Chinese garden

The Chinese (Scholar's) Garden is a place for solitary or social contemplation of nature. Chinese gardens were created in the same way as a combination of landscape and paintings together with poems - this was the so-called "poetic garden." The design of Chinese gardens was to provide a spiritual utopia for one to connect with nature, to come back to one's inner heart, to come back to ancient idealism. Chinese gardens are a spiritual shelter for men, a place they could be far away from their real social lives, and close to the ancient way of life, their true selves, and nature. This was an escape from the frustration and disappointment of the political problems in China. They used plants as symbols. Bamboo was used in every traditional Chinese garden. This is because bamboo represents a strong but resilient character. Often pine is used to represent longevity, persistence, tenacity and dignity. The lotus is used to symbolize purity. The flowering plum is one of the most important aspects of a Chinese garden, as it represents renewal and strength of will. Flowering peaches are grown for spring color, and sweet olive as well. The chrysanthemum is use to symbolize splendor, luster and "the courage to make sacrifices for a natural life". Peonies symbolize wealth and banana trees are used simply for the sound they make in the breeze.

Origin

The earliest attested Chinese garden appears during the Shang Dynasty. It consisted of a raised platform surrounded by lush vegetation in the palace where feasts were held. Successive dynasties expanded this idea into imperial hunting parks with scenic compositions of rocks and plants. By the time of the Han Dynasty Chinese gardens could be classified as either royal, religious, or scholar. This triple classification is divided into several regional styles; Beijing Royal Gardens, Central China Gardens, Yangtze River Gardens, Lingnan Gardens

History

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"Divine Trace" in the eastern suburb of Nanjing

The Chinese scholars garden was built by and for the scholar class of civil servants. They first appeared during the early imperial era, and developed into high art by the Song Dynasty. The original impetus was a strict class division that caused careerist officials to give up hope of advancement in the civil service and retreat into a more contemplative life. Culturally, this class of people was under immense Confucian pressure in their publics and so sought a more carefree Daoist existence in their private lives. The design of a garden drew on such diverse fields as fengshui, botany, hydraulics, history, literature, and architecture. The task was considered so complex that only a scholar was capable of completing it, thus his garden was a measure of his knowledge. For the same reason poetry was a primary part of the garden design, as knowledge and composition of poetry served as an intelligence test for the scholar class. The garden served multiple functions as semi-public extension of the house and a place; of retreat, for festivity, for study of poetry, for romance. The social and cultural importance of the garden is attested in Chinese literature, particularly the classic Novel Dream of the Red Chamber which unfolds almost exclusively in a garden.

Design

To be considered authentic, a garden must be built and planned around seventeen essential elements: 1) proximity to the home; 2) small; 3) walled; 4) small individual sections; 5) asymmetrical; 6) various types of spatial connections; 7) architecture; 8) rocks; 9) water; 10) trees; 11) plants; 12) sculpture; 13) jie jing (borrowed scenery); 14) chimes; 15) incense burners; 16) inscriptions; 17) use of feng shui for choosing site.^[1] The variety of sensory features enhance a garden's appeal. Windows frame garden views. Trees and flowers provide aroma. Even the intricate designs of pavement and gravel offer tactile enjoyment. Suzhou, in eastern China is widely known for its numerous classical private scholar gardens.

The aesthetics of the garden are judged by its conception, approach, layout, scenes, and borrowing. The conception is the measure of how well the garden reflects a painting or poem. The approach describes how the garden may express the idea of nature beyond the theme. The layout is the use of multiple layers of scenery to create a sense of the infinite in the finite. the scene is how well paired two opposite scene are and how they create harmony. finally the borrowing or borrowed view is how artfully distant views are incorporated into the whole.

Chinese gardens are built not planted. The basic form of the garden is created by ponds and mounds. China is mostly covered in mountains, thus they have occupied a special place in the collective imagination since the Neolithic. The mountain in the Chinese imagination is magical place. An axis mundi where ancient wise men live on a diet of minerals and rare high altitude herbs. These men called immortals have access to knowledge and skills unknown to ordinary men. A mountain of the right type is a dragon of Qi and all its associated benefits. In myth certain mountains are themselves sacred. The elaborate grottoes of rock serve the same function, a small piece of the mountain through which to stroll, full of caves where immortals live. The pits dug to heap these mounds are used as ponds and streams. With the right properties such a pond may be the home of a dragon of Qi. The pavilions are placed in this landscape of mounds and ponds at auspicious points. Together the mound, pond, and pavilion create the primary form of the garden. A secondary layer is created by plants. In literature this secondary role is well attested. Finally, individual taihu rock is added for accent, like sculpture in a European garden.

Architecture

Architecture is the primary element of design. The garden scenes are all constructed to be best viewed from a pavilion. A more dynamic although inferior scene may be scene from a path. It is the location of the building; however, that determines the circulation of paths. The path itself can become architectonic by the the addition of roof and screen walls. These screen walls often have have moon-shaped doorways and small windows in the shapes of vases and apples.

Rock

Decorative Chinese scholar's rocks, are used both for structural and sculptural purposes. The sculptural Taihu rock is especially prized because it represents wisdom and immortality, and is only procurable from Tai Lake, just west of Suzhou. During the Song dynasty, they were the most expensive objects in the empire [citation needed]. Such rocks, combined with streams and pools, form the basis of a garden's plan. The Chinese word for landscape, shan shui, literally means "mountains and waters" while a common phrase for making a garden means "digging ponds and piling mountains".

Water

Chinese gardens usually feature a central pond and several offshooting streams. The softness of water offsets the solidity of the rocks, while also acting to reflect the constantly changing sky above. Goldfish, carp, and mandarin ducks are three of the most commonly raised fauna. The goal of the design is to make the scenery beautiful, the surrounding is quiet and cool, and the landscape wonderful. Temples, resthouses and short bridges are common features. Also, small fountains were a favorite.

Plants

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Blossom in Nanjing

Many garden plants have essential symbolism. Pine trees represent wisdom and bamboo represents strength and upright morality. Plum trees are also extremely valuable to the Chinese for their beautiful pink and white blooms during winter. Chrysanthemums were also extremely well-loved because of their autumn bloom (when most plants wither and die) and symbolize the perfect Confusician scholar. Peonies symbolize wealth and power, and the lotus symbolizes purity (and is also a revered Buddhist plant). Climbing roses, camellias, ginkgos, magnolias, jasmine, willows, sweet osmanthus, and maples were also planted. The plum blossom is one of the "Four Junzi Flowers" (四君子) in China (the others being orchid, chrysanthemum, and bamboo) and symbolized nobleness. The Chinese see the blossoms as more of a symbol for winter rather than a harbinger of spring. It is precisely for this reason that the blossoms are so beloved, because they bloom most vibrantly amidst the winter snow while all other flowers have long since succumbed to the cold and died. Thus, they are seen as an example of resilience and perseverance in the face of adversity, and thus has also been used as a metaphor to symbolize revolutionary struggle. Because they blossom in winter, the plum, the pine, and the bamboo together have been called the "Three Friends of the Cold" (岁寒三友).

Other

The pavement of a Chinese Scholar's Garden might include intricate natural patterns or simply dirt depending on the wealth and mission of the owner. Decoration consists of calligraphy carved into rocks or walls, and lattice windows. Some windows have the shape of different objects such as apples, pears, circles, pentagons etc.

The classical gardens of Suzhou

Suzhou is located in the southeastern part of Jiangsu Province. When the Grand Canal linking many older canals in China was constructed during the Sui dynasty, Suzhou prospered, becoming a center of the silk trade. During the Song dynasty, nearby Hangzhou became the imperial capital and Suzhou grew as well, a convenient retreat for scholars, officials and merchants.

Gardening in Suzhou reached its height during the Ming and Qing dynasties. Suzhou became the center fo a garden supply industry. It is for the reason the gardens of Suzhou are considered classical standards of design. There were over 280 private gardens then in Suzhou and landscaping became an art with established masters. The mild climate, along with 230 frost-free days and around 43 inches (1,100 mm) of rain annually the area is perfect for gardening endeavors. Sixty-nine gardens in and around Suzhou are preserved as important national cultural heritage sites. In 1997, UNESCO added four of the largest private gardens of Suzhou to the World Heritage List, and in 2000 UNESCO added the historic section of the city and five more gardens in Suzhou as extensions to the World Heritage Site.

Noteworthy Chinese gardens in other countries

Penjing in **root-over-rock** style on display at the Chinese Penjing Collection of National Bonsai & Penjing Museum, Washington.

Several authentic Chinese gardens have been built outside China.

Liu Fang Yuan 流芳園 or the Garden of Flowing Fragrance at the Huntington Library in San Marino, California USA
The New York Chinese Scholar's Garden
Portland Classical Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon, USA
Seattle Chinese Garden in Seattle, Washington, USA
Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver
Chinese Garden of Friendship in Sydney
Lan Yuan 蘭園 (Dunedin Chinese Garden) in Dunedin, New Zealand
The Singapore Chinese Garden
The Astor Court Garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, New York USA
Chinese Garden Zürich (in partnership with Kunming) in Zürich-Seefeld

Notes

^ McKean

References

McKean, Marylyn. professor of garden history at the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design.

External links

Herbert Offen Research Collection An excellent bibliography of publicly accessible books and manuscripts on Chinese gardens.
Lattice Window

[1] McKean

[1]