公共性质园林虽一直处于中国古典园林史的主流研究之外，但到明清时期已具备不输于其他类型园林的规模以及职能。结合同时期的写实主义小说《儒林外史》，从历史文献研究角度出发，将书中二十余处具有公共性的园林分为山水相依的城市型公共性园林、农村聚落的公共性园林及半公共性园林三类，进一步探究明清时期公共性质园林在各阶层市民生活中发挥的美学、社会以及文化功能，并以此总结出此时期公共性质园林具有形式简单、来源广泛的特点。

Although public garden has always been outside the mainstream of the history of Classical Chinese gardens,it has the scale and function as other types of gardens by the Ming and Qing Dynasties.Combining with the realistic novel of the same period The Scholars,from the perspective of historical literature research,this paper summarizes and classifies more than 20 public gardens into three categories: urban public gardens with landscape dependence,public gardens in rural settlements and other kinds of gardens with public garden nature. The paper further explores the aesthetic,social and cultural functions of public gardens in the life of all classes of citizens in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, and summarizes that the public gardens in this period have the functional characteristics of simple form and wide source.

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