglang Ting "Pavilion of the Surging Waves", for which he composed the Canglangting ji.

The term canglang originates from the book Mengzi 孟子 (chapter Li Lou 離婁 A), where a boy is quoted singing: "When the water of the Canglang is clear, It does to wash the strings of my cap; When the water of the Canglang is muddy, It does to wash my feet." The allusion embodies the renunciation of worldly dust, the pursuit of clear breezes and bright moonlight, and the ideal of forgetting the self amid woods and springs, cleansing the spirit from worldly entanglements. In this garden's name, the author thus expresses both his frustration with the factional strife of the court that led to his downfall and his turn towards an aesthetic ideal of returning to nature. In the text, Su describes how joyful, easy, and relaxed he felt upon arriving at his pavilion.

The Canglangting ji also preserves valuable historical materials about the original construction of the renowned Canglang Pavilion in Suzhou, making it an important document in the history of Chinese garden culture and art. It explains that there were bamboos in front, water behind. On the sunny bank by the water, there were again bamboos, stretching endlessly. The clear stream and emerald stalks, with their light and shadow, converged between the pavilions and doorways, especially in harmony with the wind and moon. The author would sometimes launch a small boat, wearing a simple cap, and upon arriving, would completely forget to return, revealing a life of pouring emotions into mountains and waters.

The old name, Canglang Pavilion, has been preserved throughout, and it remains today a famous scenic spot of Suzhou.

The text is included in Su's collected writings, Su Shunqin ji 蘇舜欽集.