Forerunners of the Chinese Scholar's Garden
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From
antiquity to the present, gardens have played a key role in the
life of China. As early as the 3rd century B.C., Emperor Qin
Shihuang united China and embarked on a major construction program
that added imperial gardens throughout his vast domain. These
orderly stretches of vegetation, temples and walkways. It conveyed
the social order and unifying convictions of political authority. These large public works projects, however, began to give way over the course of centuries to smaller, more discreet gardens - sanctuaries from the stress of the world - that included not only plantings, but significant architectural elements as well. Indeed, unlike traditional Western gardens, a Chinese Scholar's Garden emphasizes the connectedness between house and garden, landscape and structure. Philosophy and religion have played an important part in the development of Chinese Scholar Gardens. In the 4th and 5th centuries A.D. - a time of great turmoil in China - Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and mysticism offered people inner peace and spiritual harmony. When scholars retreated from the chaos of society, they sought to apply these transcendent principles to their environment. If they had the wealth, scholars would create exquisite gardens that integrated their living space with controlled and stylized views of nature that included ponds, artificial hills, exotic plants and architectural elements. These early gardens were prototypes of the Scholar Gardens that would evolve - over the course of centuries - into the crowning glory of the Ming Dynasty and into one of China's greatest contributions to the world. |
