Ideas Of Chinese Gardens Western Accounts 1300-1860

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Apr 21, 2019 Servabo Fidem rated it it was amazing

The traditional Suzhou garden is the living and animated image of all that one finds in nature, to engender in the soul the same sentiments, and to satisfy the eyes with the same pleasure. In the heart of Chinese cities, private gardens attached to urban dwellings integrated a summa of Confucian, Daoist, and Buddhist ethics: they were created by high officials with the purpose of finding moments of calm and contemplative appreciation of nature without distancing themselves from their duties.

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One of Suzhou's most famous gardens, Cang Lang Ting (Surging Waves Pavilion) was created in 1045 by the scholar Su Shunqin. Its main characteristic is that it was created alongside one of the canals crossing the city. A pavilion facing the canal made explicit this union between the space of the garden and that of the course of water outside.

The garden, just like other Suzhou gardens, have many wooden openings, screens, and lattice works framing the walls of the garden pavilions establishing a sense of continuity between indoors and outdoors.

In the Chinese Garden the general principles of garden design are strongly influenced by the practice of geomancy, or fengshui. This is an amalgam of mythical philosophy, superstition, common sense and aesthetic ideas, inspired by the principle that a harmonious environment favours not only a serene life, but a fortunate one. A geomancer would be consulted and adjustments would be made for the best flow of qi. Shizi Lin (Lion's Grove) was introduced with artificial earth and rock hillocks or wooded groves to screen unlucky quadrants and redirect sha, inauspicious influences.

The spatial framework is designed according to whether the garden is intended for in-position viewing or in-motion viewing. The first category concerns small gardens and links the appreciation of them to a stationary view gained by stopping movement, and thus requires specific vantage points like a pavilion or a terrace from which it is possible to view the green space. In the more extensive gardens of the second category, one is led along a promenade which enables one to appreciate the great variety in composition.

Each garden is divided into organizational patterns of spatial articulation of hierarchical places and points. Each garden contains a certain number of spaces, each endowed with a specific characterization. These thematic units have a varying number of scenic views. The garden unfolds itself according to a predetermined itinerary for visitors, one that leads them through the individual thematic units and induces them to pause at the various viewing zones to enjoy the designated views. The main walkway may offer alternative routes, temporarily running alongside or intersecting the main path. But all walkways have analogous characteristics: they twist continually, with variations in gradient and paving, contribute to the sense of surprise and discovery. With its changes in gradients, the winding covered walkway contributes to the studies mix of concealment and revelation of sections of the garden along the paths. In Wangshi Yuan (Garden if the Master is the Fishing Nets), the courtyard is delimited by walls to constitute a thematic unit within a defined perimeter. In Yu Yuan (Garden to Please), openings along the wall dividing a double corridor offer glimpses on secluded parts of the garden. Lastly, in Cang Lang Ting, a hill placed just behind the main entrance hides the view of the garden, increasing the sense of expectation.

The size of the thematic units is variable; places of modest dimension alternate with more extensive ones. Several factors accentuate the perception of this play of contradictory juxtapositions. The sensation of being in a tight place is emphasized by zigzagging of paths between narrow rocky and rough surfaces grottos. The amplitude and lumosity or open spaces is intensified by the surface of pools reflecting the sky and the architecture places along the shore, making the area seem bigger. However, even the antithesis between the spatial qualities of the successive areas implies a sense of general harmony: each space contains elements which may have been found in previous or successive thematic units, in a different arrangement, order, or hierarchy. The repetition of these elements makes for a play of flashbacks and foreflashes which maintain a feeling of the overall unity of the garden.

Some scenic views refer to well-known paintings or landscapes. A visit to any garden entails reading inscriptions and name plaques in the elegant Chinese self-expressive calligraphy on stone, wood, or paper, placed on walls and pavilions. Appreciation of gardens involves imaginative engagement.

A means of influencing the perception of a scene's depth, or making certain parts of it stand out, is the way it's screened. Placing a screen or frame between the viewpoint and the view itself can affect the view. Examples are architectural frames of doors and windows. Doorways are always narrow so that only one person at a time can pass through them, thereby increasing the perception of the garden as an individual experience. Screening devices such as window frames and latticework of a geometric design placed in windows in pavilions or in the walls separating parts of the garden intercept the glance and invite it to linger over the decorative motifs, altering the perception of the real quality and extension of the scene glimpsed beyond the screen. They create a sort of anticipation of the scenes beyond without revealing either their content or the way to approach them. Instilling doubt in the visitor whether mirrors may be hidden in the frames of successive doors and windows, they contribute to the general sense of perpetual uncertainty.

In creating a Chinese Garden, the designer acmes at laying out a pathway along which the various components of the green space would gradually reveal themselves to the visitor. It is this mechanism of a series of unexpected scenes that is to induce the visitor to investigate the entire garden. The play of progressive disclosure depends on twisting and winding paths. Leading from a building to a grove, following the shore of a pond, insinuating themselves between rock formations, the walkways serve the function not only of linking all the various parts of the garden, but of determining the sequence or story-board of its narrative. The paths thus constitute a key element in the orchestration of the garden's story - but the composer behind it all has to remain hidden. One characteristic is common to all paths: they are never linear expect for short sections. The paths can be twisting, zigzagging, or form a series of broken curves. Changes in height add to the intended unpredictability, contrived by adding ramps, steps, and little bridges; changes in width likewise make for variety.

The doorways between different parts of he garden may be rounded or of complex outline, inspired by natural elements or man-made objects, as is the case of circular doors called yuemen (moon gate), or doors shaped like a vase, leaf, petal, or flower. Like doors, windows have geometrical or irregular shapes, with elaborate panels or wood and stucco screens. Doors and window are conceived as diaphragms for views, disclosing glimpses of the gardens but only through screened openings, which renders it impossible to grasp the real extension of the area they give access to. It is not important what architectural style was followed in destining pavilions: their appearance shall elicit the appreciation of the most cultivated visitors.

Key architectural typological vocabulary include tang (halls), lou (towers), ge (belvederes), ting (little single-storied pavilions), xie (gazebos), pagodas, memorial archways, terraces.

Index of selected Chinese Gardens:

1. Imperial Gardens ~ Beijing
- Yihe Yuan (Garden of the Preservation of Harmony)
- Yuanming Yuan (Garden of Perfect Brightness)

2. Classical Gardens ~ Suzhou
- Canglang Ting (Surging Waves Pavilion)
- Liu Yuan (Lingering Garden)
- Ou Yuan (Couple's Garden)
- Shizi Lin (Lion Grove)
- Yi Yuan (Joyful Garden)
- Wangshi Yuan (Garden of the Master of the Fishing Nets)
- Zhuozheng Yuan (Garden of the Humble Administrator)

3. Neo-Historical Gardens ~ Berlin
- Garten des wiedergewonnenen Mondes (Garden of the Reclaimed Moon)

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