CHINESE GARDENS

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General Information
 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 Chinese
landscape painting - it is not a literal imitation of a natural
landscape, but the capturing of its essence and spirit. It is a
landscape painting in three dimensions The garden is created
by the human hand, but should appear as if created by heaven.
 Now China has about 1,000 classical gardens. The most
important examples of Chinese landscape gardens are located
in Beijing, Chengde and cities south of the Yangtze river such
as Suzhou and Wuxi.
 HISTORY
 The development of classical Chinese garden during the 400 years in the
Han Dynasty laid the foundation for the art of Chinese gardens.
 In the Tang and Song Dynasties, the art of Chinese garden matured. Private
gardens in the Song Dynasty also developed rapidly. The private gardens
were mainly built with streams or hills or all kinds of plants and flowers or
halls and pavilions.
  History of classical Chinese garden The Ming and Qing Dynasties were the
golden age of garden building. In the middle and the late Ming Dynasty, the
artists summed up their experience in designing gardens by writing articles
about gardens, which laid the foundation, in theory, as well as in practice.
 Chinese garden culture matured as a comprehensive school of its own
during the this period of time, after the practice of many preceding dynastic
periods, and rose to become one of three garden construction schools along
with Western Asia and Europe.
The characteristics
 The creation of classical Chinese gardens depended
on mountains, rivers, buildings, plants, animals and
even the weather.
 In these gardens usually the ground is like that of a
mountain area. This kind of garden layout imitates
real terrain.
 The hills in classical gardens provide natural
surroundings for visitors. Looking at the hills, people
feel as if they live in a mountains area and enjoy the
beauty and stillness of nature.
 ELEMENTS-ROCKS
 Decorative rocks, sometimes termed Chinese
scholars 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.
 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".
 ELEMENT - WATER
 Elements for creating the
garden-Water
 Water is the blood of a
traditional Chinese garden.
 The most important element of a
garden is water, in any form:
ponds, lakes, streams, rivers and
water-falls. The movement of
flowing water gives pulsating
life to the garden’s cliff, stones,
bushes and flowers.
 ELEMENTS - TRESS
 Elements for creating the garden- Trees and
flowers: especially in private gardens, Plants are
carefully selected for the overall layout of the
gardens, because of the limited space.
 Plants and flowers reflecting the beauty of the
four seasons are planted.
 In spring, peach trees blossom; in summer,
lotuses blossom; in autumn, the maple leaves
change color; and in winter, the evergreen,
bamboo and plum trees provide greenery.
 Among the most popular flowers are lotuses,
peonies, chrysanthemums and orchids. Special
flowers are planted to attract bees and
butterflies. These small insets make the gardens
more lively.
 ELEMENTS
 Elements for creating the garden Structures
important structures of garden-Among the
most ground are walkways, pavilions and
bridges. Timber frame construction plays a
decisive role here.
 Pavilion-like houses have neither a harsh nor
dominant effect, but rather bend effortlessly
into their general surroundings.
 More specifically, we can divide the
structures in classical Chinese gardens into
the following : Lobby, Corridor ,Parlour,
Waterside Kiosk ,Storied Chamber ,
Bridge ,Storied Pavilion , Pagoda, Kiosk ,
Wall .
TIMBER FRAME-COVERED WALKWAY