個園是全國十大名園之一，位於揚州市內東關街318號宅後。清嘉慶二十三年（1818年），兩淮鹽總黃玉筠在明代壽藝園的舊址上重建。黃玉筠認為竹本固、心虛、體直、節貞，有君子之風；又因三片竹葉的形狀似“個”字，取清袁枚“月映竹成千個字”的句意命名“個園”。蘇東坡曾說：“寧可食無肉，不可居無竹，無肉令人瘦，無竹使人俗。”此語可以說明園主人以竹命名的本意。該園據說出自造園巨匠石濤的手筆。他一生多遊曆名山大川，“搜盡奇峰打草稿”，使之在個園林設計中取材自然，卻又敢破常規，因而以四季假山彙於一園的獨特疊石藝術聞名遐邇。未入園門，隻見俊石依門，修竹勁挺，兩旁花台上石筍如春筍破土，縷縷陽光把稀疏竹影映射在園門的牆上，形成“個”字形的花紋圖案，烘托著園門正中的“個園”匾額。過春景，首先映入眼簾的是夏山，全是用太湖石疊成。兩旁奇石有的如玉鶴獨立，形態自若；有的似犀牛望月，憨態可掬。抬頭看，穀口上飛石外挑，恰如喜雀登梅，笑迎遠客。佳景俏石，使人目不暇接。隻見濃蔭披灑，綠影叢叢。秋山最富畫意，山的懸岩峭壁由安徽黃石堆就，其石有的顏色赭黃，有的赤紅如染，其勢如刀劈斧削，險峻摩空，山隙間丹楓斜伸，曲幹虯枝與嶙峋山勢渾然天成。如果夏景是以曲線清新柔美的的太湖石表現秀雅恬靜的意境，那麼秋景則以黃石粗獷豪放的的直線表現雄偉闊大的壯觀氣勢。一具北方山嶺之雄，一兼南方山水之秀。從黃石東峰步石而下，過“透風漏月”廳，是用宣石堆起的冬景。宣石中含有石英，迎光閃閃發亮，背光皚皚露白，無論近看遠觀，假山上似覆蓋一層未消的殘雪，散發著逼人的寒氣。整個園景猶如一幅構製巨大的畫卷，路隨景轉，景隨路換。疊山之外，園中又因勢散散落落布置一些廳館樓台、石橋小院，配上對聯匾額，更有鳥囀鶯啼、蜂舞蝶戀，構成和諧的美。園內還有“宜雨軒”、“抱山樓”、“拂雲亭”、“住秋閣”、“漏風透月軒”等古建築，顯得古香古色。
Part Thirty-Nine:Ge Garden
Ranked among the country’s top ten gardens, Geyuan Garden is located behind No. 318 Residence, Dongguan Street, Yangzhou City, Jiangsu Province. It was constructed in 1818 by Huang Yuyun, Salt Minister of Lianghuai， at the site of Shouyi Garden, which was a garden of the Ming Dynasty. Huang named his garden after Yuan Mei’s famous line “The bamboo, when moon-lit, throws thousands of Ge on the ground.” (Ge is a Chinese character that looks like a bamboo stem with two leaves.) Huang held that bamboo possessed all the noble qualities of a gentleman—solid, modest, upright and outstanding.
The famous poet Su Shi once wrote: “One can dine without meat, but he cannot reside without bamboo; for a meal with no meat only makes one thin, but a residence devoid of bamboo defies one’s nobility.” The poem revealed the reason why the owner named his garden after bamboo.