As the main way of expressing “poetic meanings” and artistic conception in the Chinese gardens, couplets and plaques have a prominent role in connecting culture and landscape, which are the direct expressions of humanistic art. Since Song Dynasty, Hangzhou West Lake has been highly respected by the royal and literati, who have written poems and inscriptions. Under the background of Hangzhou West Lake becoming the world cultural landscape, couplets and plaques have shown the unity of culture and landscape, and the typical feature “miniature” of the Tang and Song Dynasty. This paper firstly sorted out the number and spatial distribution of the surviving ancient couplets in the West Lake. There were currently more than 3,000 couplets around the West Lake, and more than 1,500 plaques involving more than 2,000 ancient and modern authors, including 48 ancient couplets. Its spatial distribution in the West Lake was relatively dispersed, partly concentrated in the northeast of the West Lake, and there were 5 places outside the designated scope of the West Lake Cultural Landscape Heritage. There were two main reasons for the analysis of couplets and plaques in West Lake. First, after the middle Tang Dynasty, couplets and plaques began to have a profound meaning. The culture of Song Dynasty inherited Tang, and the characteristics of "miniature" became the basic spatial principle of classical gardens. Couplets and plaques were affected and valued, and it has gradually became one of the expressions of scholar’s outlooks on the universe, life and values. Then, affected by the landscape paintings of Southern Song Dynasty, the form of couplets and plaques had developed rapidly. It din not only fully creat the elegant atmosphere in the garden, but also reflected the gardener’s concept of gardening. It was a direct expression of the humanities and arts in the garden landscape. The landscape paintings of Southern Song Dynasty deepened the poetic meanings of couplets and plaques, and influenced their writing form and meaning. The creation of West Lake couplets and plaques were constantly influenced by landscape poetry and landscape paintings of the literati painters in Mid-Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty. There are mainly three aspects of the pursuit of the realm of “miniature” : First, “reading the whole partly” emphasized breaking through the limitation of the limited space and reaching a wide mood; Next, “understanding the realms subtly” pointed out the needs to enrich the design elements in the garden to achieve a subtle degree; Then, “expressing the inner feelings freely” synthesized the meanings of the former and highlighted the spirit of couplets and plaques with the help of highly literary poems. “Reading the whole partly” meant revealing the pattern of the West Lake through couplets and plaques and linking them with nature and universe. As a form independent of literary creation, couplets and plaques could supplement the shortcomings of scenes and pictures, linking the human mind and the aesthetics of the garden to the universe philosophy. Such as the Plaque “All the scenery in West Lake” “Wo Xin Xiang Yin Pavilion” “A spoonful of the world”. “Understanding the realms subtly” emphasized that with the help of couplets and plaques, the integration of garden culture was becoming increasingly perfect. The chanting objects involved various elements in the garden. The two aspects of "tea appreciation" and "horticulture" were the most prominent. Such as“Without stones, there is no beautiful gardens, either elegant rooms”. “Expressing the inner feelings freely” referred to the “artistry” of couplets and plaques in the garden design elements. Based on literary poetry, couplets and plaques could integrate people’s spiritual sustenance, garden aesthetics and universe philosophy in just two simple sentences. Such as“Not a fish but know how it feels”. Couplets and plaques could break the limitation of the garden on the real space by inspiring the psychological activities of the aesthetics, thereby introducing the garden aesthetics into a far-reaching and broader realm.