棲霞山是南京地區著名的文化景觀。從明中葉至清中期，該地的勝景形態及文化意義經歷了多番嬗變。明中期的棲霞山相當破敗，卻意外成為詠古的素材，更被文人選為隱居佳處。嘉靖以來，先因盛時泰致力於開發景觀的歷史資源，後由於文人旅遊文化的盛行，名山佛教勢力的復興，棲霞山的景觀內涵愈發立體而豐富。及至清初，遺民文化成為景觀文化的新鮮組成部分。而乾隆南巡帶來的政治力介入，使得清中期以後的景觀文化意涵為之大變。因為被選作南巡行宮，棲霞景觀的空間格局、文化元素和歷史記憶皆得到重新配置。景觀承載之遺民情結漸次褪淡，文人、佛教文化內涵遭到貶抑，帝國霸權象徵意義則愈加鮮明。棲霞景觀文化在不同歷史階段呈現出不同面貌，這與明清南京城市地位之升沉、歷史發展之特質緊密相關。

Mt. Qixia is a renowned historical site in Nanjing, and its changing landscape and shifting cultural connotations from the early sixteenth through the late nineteenth centuries deserve closer examination. Although half ruined during the middle of the Ming period, Mt. Qixia was chosen by literati as a proper place for hermitage, and thus became literary subject of remembrance. Later, due to Sheng Shitai’s exploration of the landscape’s rich historical and cultural resources, the cultural connotations of Mt. Qixia became increasingly rich with the popularity of literati tourism and the revival of Buddhism there. In the early Qing, the historical site was favored by Ming loyalists as a site to mourn the fallen dynasty, and this sentiment became another cultural element marking Mt. Qixia. Its culture, however, was later greatly reconstructed when the historical site was chosen as a temporary imperial palace during the Qianlong Emperor’s southern tours. The imperial political power thus reshaped the geographical layout, cultural elements, and historical memories of the landscape. As literati and Buddhist culture faded, and the emotional attachment to the Ming diminished, the Qing imperial power was highlighted when Yin Jishan and Emperor Qianlong reconstructed the culture of the landscape. The multilayered landscape culture demonstrates different cultural characteristics of the site at different historical stages, and the transforming process was closely related to the urban culture of Nanjing during the Ming-Qing period.