CHINESE GARDENS

He who builds a garden builds

happiness.

INTRODUCTION
Garden architecture, an important part of
ancient Chinese architecture is a combination
of structures and man-made landscape with
natural scenery.
It does not only provide lodging but also
landscaping with architecture, environment and
human in full harmony.
Inside a private Chinese garden, zigzag bridges,
twist paths and winding watercourses all
display the characters of freedom and
irregularity.

The Chinese use very few plants in their

gardens, and much of the space is enclosed by
elaborate walls, pavilions, bridges, and
decorative pavements.
During different dynasties, private gardens
came into vogue as the rich and powerful
sought
to
express
their
sentiment
in
landscaping.
Later a poetic touch was added to the layout
and scenes of a garden, and became a general
feature.

YIN-YAN THEORY

The relationship of Chinese house

and its garden implies to us a
Chinese traditional philosophy, the
Yin-Yan principle.
The Chinese architecture, which is
ordered, unmoving, restrained and
solid, presents the Yan character.
The Chinese garden, which is free,
irregular, changing and voidness,
displays the Yin character.

POETIC CONTENT
Many scenes depicted in Chinese
gardens have been based on
themes taken directly from poems
of famous poets. The Keep and
Listen Pavilion (the Lin Ting Ge) in
Suzhous Zhuo Zhen garden was
built on the theme of the lines by
Shan-Yi Li .
A successful scenes inside Chinese
garden, such as a rock grouping
with a waterfall and a gnarled pine
or plum tree shaking under
summer wind, etc, in their turn,
could evoke the poetic mood within
the viewers.

DESIGNED BY PAINTERS
EYE

Almost all of Chinese

garden-makers were also
painters. When building a
Chinese garden, the
Chinese garden-makers
not only followed the
natural landscape
formations, but they also
imitated the brush works
of the old masters.
Even for the visitors, they
also looked at the Chinese
garden through eyes
educated by thousands of
years of landscape
paintings.

CHINESE GARDEN
ELEMENTS

There are four garden

Wat
natural elements
er

Plant
s

Buildings

rocks

ROCKS

If the rocks are large enough, they will be

used to pile up the rock hills, the artificial
mountains, or to build the rocky shores of
the lakes and watercourses.

ROCKS
If the shapes of the
rocks
are
unusual
enough, they will be
celebrated and selected
as the single standing
rocks.
For those of the small
size,
they
will
be
incorporated with the
dwarf trees to make the
bonsai,
the
tray
gardens,
known
in
Chinese as: Pen Ching.

WATER
Almost
all
the
traditional
buildings were made of wood,
the watercourses inside the
Chinese gardens fitted the
requirement
of
the
fire
protection.
In
order
to
make
the
watercourses appear larger and
more
attractive,
Chinese
gardeners used rockeries and
architectural elements to break
the water into many scattered
but interconnecting areas. Some
private Chinese gardens are
almost the water-labyrinths.

PLANTS
Out of the four seasons,
plants are only important
in the summer in a
perfect Chinese garden.
The pine tree symbolizes
the robustness, dignity,
and majesty of a wise old
man.
The chrysanthemum
symbolizes such things as
gentility, good friendship,
and longevity .

PLANTS
The bamboo tree,
with its tall and
slender stalks and its
long and narrow
leaves, symbolizes
fidelity, humility,
wisdom, and
gentleness.

Kiosk
The kiosk is where one stops
to take a rest or enjoy the
scene, and forms a scene on
its own. Kiosks vary in size
and style. They can be in
every conceivable shape,
square, round, hexagonal,
octagonal, or fan-like.

Wall
The wall, serving as a screen
built of brick, stone or
rammed earth, comes in a
variety of shapes, such as
cloudy walls and flowery
walls. The top of the wall and
the wall itself are often richly
ornamented.

Moon gate
It enhances a sense of
distance as well as
giving an element of
romance.
Corridor
The corridor comprises
the center piece of a
garden. It not only
serves
as
a
link
between buildings, but
also partitions up the
space

Storied Chamber
The storied chamber is a house
with more than two floors. In a
garden the storied chamber was
often used as bedroom or reading
room, or simply for marveling at the
scenery.
Pagoda
The pagoda is a major Buddhist
building. In a garden it often
appears in the center of the entire
layout, and is an element for the
creation of new scenery.

The Entrance
Courtyard
Surrounded by high walls,
it is a place of transition,
a tiny garden into itself.
The walls of the courtyard
are set with windows
offering glimpses outside
the garden.
The two guardians
Two lions watch over and
protect the garden's
entrance. The female, on
the left, has a paw placed
on a lion cub, while the
male rests a paw on a ball
symbolizing prosperity.

Water pavilion
This building sits
above the water and
the beautiful
woodwork makes this
building delicate and
distinctive.
Ting
A chinese garden is
not complete without
a ting. High upon the
pile of weathered
rocks, sits an elegant
pavilion or ting.

CHINESE GARDEN PURPOSE

The private garden also served as a place

for scholars to gather together to discuss

CHINESE GARDEN SETTING

Chinese garden may be viewed as a

miniature of the Chinese landscape.

CHINESE GARDEN DESIGN

TECHNIQUES
DIVIDING
SEQUENCE
BORROWING
CONTRASTING
SEASONS

DIVIDED, BUT INSEPARABLE

Gardens had limitation
of the land hence were
divided into several
scenic sections.
But the garden as whole
must be unified under a
central theme.
Seems spaciousness in
its restricted space.
The central section is
usually the place for
group activities and
has most dominating
landscape scene.

SEQUENCE

BORROWING

Natural landscape features

borrowed from outside their
gardens as well as scenes
from within their own
gardens.

One scenic section

always partially borrows
the scenery of another
section.
Outside landscape
features - such as an
attractive silhouette of
a mountain, a temple or
a pagoda on a remote
hill, a floating fishing
boat in the distance, or
even a flower of
neighbors garden is
also attractive to the
Chinese gardeners.

CELEBRATING FOUR
SEASONS
The scenes also change
with the four seasons.
They help to create a
dynamic viewing of the
scenery.
Sprouting in Spring,
flowering in Summer and
dropping leaves in Autumn,
even the shaking of a bare
branch under Winters wind
is all-interesting to Chinese
people.