why are chinese gardens important

Why are gardens important in Chinese culture?

More significantly, gardens have provided a venue of daily life, academic writings, artistic creation, social gatherings, and other cultural activities for ancient Chinese scholars. Consequently, a wealth of traditional Chinese cultural factors is embedded in the intricate art of landscape architecture.

What makes Chinese gardens special?

Traditionally, Chinese gardens blend unique, ornate buildings with natural elements. Just about every Chinese garden contains architecture, like a building or pavilion; decorative rocks and a rock garden; plants, trees and flowers; and water elements, like ponds.

What is the philosophy behind Chinese gardens?

The landscape design is deeply impacted by Daoism and Confucianism which are the mainstream philosophies and belief systems in Chinese culture. In a Chinese garden a strong belief in a sense of unity with nature as a benign wilderness, source of awe, magic and sustenance is required.

What are the four essential elements in Chinese gardens?

This lesson introduces the four basic elements of Chinese gardens: rocks, water, plants, and buildings, as well as discusses particular uses and how they interact.

What are the main influences on China's cultural landscape?

In the cultural history of China, Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism are the three important parts of traditional Chinese culture. Each of them has influenced the Chinese culture with their own characteristics.

Why is it called Chinese garden?

The 13.5-hectare garden is modelled on the northern Chinese imperial style of architecture during the Song dynasty (960–1279 CE) and the Summer Palace in Beijing.

What is the difference between a Chinese garden and a Japanese garden?

In Japanese gardens — where a shrub's foliage is deemed more important than its flowers — shrubs are pruned into shapes to achieve an ideal form of “perfect beauty”. In Chinese gardens, trees and shrubs are pruned to create a naturalistic look, and their flowers, fruits and foliage are showcased.

How do Chinese gardens differ from Western gardens?

Chinese gardens are different from Western gardens in outer look. The former is characteristic of a neat arrangement of buildings, regular water system and tidy trimming of flowers, while the latter is characteristic of a natural layout of the architecture and plants.

What plants are in a Chinese garden?

Plants as SymbolsBamboo. Bamboo is used in every traditional Chinese garden for its beauty, the rustling sound of its leaves in the breeze, and the feathery shadows it casts on walls of the garden. ... Pine. ... Lotus. ... Flowering Plum. ... Chrysanthemum. ... Peony. ... Banana.

What is the most popular plant in China?

The five flowers listed below are culturally recognized as the most famous flowers in China.1 Chrysanthemum (菊花 Jú huā) Chrysanthemum. ... 2 Peony (牡丹 Mǔ dān) Pink Peonies. ... 3 Lotus (荷花 Hé huā) A Lotus Flower. ... 4 Plum blossom (梅花 Méi huā) Plum Blossoms. ... 5 Orchid (兰花 Lán huā) Orchids.

Which Basin of China is called the Garden of China?

The Sichuan Basin (Chinese: 四川盆地; pinyin: Sìchuān Péndì), formerly transliterated as the Szechwan Basin, sometimes called the Red Basin, is a lowland region in southwestern China.

When Did Chinese landscape painting begin?

sixth centuryIn China, the earliest landscapes were portrayed in three-dimensional form. Examples include mountain-shaped incense burners made of bronze or ceramic, produced as early as the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.E. - 220 C.E.). The earliest paintings date from the sixth century.

How do Chinese gardens differ from Western gardens?

Chinese gardens are different from Western gardens in outer look. The former is characteristic of a neat arrangement of buildings, regular water system and tidy trimming of flowers, while the latter is characteristic of a natural layout of the architecture and plants.

What is the difference between a Chinese garden and a Japanese garden?

In Japanese gardens — where a shrub's foliage is deemed more important than its flowers — shrubs are pruned into shapes to achieve an ideal form of “perfect beauty”. In Chinese gardens, trees and shrubs are pruned to create a naturalistic look, and their flowers, fruits and foliage are showcased.

What plants are in a Chinese garden?

Plants as SymbolsBamboo. Bamboo is used in every traditional Chinese garden for its beauty, the rustling sound of its leaves in the breeze, and the feathery shadows it casts on walls of the garden. ... Pine. ... Lotus. ... Flowering Plum. ... Chrysanthemum. ... Peony. ... Banana.

What is the architecture in China?

Chinese architecture is characterized by bilateral symmetry, use of enclosed open spaces, feng shui (e.g. directional hierarchies), a horizontal emphasis, and an allusion to various cosmological, mythological or in general symbolic elements.

What is a Chinese garden?

Chinese gardens are a special aspect of traditional Chinese culture and art. They are creative, relaxing areas; harmoniously mixing man-made architecture, painting, and calligraphy with natural scenery and horticulture.

What is the difference between Chinese gardens and traditional architecture?

Contrary to the symmetry of Chinese traditional architecture, building plans, and even city layouts, Chinese gardens put more emphasis on accord with nature.

What are the two categories of Chinese gardens?

Classifications and Distribution. Chinese gardens are generally divided into two categories: imperial gardens (northern gardens) and private gardens (southern gardens).

What are private gardens in China?

Private gardens in China are more intimate than the grand imperial gardens, but their simplicity offers a unique form of beauty. These gardens were often used for parties, such as those during the autumn moon festival. One important characteristic of many private Chinese gardens is a rockery.

What does the pine tree represent in Chinese gardens?

Auspicious items can be found abundantly. Pine, for example, was often used to represent longevity, tenacity, and dignity.

When did Chinese gardens mature?

After their evolution of many dynasties, Chinese garden design matured as a comprehensive school of its own during the Qing Dynasty (1644–1912). See more on The History of Chinese Gardens.

When did Qing Dynasty gardens open?

While gardens from the earliest dynasties have faded into history, many Qing-Dynasty (1644–1911) gardens remain. At one time, only members of the royal family and their guests or servants were allowed to experience the beauty of these massive garden complexes, but in modern times, they are open to ordinary people.

What is a Chinese garden?

The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the ...

How did China influence the Japanese garden?

The Chinese classical garden had a notable influence on the early Japanese garden. The influence of China first reached Japan through Korea before 600 AD. In 607 AD, the Japanese crown prince Shotoku sent a diplomatic mission to the Chinese court, which began a cultural exchange lasting for centuries. Hundreds of Japanese scholars were sent to study the Chinese language, political system, and culture. The Japanese Ambassador to China, Ono no Imoko, described the great landscape gardens of the Chinese Emperor to the Japanese court. His reports had a profound influence on the development of Japanese landscape design.

How many structures are there in the Humble Administrator's Garden?

The Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou has forty-eight structures, including a residence, several halls for family gatherings and entertainment, eighteen pavilions for viewing different features of the garden, and an assortment of towers, galleries, and bridges, all designed for seeing different parts of the gardens from different points of view. The garden structures are not designed to dominate the landscape, but to be in harmony with it.

What was the name of the garden of the Shang Dynasty?

A famous royal garden of the late Shang dynasty was the Terrace, Pond and Park of the Spirit ( Lingtai, Lingzhao Lingyou) built by King Wenwang west of his capital city, Yin. The park was described in the Classic of Poetry this way:

What is the Chinese character for a garden?

The old character for yuan is a small picture of a garden; it is enclosed in a square which can represent a wall, and has symbols which can represent the plan of a structure, a small square which can represent a pond, and a symbol for a plantation or a pomegranate tree.

What are the three characters in Chinese gardens?

Early inscriptions from this period, carved on tortoise shells, have three Chinese characters for garden, you, pu and yuan. You was a royal garden where birds and animals were kept, while pu was a garden for plants. During the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), yuan became the character for all gardens.

How big was the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou?

Chinese classical gardens varied greatly in size. The largest garden in Suzhou, the Humble Administrator's Garden, was a little over ten hectares in area, with one fifth of the garden occupied by the pond. But they did not have to be large.

What is a Chinese garden?

As we stated in the initial paragraph of the article, it is a gardening style that has been there for more than 3000 years. In the ancient days, these types of gardens were an icon of Chinese emperors and their families to galvanize their might and impress others.

What are the elements of a Chinese garden?

You might think the ingredients we explained above are not unorthodox and can be seen in most garden types. Yes, it is valid to a certain extent, but in a Chinese garden, they worked in combination. Also, regardless of the size of the park, the Chinese tried to include most of the elements in a miniature way.

Buildings in a Chinese garden

We thought describing the buildings individually is imperative as good old classical Chinese buildings tend to bring an astonishing outlook to the garden. In fact, most people opt for a combination of several buildings depending on the size of the garden. The followings are some of them.

How to build a Chinese garden?

Building a Chinese garden might be a little difficult, to be honest, as, without the above-mentioned features, it won’t be a complete one. Perhaps, you will have to turn everything upside down and even remove the existing plants.

Why do Chinese gardens have miniatures?

The Chinese gardens aspire to recreate nature in miniature to celebrate the harmony between the sky and human beings. It is not a question of mastering the environment but rather of sublimating it; use the natural background to create rather than to master it.

Which dynasty was responsible for the creation of gardens?

It is under Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644-1911) Dynasties that it acquired its artistic dimension and attained its plenitude. Later, upper-class Chinese appropriated gardens and accordingly added them a symbolic facet by considering them as a sanctuary of haven and meditation by recreating an idealized world.

What is the vegetation in Bonsai?

The vegetation is particularly rich: laurels, peach trees, peonies, magnolias, and especially a very beautiful garden of Bonsai and 3 gigantic Ginkgoes of more than 250 years each.

What does a garden reflect?

A garden thus has to reflect two vital breaths. That of nature which is staged through trees, rocks or extents of water which strew the garden but also that of the gardener which represents the creation which has to as close as possible the most perfect natural balance and serenity.

Where did Ji Cheng live?

It was the first monogram dedicated to garden architecture in the world. Ji Cheng's thirty-five-room former residence at Hueichuan Bridge , Tong Li, is now a tourist attraction.

What is an open space in which are set up the main places and the most important pavilions to contemplate them?

In any composition, there is an open space in which are set up the main places and the most important pavilions to contemplate them, in the heart of interlacing of galleries, pathways, and groves as well as doors in a cut structure (circle, amphora)and bridges.

What is the garden's new dimension?

Through the ceaseless and multiple transmutations, the garden acquires a new dimension, where every moment defines itself by short-lived visions and fleeting impressions in a universe in perpetual movement.

What is the function of a Chinese garden?

One of the primary social functions of a Chinese garden was to serve as the setting for literary gatherings where like-minded friends might celebrate the season, enjoy music, or view rare antiquities, afterward composing poems to commemorate the event.

What is the history of China's gardens?

Surrounded by oceans and deserts, and countries whose cultures they regarded as inferior, they saw China as a great walled garden, sufficient unto itself. Garden s have a long history in China, and famous gardens of the past, commemorated in painting and poetry , often provided inspiration to later garden designers.

What were the functions of Buddhist temples?

Consequently, they sometimes functioned as sanctuaries or resorts where harried city dwellers might find spiritual and physical sustenance, partaking of simple vegetarian meals, meditation, lofty conversation, and strolls in the landscape.

What is the earliest painting of Yuan Jiang's fantasy?

The earliest of these is a rare painting (10th–11 th century) of a tryst between the Tang emperor Xuanzong (r. 712–56) and his consort, Yang Guifei.

What was the theme of Chinese painting?

A favorite theme of traditional Chinese painters was the careful description of the various fish, birds, and other animals that typically inhabit imperial pleasure parks and private gardens. Rather than present these creatures in their natural habitats, Chinese artists celebrated the collecting of rare fish, fowl, or pets within these manmade microcosms. Thus tamed, these creatures were available for minute study and careful rendering by court painters, who made a specialty of "feathers and fur."

What is the significance of a balustrade in Chinese landscape?

In each case, an ornate balustrade, an imposing garden rock or plant, or finely garbed figures indicate the palace setting. Landscape in China has always had a human dimension. Consequently, architectural elements, particularly pavilions, are a quintessential feature of both Chinese landscape paintings and gardens.

What is enclosed garden?

In the densely populated urban centers of China, enclosed gardens have long been an integral part of residential and palace architecture, serving as an extension of the living quarters.

What is the importance of classical gardens in China?

China’s classical gardens value much transferring emotion to the scenery, emotion interacting with the scenery, giving meanings to objects, and using objects to express virtues. People would regard such aesthetic object as a symbol of beauty in virtue, in spirit and in personality.

Why is the Chinese garden considered an art?

The art of Chinese garden has a rich theme of ideas and a subtle imaginary, because of the rich aesthetic ideas associated with Chinese gardens and the profound Chinese traditional culture. What is a good garden landscape?

Why is nature beautiful?

In the eyes of Laozi and Zhuangzi, nature is beautiful not because of its existence, but because of its ability to demonstrate that Tao "does everything by not acting". Nature does not intentionally pursue anything, but it makes things happen in a way that no one else can.

What is the role of Confucianism in Chinese culture?

The claiming of Confucianism that honors disposition over emotion, theory over literature, and reason over desire was criticized by past men of letters who valued nature.

What is Confucianism in China?

In the Pre-Qin Period, Chinese culture was in a varying form of "a contention of 100 schools", and Confucianism was only one of the schools, but after Emperor Wu of Han adopted Dong Zhongshu’s suggestion to "outcast 100 schools and focus only on Confucianism", Confucianism has become the orthodox representation of Chinese culture, having deep influence on the development of culture in China. During its origin and development, Confucianism has developed its own set of theories: ideas like "benevolence and righteousness" and "rite and music" developed by Confucius advocate justice and the doctrine of the mean. In terms of politics, there are ideas like "rule of virtue" and "policy of benevolence". For education, there are ideas like "make no social distinctions in teaching" that focus on education of the public and the cultivation and practice of morality. The importance of the people, the three cardinal guides and the five constant virtues, Confucian orthodoxy and other ideas and the value of righteousness over benefits are also involved. Although these ideas played a positive role in the development of Chinese culture to some extent, they also suppressed or limited such development. The claiming of Confucianism that honors disposition over emotion, theory over literature, and reason over desire was criticized by past men of letters who valued nature. Therefore, Confucianism borrowed and absorbed content from Taoism, combining the two without compromising the core content, and developed Confucianism one step further. Confucius scholars completed the ideological system of Confucianism by absorbing Taoism’s ideas of the universe as ontology and that "everything comes from Tao".

What are the ideas of Confucianism?

During its origin and development, Confucianism has developed its own set of theories: ideas like "benevolence and righteousness" and "rite and music" developed by Confucius advocate justice and the doctrine of the mean. In terms of politics, there are ideas like "rule of virtue" and "policy of benevolence".

What is a good garden?

The answer is: a good garden is somewhere between the knowing and the not-knowing. The one who knows understands why it is good and what they like or dislike. The one who does not know never understands the reason behind the landscape. This answer points out the essence of Chinese garden art. The biggest difference between Chinese gardens ...

Why do people have gardens?

Creating a garden can add aesthetic appeal to your outside space. As well as enhance your property’s “curb appeal” and, subsequently, increase its selling price too. But are these the only reasons why people create beautiful gardens surrounding their homes? I don’t think so. In fact, there are many ways in which gardening can be good for the environment too. I can think of 14 reasons off the top of my head.

Why is gardening good for the environment?

I can think of 14 reasons off the top of my head. 14 reasons gardens are important for the environment: Plants eat pollution for breakfast! A garden helps to ensure cleaner groundwater.

How does a garden help with erosion?

Gardens keep soil erosion in its place. Soil erosion is a serious problem as it leads to unwanted debris and sediment, making its way into storm drains, roads, and into streams. By having a home garden, you are doing your bit to reduce soil erosion as the plants’ roots hold the soil in place. 5.

What are some things that can be seen in a garden?

If you are a lover of wildlife like I am, you will truly come to appreciate the shelter that your garden provides for it. When you create a beautiful garden, you can expect to get visited by birds, butterflies, bees, and maybe even other critters and creatures. Your garden could become a prominent feature in the lives of a multitude of other creatures – and that’s something to be proud of.

Why do we need a garden space?

When you create a garden space, you provide the perfect opportunity for ecosystems to exist as they were meant to. This goes a long way towards preserving and protecting creatures that are otherwise removed from the eco system.

Why are plants important to the environment?

Plants, as well as trees, are designed to suck up carbon dioxide and spurt out clean, purified, fresh air for us to breathe. Without plants, we wouldn’t have any oxygen to breathe, so be kind to the plants in your garden.

What is sustainable agriculture?

Sustainable agriculture involve s each and every person taking the time to do their bit for their own food production. Creating a healthy vegetable and herb garden at home is indeed sustainable agriculture on a small scale. 14. Gardens provide shelter for wildlife.

History

The Differences Between Chinese Gardens and Chinese Building Layouts

The Philosophy of Chinese Gardens

• The buildings and landscaping of a Chinese garden are designed and arranged deliberately based on their respective symbols and meanings in fengshui. Auspicious itemscan be found abundantly. Pine, for example, was often used to represent longevity, tenacity, and dignity. Chinese gardens are enclosed by walls as special places for the owner's private...

See more on chinahighlights.com

Classifications and Distribution

Overview

In art and literature

History

Design of the classical garden

Philosophy

Influence

See also

External links