Artistic Concept of Chinese Gardens: Part 2

Seek Poetic Mood

The building of a garden often comes from literary inspirations. Gardening, poetry, calligraphy and painting influence, infiltrate and supplement each other.

The usage of poems, verses and ballads in gardens can be found in the inscriptions-to describe the scenery using elegant words and to reveal the artistic realms. Inscriptions are the best specifications for gardens. Good inscriptions, such as the nomination of a scenic spot and the couplets hung on the columns of hall, not only adorn hall or waterside pavilion, decorate window and door, enrich views, but also express emotions and feelings of garden builders and owners.

First built in the Southern Song Dynasty, the Master-of Nets Garden was originally named the Fisherman s Seclusion, representing garden owner s pursuit of a private life. In the Qing Dynasty, the garden was renamed the Master-of-Nets Garden. Master of nets still carries the original meaning of fisherman.

In the west part of the Humble Administrator s Garden in Suzhou, there stands a waterside pavilion. In the still of night, cool breeze blows gently and bright moon hung in the sky is reflected in water, displaying a serene atmosphere. Quoting from Su Shi s verse with whom to sit, bright moon, cool breeze and me , the garden owner named the pavilion with whom to sit , which accurately states the artistic realm of this scenic spot and also signifies the exclusive character of the garden owner.

Chinese gardeners pay much attention to the graduation of views, the composition of structures; the supporting of rockeries and ponds and the decoration of the flowers and trees in order to create the poetic mood and artistic realm. To fully comprehend the pictorial and poetic charm of gardens, one not only has to be familiar with the usual techniques and layouts of Chinese gardens, but also sees into the delicate and aesthetic cultural taste behind the scenes with his heart.

Since the Yuan Dynasty, Chinese gardening has been closely related with painting. Techniques of gardening share similarities with painting techniques and this point can be reflected mainly in the fields of water-view-creating and rockery-making. For example, ponds in Chinese gardens will be considered pretty only when they fit for the nature.

Banks would wind naturally and bank sides are paved with irregular stones. Some even have giant reeds planted in order to pursue the natural charm. In a relatively large water body, (an area of more than several mu) a piece of water area would be chosen to display a view of mist-covered peaceful lake.

In lake not large in size, builders will use irregular stones to pave the bank and thin bamboos, wild vines, red fish and green water plants to decorate the scene. Though a small pond, it can leave an image of boundlessness. Rockery makers do not strive to recreate the actual size, but follow the principles of generalization and extraction to represent the shapes of peak, cliff and mountain stream using rockery-making techniques in order to reflect the natural charm and cultural implication of mountains.

One of the techniques is to pile earth into a mound or small hill, emphasizing the presentation of partial landscape of the natural mountains. Visitors can t see the complete view of rolling hills, but they can imagine the magnificent picture of peaks over peaks. The technique of leaving imaginary space greatly broadens the expressive force of stones and rocks.

Garden builders often employ the technique of separation to enrich the landscape graduation. For example, little winding stone bridge was always placed on the pond, or foot rocks were arranged in water paddling spots. By doing these, builders enrich depths of field and spatial levels, displaying a sense of depth and serenity of the lake. The usual decorative walls and long corridors don t obstruct the view completely even though they are built to separate the views. They help to increase the depths of field of the view.

source: Chinese Gardens, published by China International Press