Landscape design and ecological

architecture
topic: CHINESE IMPERIAL GARDEN

SUBMITTED TO: Asst. prof. ANUSHREE BURMAN

 HISTORY
The history of Chinese garden architecture can be traced back to the Shang and Zhou
dynasties (16th century BC - 221 BC). During that period, Chinese kings and nobilities
began the practice of developing forests and woods for the specific purpose of hunting. In
some instances these areas of forests and woods, called 'You' in Chinese covered dozens
of square kilometers or even hundreds of square kilometers. Somewhere between 206 BC
and 220 BC, the Han Dynasty advanced the concept of these 'Natural Gardens' by adding
living quarters and adding animals that were raised and considered to be the rudiment of
Chinese garden architecture.

Traditional Chinese Garden architecture in the real sense first appeared in the Tang
Dynasty somewhere between 618 AD and 907 AD. During this era, the construction of
beautiful architecture evolved into what would include man-made hills, pools and
fountains. As time went on, and craftsman became more accomplished, this man-made
beauty was able to successfully blend in well with the beauty of the natural environment.

 The origin of the Chinese garden can be traced back to the end of the Shang Dynasty and the beginning of the
Western Zhou Dynasty.
 The main themes pursued by the architects of garden of that period were “natural”,”enjoyable”,”poetic” and
“graphic”. sometimes also called the poetic garden.
 The garden were an escape from the frustration and disappointment of the political problems in China.
 It provides the spiritual sense to connect with nature, to come back to one’s inner heart.
With material resources and generous financial support
combined with supreme power, emperors were able to
construct Imperial Gardens with almost unlimited
extravagance. Designers placed emphasis on the
harmonious unity of architecture with nature which
contributed to the decision to construct many gardens in
scenic mountain areas. In northern China, Beijing is one
of the better known areas for these beautiful gardens.

SUMMER PALACE are typical examples of this period.

Gentle babbling brooks meander through delicate
palaces, pavilions, platforms, and bridges.
Large lakes shimmering in the early morning or late
afternoon sun, where fish swim delightfully in and out of
duckweeds add to the incredible beauty of the pleasant
surroundings. When one is confronted with all of this fine
architecture, it is easy to appreciate the high level
craftsmanship that went into the construction of these
magnificent gardens.
 IMPERIAL GARDEN
(ROYAL GARDEN)

 Imperial garden are large and

grandiose,and were built using natural
mountains and waterways.
 These gardens highlights scenic spots of
china’s different regions blend themes of
Gods and legends with anecdotes of well
known historical personalities.
 Particular attention was given to the
connection of independent sceneries within
the garden.
 INTRODUCTION
 Chinese imperial garden, recreates natural landscapes
in miniature. The style has evolved for more than three
thousand years, and include both the vast gardens of
the Chinese emperors and the small gardens built by
the scholars , poets and former government officers.
 The Chinese consider gardens a serious art form and as
with painting, sculpture and poetry aim to attain in
their design the balance, harmony, proportion and
variety that are considered essential.
 The art of the Chinese garden is closely related to the
Chinese landscape painting, painting in three
dimension.
 The garden is created by the human hand ,but should
appear as if created by the heavens.
 Nature is loved and held in the highest honour in
Chinese art,it does not means that nature must be
simply”duplicated”in its original form.
 The main principle of Chinese garden art is to recreate
nature,to present its essence without artificial effects.
 The recreation must be based on the profound
observation and a deep understanding of the nature.
Depending on their geographical
locations, Chinese gardens can vary.
Generally speaking, they can be divided
into two groups, the Imperial Garden
Architecture in north China and the
Private Garden Architecture in south
China.
Imperial gardens are noteworthy for their
grand dimensions, luxurious buildings,
and exquisite decorations.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

 PHILOSOPHY
• DAOISM
Taoism(modernly Daoism)is a
philosophical and religious tradition that
emphasizes living in harmony.
The term tao means “way”, “path” or
“principle” and can also be found in
Chinese philosophies and religions.
• YIN AND YANG
“Shadow and light”, is used to describe
how polar opposites forces are
interconnected and interdependent in the
natural world,and how they give rise to
each other.
Example: mountains and water are
opposite expression of YIN and YANG and
must be balanced within the garden.
PRINCIPLES OF CHINES GARDEN
 Three fold spaces.
1. Big garden as a whole
2. A several small garden.
3. Several garden villas inside each small.
 To have human scale living space and to make each garden look like a landscape poem with landscape
pictures.
CHARACTERISTIC
 The Chinese imperial garden is enclosed by a wall and has one
or more ponds, a rock garden ,trees and flower and an
assortment of halls and pavilions within garden,connected by
the winding paths and zig-zag galleries.
 By moving from the structure to structure, visitors can view a
series of carefully composed scenes, unrolling like a scroll of
landscape painting.
 The ground is like that of the mountain area, the kind of
garden layout imitates real terrain.
 The hills provides natural surrounding for visitors.
 Looking at the hills ,people feels as if they live in a mountains
area and enjoy the beauty and stillness of nature.
 The path of the Chinese garden are usually constructed with
varying width or paved with different pavement materials to
give the different sense of experience
ELEMENTS OF THE CHINESE IMPERIAL GARDEN
 YANG-rocks,hills and mountains (male force)
 YIN- water-( female force)
 Plants ,trees and vegetation.
 Bridges ,artificial lakes
 Literary inscriptions.
 ROCKS

 Decorative rocks sometimes termed as

Chinese scholars rocks,and are used for both
for structural and sculptural purpose.
 The sculptural Taihu rock is especially prized
because it represents wisdom and
immorality.such rocks,combined with
streams and pool to form the basis of the
garden plans.
 In Chinese garden ,artificial mountains are
also function as space dividing structural
component.
 WATER
 Water is the blood of a traditional Chinese
garden. the most important element of the
garden is the water, in any form; ponds, lakes,
streams,rivers and water fall.
 Water serve as the peaceful opposition and
balance to mountain scenery,and is regarded as
the absolutely necessary element to represent
the totality of nature in perfect harmony.
 The movement of the flowing water gives the
pulsating life to the gardens’s cliff, stones
,bushes and flowers.

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY-SA

 PLANTS
 Trees and flowers are carefully selected for the overall
layout of the garden.
 Everything in the Chinese garden seems to have the
inner meaning, including the plants.
 Trees and plants are planted in the more naturalistic
arrangement.
 Plants and flowers reflecting the beauty of the four
seasons are planted.
 In spring, peach trees blossom :in summer; lotuses
bolossom ;in autumn the maple leaves change colors,
and in winter the evergreen bamboo and the plum
trees provides greenery.
 Among the most popular flowers are lotuses,peonies
and the orchids.
 The special flowers are planted to attract bees and
butterflies.
the small insects make the garden more lively.
 Symbolism in vegetation, most commonly used plants
and trees are lotus which symbolise perfection,peach-
longevity,pine-age,silence and solitude,mulberry-
human activity,bamboo-strength,peony-wealth,plum-
renewal.
 PATHWAYS
 Paths are constructed to make the changing
scenes and the views into the garden and
beyond.
 Paths in the Chinese garden are often
uneven and zig-zag.
 The paths are like the passage of the human
life, there is always something new and
different when seen from the different
angles,while the future is unknown and
unpredictable.
 Paths may also links to the beauty of scroll
painting where the landscape is revealed not
in one hit but in succession of views.
 The path may be covered with the
stone,pebbles or tiles.
 BRIDGE
 The bridge connects the two
different vistas in the Chinese
garden.
 They are also constructed as the
symbol of contrast against the
moving water.
 The half moon cavity under the
bridge,which gets complected
after the reflection on the water
surface follows the principle of
harmony and balance.
GARDEN STRUCTURE
& LITERARY INSCRIPTIONS
 Among the most ground are walkways,pavilions and bridge.
 Pavillion like houses neither a harsh nor dominant effect,but
rather bend effortlessly into their general surrounding.
 Design features include the miniature scenery, terminal
features, vista background, view spot, main feature, front view.
 Poetry writing and recitation. along with the an extensive understanding of
the classical texts were essential requirements in Chinese religion.
 Discovering poetic inscriptions’ engraved into rocks, framing doorways, or
above gateways have long enhanced and natural wonders of the garden
and added another level of intellectual pleasure to everyone’s experience.
 Poetic inscriptions reveal deeper meaning of the Lake Tai Rocks, moving
water, symbolic flowers and elegant architecture.
SUMMER PALACE
(IMPERIAL GARDEN)
 THE SUMMER PALACE
 The summer palace located approximately twenty km to the
north west of the Beijing’s city, was first built in 1750 and rebuilt
in 1886.
 The summer palace is spreads on an area of 2.9 million square
meters,three-fourths of which are the water surfaces.
 Its majors attractions are the Wenzhou(longevity) hill and the
Kunming (Jade Spring) lake.
 The garden is a showcase of pavilions in diversified,exotic
designs which are strung together by a corridor more than seven
hundred meters in length and a seemingly unending chain of
balustrades of snow white marble.
 With western hills simmering in the background, the summer
palace is strewn with postcard perfection sceneries’, including
the Yuquan Pagoda, the Kunming lake, and the bridge with
seventeen arches.
 The total length of the long corridor is 728 m with cross beams
under the roofs dividing it into 273 sections.
 There are four octagonal pavilions with double eaves, two on
each side of the cloud-Dispelling gates.
 The pavilions symbolizes the three symbols(spring, summer,
autumn, winter).
 The three storied tower situated on the hill,is about 40mhigh and
having the complicated structures,the whole is supported by the
eight pillars of wood.
SHANGLIN GARDEN
 The shanglin garden of the
QinDynasty was one of the
most famous royal palace
garden in ancient china.
 It was made for the luxury,the
garden contained a large
number of animals,rare
flowers and exotic fruits
trees,as well as the largest
pond,the Kunming pond.
REFFERENCES:
https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/880/

https://www.chinahighlights.com/beijing/forbidden-
city/imperial-garden.htm
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Summer_Palace

https://www.britannica.com/place/Imperial-Garden
THANK YOU….