The Chinese Garden: History, Art and Architecture - Notes on Meanings of the Chinese Garden

Meanings of the Chinese Garden

Chinese gardens possess diverse meanings without a singular definitive interpretation. The tradition resists reduction to design formulas, with contemporary gardens exhibiting varied approaches. Examples range from a Wang Wei-inspired retreat in Cheshire, Connecticut, to an Immortals' Isle recreation in Taiwan, and restored ancient gardens alongside new parks on the mainland. Despite their differences, all claim to extend the Chinese tradition.

Nature Versus Artifice

A recurring theme is naturalism, questioning the authenticity of winding paths, grottoes, and farmhouses. This theme sparks a debate in the Dream of the Red Chamber, highlighting the distinction between natural and artificial elements. The discussion encompasses the symbolism of the country farmhouse representing Confucian simplicity, aesthetic conventions, the concept of qi (vital spirit), and alignment with the Dao.

The debate unfolds in a newly constructed garden during an inspection by Jia Zheng, his son Baoyu, and literary gentlemen. The focal point is a mock country village featuring reed-thatched cottages amid apricot trees. Jia Zheng, embodying Confucian values, appreciates the village's unpretentiousness, expressing a desire for rural simplicity. Baoyu, however, questions the notion of naturalness, preferring the ornate pavilions. He challenges his father's definition of natural as solely that produced by nature, arguing that the village is an artificial construct within the garden. Baoyu critiques the village's incongruity and inconsistency, noting the absence of neighboring villages and a coherent landscape system.

Baoyu's critique extends to painters' conventions, deeming them implausible compared to his understanding of nature. He might concur with Oscar Wilde's observation: 'To be natural is such a difficult pose to keep up.' Similar debates arose in eighteenth-century England, influencing a preference for irregular arrangements inspired by paintings of the Roman campagna. The controversy reveals a conflict between deeply held values, where 'natural' implies adhering to the Dao of nature, aligning inner being with outer reality. This ideal resonates with painters and Confucian li (the right principle of order). The garden serves as a microcosm where these forces are present or represented.

Plenitude and Restless Polarizing

The Chinese garden embodies plenitude, encompassing diverse and contradictory uses. It serves as a microcosm of nature, packing all experience within its aesthetic boundaries, creating a unique space. Gardens accommodate solitude, socializing, study, leisure, contemplation, poetry composition, meditation, family outings, and even war games on an Imperial scale. Unlike the contemplative nature of Japanese or English gardens, the Chinese garden blends everyday use with contemplation, symbolizing the owner's life and character. It aims to represent the universe and its myriad elements while acknowledging the impossibility of literal comprehension.

The garden resolves this dilemma by incorporating diverse experiences within a confined space and oscillating between polar opposites like yin and yang, solid and void, and the five elements. This symbolizes the universe through formal devices, resulting in a dense packing of meanings, a restless changing aspect, and an alternation in moods and vistas. Shen Fu, an eighteenth-century writer, connects aesthetic motivation with symbolic representation:

One element acts as a symbol for another, with the garden representing a larger part of the universe. Symbolism extends to absent qualities represented by present ones, such as autumn implying spring, and visible qualities implying their counterparts. The design incorporates polar opposites, ensuring a continuous waxing and waning, avoiding a static state. Shen Fu emphasizes the importance of concealing, revealing, and working in depth. The construction of a garden is an ongoing process of growth, decay, and transformation.

Magical Space

The garden symbolizes the universe, the Land of the Immortals, and the Buddhist paradise of Amitabha, sharing structural similarities with religious forms and ritualized spaces. The origins of gardens are linked to holy mountains, magic rocks, attempts at immortality, and scholars seeking harmony with the Dao. Some argue that the Chinese love of nature constitutes a philosophy akin to Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism.

Edmund Leach identifies a pattern underlying myth, ritual, taboo, and religion, distinct from everyday logic. Confucian houses, with their defined boundaries and ordered symmetry, contrast with Taoist gardens, which feature confusing inner boundaries and a lack of clear order. Leach emphasizes the introduction of artificial boundaries, such as the division of time, into human activities. Rituals mark transitions between social states, and boundaries that define social states are imbued with anxiety and considered timeless and sacred. Chinese gardens can be considered 'spaceless' due to their incomprehensible patterns disrupting normal social relationships.

Leach describes the role of mediators, such as prophets or rituals, that bridge various states. These mediators possess 'liminal attributes', embodying contradictory qualities. The Chinese garden, based on polar opposites, mediates between the pleasure palace and the Confucian farmhouse, the Taoist Abode of the Immortals and the boating party stage. Nelson Wu, drawing from his experience living in and building a Chinese garden, notes the presence of square and circle patterns representing earth and heaven. He explains that the area outside the square represents a different set of values.

tian yuan di fang (heaven round, earth square)

In this realm between Heaven and Man lies the Chinese garden, positioned between architecture and landscape painting. The Liu Yuan in Suzhou demonstrates a dualistic form, with Confucian elements of halls and courtyards juxtaposed with tight spaces and rocks. These are 'liminal' spaces, not quite living spaces and not quite heavenly realms. The Hall of the Mandarin Ducks exemplifies conjugal felicity through its divided yet joined symmetrical plan.

The overall design of the Liu Yuan defies comprehension, with its circuitous entrance, rambling additions, and intricate mix of features. It lacks a repeated scale pattern and consistent orientation. While the main lake and ting serve as a central point, this is diffused by miniature centers. The garden offers a continuous, engaging experience without a defined ending, unlike the Palace of Versailles. The Chinese designed their gardens for linear perception. Internal boundaries are vague, time is suspended, and space becomes limitless. More than an aesthetic game, the Chinese garden is a compelling alternative to official responsibilities, offering a magical, care-free escape from the world of official responsibilities.