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The '''Chinese Classical Garden''' (中国古典园林; zhōng guó gǔ diǎn yuán lín), also called '''Chinese Scholar's Garden''', is a place for solitary or social contemplation of nature.
The '''Chinese Classical Garden''' (中国古典园林; zhōng guó gǔ diǎn yuán lín), also called '''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 [[spirituality|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 [[spirituality|spiritual]] shelter for people, 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 [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]] is used to symbolize purity. The [[ume|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 [[osmanthus fragrans|sweet olive]] as well. The [[chrysanthemum]] is used to symbolize splendor, luster and "the courage to make sacrifices for a natural life". [[Peony|Peonies]] symbolize wealth and [[banana tree]]s are used simply for the sound they make in the breeze.
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 [[spirituality|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 [[spirituality|spiritual]] shelter for people, 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 [[Nelumbo nucifera|lotus]] is used to symbolize purity. The [[ume|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 [[osmanthus fragrans|sweet olive]] as well. The [[chrysanthemum]] is used to symbolize splendor, luster and "the courage to make sacrifices for a natural life". [[Peony|Peonies]] symbolize wealth and [[banana tree]]s are used simply for the sound they make in the breeze. Chinese gardens are awesome.


== History ==
== History ==

Revision as of 11:26, 3 February 2011

Chinese Garden

The Chinese Classical Garden (中国古典园林; zhōng guó gǔ diǎn yuán lín), also called 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 people, 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 used 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. Chinese gardens are awesome.

History

Penjing Garden at the pagoda Yunyan Ta (Cloud Rock Pagoda; Suzhou, China)

The Chinese Classical Garden, sometimes called a Scholar's garden or simply Chinese garden, and its associated garden culture are expressions of Chinese vernacular landscape architecture aesthetics. Several cultural factors within Chinese civilization, starting from the Neolithic, merged during the Jin Dynasty to form Classical Chinese Gardens as a stylistically distinct creation within the stream of Chinese vernacular landscape architecture. These factors include Neolithic shamanism, Geomancy, Confucianism and Taoism. In literature the first description of a garden with mulberry and willow trees planted inside a walled compound is cited in the Book of Odes.[1] Gardens are cited in the I Ching and Songs of Chu as places of magic.[1]

Chinese vernacular landscape architecture, that is the relationship between man and nature, began in the Neolithic Yellow River Valley. The agriculture of the Yangshao villages had created a vast regional garden out of nature. Neolithic China was more productive than any of its contemporary civilizations. Thus, nature came to be regarded as a partner friend and equal to man.[1]

Beginning with the first historic records of the Shang Dynasty, two types of Landscape architecture are recorded. The royal park of the Shang kings in Yinxu and agriculture of the common people. The royal park was designed as 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. During the Warring States a nature park called Tiger Hill (Chinese: 虎丘; pinyin: Hŭqiū) was built in the state of Wu. It was a notable exception to the aesthetic of the large scale royal park as an expression of worldly power. It is the earliest example of Landscape Architecture to commune with nature in China. The ultimate realization of the power aesthetic was realized by Qin Shihuangdi who turned the entire Wei Valley into a regional park dotted with 300 palaces connected by raised walkways in a microcosmic model of the universe.

During the Western Han Dynasty, Han Wudi built a large walled royal park called Upper-Forest Garden (上林园; Shànglín Yuán). This park combined the features of botanical and zoological gardens, as well as the traditional hunting grounds. Another innovation was Kunming Lake with a recreation of the three fairy islands in the center, a motif that would become a common feature of later designs. The memory of this park would continue to inspire garden design design for centuries. The Eastern Han Dynasty was controlled by Confucian scholars who disapproved of the excesses of their ancestors and promoted an aesthetic of elegant simplicity to match an ethic of moderation. Thus the idea of small is beautiful became the new measure of a garden's success. It was at this time temple grounds, and siheyuan courtyards began a conversion to designed gardens.

By the end of the Han Dynasty Chinese gardens could be classified by scale and program as either royal parks, enclosed temple gardens, or enclosed private (scholar) gardens. The private or scholar's garden belonging to the scholar class was the beginning of the Classical Garden in China. The Chinese classical garden is considered a work of art elevated beyond the other two, to the degree that the term Chinese garden refers to the private Chinese classical gardens exclusively.

File:Shixianglu autumn.jpg
"Divine Trace" in the eastern suburb of Nanjing

Chinese Classical gardens were built by and for the scholar class (绅士; shēnshì), many of whom were also civil servants. They, along with their gardens, first appeared during the Eastern Han Dynasty in parallel with the rise of Confucian ideology. When the Han Dynasty ended a strict class division virtually ended advancement in the civil service and caused the scholar class to retreat into a more contemplative life in their gardens. It was during the long period between the Eastern Han Dynasty and the Tang Dynasty that the Chinese Classical Garden as a built form fully developed. The economic expansion of the Tang Dynasty multiplied the number of these gardens across China. By the Song Dynasty, Classical garden design had been elevated beyond a mere craft into high art and the static forms of the Tang Dynasty were subject to new experimentation. It was at this time Suzhou became the center of all intellectual life and garden design in China. Finally, during the Ming Dynasty gardens had reached peak of design and the first Treatsies on garden design appeared. The following Qing Dynasty was marked by degeneration of design with an emphasis on ostentation and ornament. The scholar class and their gardens ended with the Republican Period. The Classical Chinese Garden as a built form is largely extinct in modern China.

Culturally, the scholar class was under immense pressure in their Confucian public lives 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.

The Chinese classical garden evolved into several major regional styles; North China gardens, Central China gardens, Yangtze Delta gardens, and South China (Lingnan) gardens. Of these regional styles, the most influential was the Yangtze Delta style, centered on Suzhou.

Historiography

In 1692 Sir William Temple wrote an essay Upon the garden of Epicurus which contrasted European theories of symmetrical gardens with asymmetrical compositions from China. The first documentation of Classical Chinese Gardens in the west was a 1749 letter by the Jesuit Father Attiret, one of several Jesuits working as painters for the Qianlong Emperor. In the letter he described the Summer Palace where he lived as a guest, and the aesthetic theories behind its composition. This firsthand account directly influenced the emerging English Garden style which imitated the Chinese stylistic conventions such as concealment, asymmetry, and naturalism. In addition, there was a more direct imitation that of the European imagination of China, resulting in Chinoiserie elements in the gardens.

Design

The Zhishan Garden at the National Palace Museum in Taipei

The essential elements in a garden are a wall surrounding a hall, a pool, and a mountain with a tree[citation needed]. Later these were expanded to 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.[2] 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

West Lake : Yue Fei Memorial Hall

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 seen 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 addition of roof and screen walls. These screen walls often 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

Water is an important element in Shanghai's Yuyuan Gardens.

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

File:Njspring.jpg
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 classic curved bridge is used in many Asian gardens.

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

See also Classical Gardens of Suzhou

Suzhou is located in the south-eastern 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 for 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.[3]

Famous Suzhou garden designers include Zhang Liang, Ji Cheng, Ge Yuliang, and Chen Congzhou.

English Chinese
Humble Administrator's Garden 拙政园
Lingering Garden 留园
Master of the Nets Garden 网师园 清 十全街
Mountain Villa with Embracing Beauty 环秀山庄 清 景德路
Great Wave Pavilion 沧浪亭 宋 人民路三元坊
Lion Grove Garden 狮子林 元 园林路
Garden of Cultivation 艺圃 明 文衙弄
Couple's Retreat Garden 偶园
Retreat & Reflection Garden 退思园

Noteworthy Chinese gardens in other countries

Entrance of the Chinese Garden Zürich-Seefeld, Switzerland
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.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ a b c Keswick, 2003
  2. ^ McKean
  3. ^ "Classical Gardens of Suzhou - UNESCO World Heritage Centre". Retrieved 2009-11-29.

References

Further reading

  • Sirén, Osvald (1949). Gardens of China. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Sirén, Osvald (1950). China and Gardens of Europe of the Eighteenth Century. {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  • Tong, Jun. Gazetteer of Jingnan Gardens (Jingnan Yuanlin Zhi). {{cite book}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)

External links


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