zhōng guó de fáng zi cóng yī kāi shǐ jiù shì shì nèi jiā shì wài qí shí shì yī kuài yòng de

中国的房子从一开始，就是室内加室外其实是一块用的

Starting from the very beginning, Chinese buildings have been utilized in its entirety of indoor and outdoor areas

tíng yuán zuì zhòng yào de yī mén yì shù jiù shì shān shuǐ

“庭园”最重要的一门艺术，就是山水

The most important part of “courtyard” is the landscape

shān shuǐ tíng yuán

山水庭园

Landscape courtyard

wǒ zhōng xué tóng xué lǎo niè

我中学同学，老聂

My high school schoolmate Nie

yào zài tā yǎng zhū de dì fāng zuò yī gè tā zhù de dì fāng

要在他养猪的地方，做一个他住的地方

Planned to build a house nearby his pig farm

néng ràng tā men jiā lǐ sān dài rén dōu zhù jìn qù

能让他们家里三代人都住进去

A house where his entire family could live

nà gè dì shǔ yú tā yé yé de yé yé nà yī bèi

那个地属于他爷爷的爷爷那一辈

The land belonged to his great grandfather

zài jiāng xī dé ān yī gè xiāng xià

在（江西）德安一个乡下

It’s location is a countryside of De’an, Jiangxi

tā zài shān biān yǒu chí táng rán hòu yǒu shuǐ tián

它在山边有池塘，然后有水田

There is a pond next to the hill and there is paddy field

yǒu yuǎn shān yǒu jìn shān

有远山，有近山

Some hills are distant, while others are closer

hái yǒu tā zhǒng de zhè xiē qí qí guài guài de shù

还有他种的这些奇奇怪怪的树

And there are these weird trees he planted

tè bié shì hé zào yuán

特别适合造园

The whole of it makes very good courtyard material

wǒ gěi tā men jiā zuò de zhù zhái qǔ le yī gè míng zì jiào wǔ fú táng

我给他们家做的住宅取了一个名字，叫五幅堂

I named the house Wu Fu Tang

zhè kuài dì zài shān shuǐ zhī jiān

这块地在山水之间

The land lies in between hills and rivers

zhè gè fáng zi zài lǐ tóu

这个房子在里头

And the house sits on the land

nǐ zěn me zhēn duì yuǎn jǐng zhōng jǐng jìn jǐng fā shēng guān xì

妳怎么针对远景、中景、近景发生关系

How do you interact with the distant view, the medium view and the nearby view

bǎ wǔ shàn hěn zhòng yào de chuāng biàn chéng wǔ fú huà

把五扇很重要的窗，变成五幅画

We framed the five prominent windows into five paintings

zhù zhái jiù shì zhāng xiǎn wǒ shì yī gè dà jiā zú

住宅，就是彰显我是一个大家族

A house announces a big family

tíng yuán qià qià shì yào cáng qǐ lái

庭园恰恰是要藏起来

And the courtyard is to hide

yào cáng zài zhù zhái bèi hòu

要藏在住宅背后

To hide behind the house

liǎng gè tíng yuàn yī gè shì fāng tíng yī gè shì chǎng tīng

两个庭院，一个是方庭，一个是敞厅

Two courtyards, one is a square ground and one is an open hall

fāng tíng jiù shì tā yī qún shù dǐ xià

方庭就是，它一群树底下

The square ground is covered by trees

zuò le yī gè de yī gè tíng yuán

做了一个8mx8m的一个庭园

The size is 8mx8m

lǎo niè de xìng gé tè bié xiàng sòng jiāng

老聂的性格特别像宋江

Nie has a personality resembling Song Jiang

tōng cháng jiā lǐ huì lái èr sān shí gè rén

通常家里会来二三十个人

He always invites big crowd to his house

gěi tā zuò yī gè kě yǐ zhāo dài péng yǒu de yī gè dà yī diǎn de chǎng jǐng

给他做一个，可以招待朋友的一个大一点的场景

So we designed an arena for him to entertain his friends

zuò le liǎng jiàn jiā jù yī gè shì tiáo àn yī gè shì tiáo zhuō

做了两件家俱，一个是条案，一个是条桌

We made two pieces of furniture, a bar and a console table

páng biān wāi bó zi shù

旁边歪脖子树

And a crooked tree stands next to them

tā men jiā lǐ rì cháng shēng huó jiù bù duàn zài nà fā shēng

他们家里日常生活就不断在那发生

And their daily life happens there

xǐ cài chī xī guā huò zhě shì xǐ yī fú zhū rú cǐ lèi de

洗菜，吃西瓜，或者是洗衣服诸如此类的

Doing laundry, eating watermelons, or rinsing vegetables

dào le kè shě tā shì yī gè chǎng tīng de chá shì

到了客舍，它是一个敞厅的茶室

This is an open tea room

nà gè pù bù kǒu shuǐ cóng shān shàng liú xià lái

那个瀑布口，水从山上流下来

Water flowing down that waterfall

wài tóu de shuǐ jǐng lǐ tóu rén hái yào néng kàn jiàn hái néng tīng jiàn

外头的水景，里头人还要能看见，还能听见

You can see it and hear it inside the room

zhè kuài yào zuò de bù shì shuǐ yuǎn zuò de shì shān gāo

这块要做的不是“水远”，做的是“山高”

And besides the distant water, we also include hills into the view

nà yī zuò xiǎo shān nǐ yào xiǎng ràng tā xiǎn dé dà de huà

那一座小山，妳要想让它显得大的话

That small hill, if you want it to appear magnificent

zuì hǎo fáng zi bī jìn tā

最好房子逼近它

The best way is to bring the house to it

dào zuì hòu nǐ wán quán kàn bù quán tā

到最后你完全看不全它

Until you almost lose sight of it

nǐ jiù jué dé nǐ zài chóng shān jùn lǐng lǐ tóu

妳就觉得你在崇山峻岭里头

Then you feel like you are inside the mountains

zhěng gè pō wū dǐng de xié miàn jiù bǎ shì xiàn yǐn xiàng nà gè shān

整个坡屋顶的斜面，就把视线引向那个山

The roof is leading your sight to the mountain

wǒ jiù zài wū jí shàng tāo le yī gè kuāng nà zài jiè jǐng

我就在屋脊上掏了一个框，那在借景

So I installed a frame on top of the ridge

yě néng kàn dào wǒ zài tíng yuán de shēng huó

也能看到我在庭园的生活

You can also observe life in the courtyard

tíng yuán kǒng pà zuì zhòng yào de shì qíng jiù shì yóu

庭园恐怕最重要的事情就是游

Touring is very important to a courtyard

píng zhù zì jǐ xīn yuàn rán hòu yī huì qù zhè ér yī huì qù nà ér

凭著自己心愿，然后一会去这儿，一会去那儿

Following your will, stop anywhere

zhè gè shí guāng zài zhè lǐ tóu méi yǒu rèn hé xiào lǜ de zhè zhǒng jiāo lǜ gǎn

这个时光在这里头，没有任何效率的这种焦虑感

When time stops pushing you forward, when you stop worrying about efficiency

yào bǎ yī dà jiā rén gǎo dào yī kuài de zhè yàng de yī gè yuàn wàng

要把一大家人，搞到一块的这样的一个愿望

The hope to bring everyone together

qí shí zài zhěng gè wǒ men zhè yī dài rén dōu fēi cháng jiān nán

其实在整个我们这一代人都非常艰难

Has been hard to realize among our generation

lǎo rén gēn nǐ de guān xì

老人跟你的关系

Your connection with your parents and your children

hái zi gēn nǐ guān xì dōu bù tài xiàng yǐ qián

孩子跟你关系都不太像以前

Is not like before

hé ér bù tóng tíng yuán qià qià bǔ chōng le zhè yī kuài

合而不同，庭园恰恰补充了这一块

United but different is the air of the courtyard

zhè zhǒng kōng jiān shì jí qí yǒu zhì huì de jiào yuán zhái hé yī

这种空间是极其有智慧的，叫园宅合一

It’s actually very wise, the union of courtyard and house

zhái shì gěi zhì xù de

宅是给秩序的

House is for rules

jiù shì fù fù zi zi fū qī

就是父父子子，夫妻

Father and son, husband and wife

yuán lín shì tōng róng zhè yī guān xì tā shì lǐ lè de

园林是通融这一关系，它是礼乐的

And courtyard is for harmonization of things

bǐ rú jīn tiān wǒ pà zhè gè lǎo diē

比如今天我怕这个老爹

Maybe my dad is very scary today

wǒ tōng guò tíng yuàn lìng wài yī gè dì fāng

我通过庭院另外一个地方

Then I can go back to my room

wǒ jiù jìn dào wǒ nà fáng qù le

我就进到我那（房）去了

Through a different lane

tōng guò yī gè tíng yuàn

通过一个庭院

The courtyard

zhè jǐ yuàn gēn nà jǐ yuàn de guān xì

这几院跟那几院的关系

Both connects and isolates

tā jì dú chù yòu gēn rén xiāng jù

它既独处，又跟人相聚

It brings people together and meanwhile separates them

tā jiù gēn xī fāng rén bù yī yàng

它就跟西方人不一样

Unlike westerners

zào yuán zhè jiàn shì qíng

造园这件事情

Building a courtyard

tā zuì jiē jìn zhōng guó de yì shù de yī gè zuì gāo diǎn

它最接近中国的艺术的一个最高点

Is approaching the peak of Chinese art

wǒ xiǎng bù qǐ lái zhōng guó yǒu rèn hé yì shù

我想不起来中国有任何艺术

I can’t think of one other form of art

xiàng yuán lín zhè yàng de jù jí le zhè me duō de wén huà

像园林这样的聚集了这么多的文化

That converges Chinese culture as courtyard does

biàn chéng le ān fǔ zhōng guó rén de jīng shén de yī gè yòu zài rì cháng lǐ tóu de yī gè chǎng suǒ

变成了安抚中国人的精神的一个又在日常里头的一个场所

It’s a place for spiritual consolation and daily living

ěr lǐ tíng zuò wán le yǐ hòu lǎo niè tā cóng lái méi zài wài tóu guò guò yè

耳里庭做完了以后，（老聂）他从来没在外头过过夜

After we built the Earshot, he never slept out

yīn wèi tā lǎo xiǎng huí lái

因为他老想回来

He wants to come back home

zhè yī bèi zi tā zài yě bù huì dòng tā

这一辈子他再也不会动它

He won’t change a thing about it

tā yī dìng xī wàng bǎ tā chuán xià qù

他一定希望把它传下去

He would definitely want to pass it down