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Chinese Garden
Garden buliding is considered a chief component of Chinese culture.
The Chinese garden has a long history. It first appeared in the
form of a hunting preserve for emperors and nobles in the 11th
century B.C. during the Zhou Dynasty. During the Qin and Han dynasties,
those natural preserves were made more beautiful and became places
of recreation for imperial families.
Garden building saw its heyday during the Ming and Qing dynasties
and the imperial garden Yuanming Yuan was regarded as a masterpiece
in this period. Different from the classical European gardens,
in which geometric patterns dominate, Chinese gardens are made
to resemble natural landscapes on a smaller scale. Tradi tional
Chinese gardens fall into three categories, namely, imperial,
private, and landscape gardens.
Most imperial gardens are located in north China: Beihai Park,
the Sununer Palace, the Imperial Garden of the Forbidden City
in Beijing; the Imperial Summer Resort in Chengde, Hebei Province,
and Huaqing Palace in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province. Imperial gardens
occupy large areas. The Summer Palace, for instance, has an area
of 290 hectares while the Imperial Summer Resort in Chengde, which
covers more than 560 hectares, is the largest imperial garden
in China. Most of these gardens have three sections which serve
administrative, residential, and recreational purposes. In large
imperial gardens, the main buildings are connected by an imaginary
line in the middle of the garden on a north-south axis. Other
buildings are scattered among hills, and waters are linked by
subodinate lines, forming a well-designed symmetry and adding
beauty to the chief architectural complex.
Other characteristics of the imperial gardens are coloured paintings,
screen walls, stone tablets, bridges, man-made hills and lakes,
and ingeniously-designed buildings. Decorated archways
abound in those gardens.
Most private gardens are found in the south, especially in cities
south of the Yangtze River. Private gardens were mostly built
at one side or the back of the residential houses. In almost every
garden, there is a large space in the garden set in a landscape
of artistically arranged rockeries, ponds, pavilions, bridges,
trees, and flowers. Surrounding the beautiful scene are small
open areas partitioned by corridors or walls with latticed windows
or beautifully shaped
doors. Buildings in the garden were used for receiving guests,
holding banquets, reading, or writing poetry. They are open on
all sides and are often situated near the water. The winding corridors
connect various buildings and also provide a covered veranda as
shelter from
the rain and shade from the sun.
Suzhou, known as the home of gardens, displays the most and the
best traditional private gardens in China. Among them, the Pavilion
of the Surging Waves is known for its rustic charm, Lion Grove
for its strange rockeries, the Humble Administrater's Garden for
its tranquil waters and elegant buildings, and the Garden for
Lingering in for its ancient architectural art and the arrangement
of hills, waters and plants. They are the examples of the garden
styles
of the Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties respectively.
Gardens in Yangzhou are characterized by their architectural style
and artistic rockeries, whereas Guangdong style gardens are distinguished
by large ponds, brightly coloured buildings, and luxuriant plants.
Landscape gardens are different and are places for public recreation.
The landscape garden mainly contains natural scenes, so it looks
more natural than artificial. Good examples include the ten West
Lake scenes in Hangzhou, the twenty-four Slim West Lake scenes
in Yangzhou, and the eight Daming lake scenes in Jinan.
Many famous poets and painters contributed greatly to the development
of landscape gardens. They either lelt poetic inscriptions for
those gardens, or designed many of the gardens themselves. In
order to commemorate those poets and painters, later generations
had their poems and inscriptions engraved on tablets, pavilions,
or pagodas, thus enchanting and inspiring visitors.
Chinese lunar new year and 12 animals
Chinese Folk Theatrical Art
Chinese folk art
Chinese Kungfu
Chinese Qigong
Chinese musical instruments
Festivals of China
Architecture in Ancient China
Chinese Famous Grottoes
Traditional Chinese Acupuncture and Moxibustion
Traditional Chinese Medicine
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