Rules of Building Private Gardens: Part 2

The ancient Chinese gardens and parks of earlier periods were enclosure gardens formed with real mountains and waters. Ever since the Wei, the Jin and the South and North Dynasties, the practice of simulating natural mountains and waters came into being. In the Song Dynasaty, an imperial garden called Gen Yue was built in the eastern capital of Bianliang, and the Huizong Emperor (period of reign 1101-1125) demanded that the magnificence of the Five Mounts in China be represented and the precipitous Sichuan mountain paths reproduces, leading the craft of creating artificial mountains and waters to its peak.

By the Ming and Qing Dynasties, imitating nature had already become an important craft in garden construction among private gardens.

From appearance, natural mountains are often high and low in their rolling hills, and there are always the main peak and the subsidiary peaks. The hillsides are often covered with lush vegetation. As to build mountains in the garden it is most undesirable for mountain peaks to lie side by side or to have several peaks lined up like a paintbrush stand.

The way peaks are organized depends on the requirement of the scenes. Whether the scene is to be open and spacious or deep and quiet determines the number, the size and the arrangement in height of the peaks. Mountains are built using earth, stone or both. Built with lake stones, the mountain looks natural and majestic.

Mountains of earth should be covered with flowers and plants for a lush appearance, and stones should be scattered among the earth as if they appear out of the ground. Stone mountains should also be filled with earth in between rocks, and flowers and plants should be planted in there for a natural lively look.

Within natural mountains there should be no lack of gullies, mountain paths and stone caves, and artificial mountains should follow this rule as well.

Now let us look at the management of water. Private gardens are often built within the city, and for this reason even in the south where water abounds, most garden ponds are dug by men. In nature the ever-flowing rivers twist and turn, the lakes and ponds extend into the distance, and for this reason artificial ponds should never be regular and square in shape, but need to be crooked and natural.

Where there is a large water surface, small bridges should be placed to break up the pond into large and small water areas for a gradation of the water scene. The end of the pond often turns into a small bay, stopping at the corner of the house or underneath the water pavilion, where the water seems to disappear.

A pond of still water is thus brought to life. Water plants should be planted to create a sense of liveliness to the water but not to fill up the entire water space, because they should not block the shadow of buildings in the water. It is appropriate to place yellow stones or lake stones among twining banks of the pond.

Stones are placed at different heights. Standing on the high points one can see the scenery on all four sides, whereas standing on the low points one can easily play with the water.

In a natural environment it is common for mountains and waters to coexist. But when there is a cave in the mountain and endlessly-flowing water in the cave, it is then considered a scene of wonders. And the private gardens venture to imitate the scene. The Summer Hill of the Yangzhou Geyuan Garden is built by the pond, with stone caves winding deep into the hill. Water from the pond twists into the cave, brings a sense of coolness and adds a new dimension to the name Summer Hill.

Mountains and water can be regarded as the soul of the natural environment gardens. Mountain adds spirit and water adds liveliness to the scenery. It is only through a profound understanding of the natural mountains and waters that one can accurately condense and extract their real essence, and represent them faithfully in the construction of gardens.

source: Chinese Gardens, published by China International Press