Chinese gardens
The gardens are a distillation
Of the values, aesthetics, and world view embodied by its people
For an old country like China
Its a conglomeration of elements and beliefs
Added and embedded, welded and melded together over time
If you are touring or categorizing
You may want to see the imperial gardens and hunting parks
That belonged to the emperor, his concubines and eunuchs
An idyllic sanctuary far from court intrigue and political corruption
Feed the ducks, meander the paths with a bottle of rice wine in hand
Fall in love, host a celebration with a ten course banquet of bear and phoenix claws
There are private gardens of the scholarly bureaucrats and nobles
Oases of peace to contemplate the harvest moon
Play the zither and improvise another sonnet
Watch the star Polaris as the rest of the constellations rotate around the celestial hub
Dilly dally with fellow ladies and gentlemen dressed in silk on a spring day
Sip a cup of tea brewed in a porcelain pot
Not yet ripe peaches clustered on the branches
And there are temple gardens of monks, priests, nuns and magicians
Whether that ‘religion’ be taoist or buddhist, folk pagan or secular Confucian
They are mediating on the stillness of a mirrored lake
Quieting the mind where the the raging river falls from the misty mountains
In ‘wind water’ theory, qi energy rides the wind and scatters in the four directions
But upon encountering water, it is retained and settles
That sorta motif
Most farmers and small business commoners don’t have designed gardens
They do not possess the means to construct and maintain them
Rather, they are busy working – planting and hoeing, harvesting and drying
But they may have a courtyard, potted plants, and similar features and tastes
As exemplified in the grander estates
There is a shared philosophy
Of an ordered universe and its structures
Of conduct that is proper or moral or right
As it relates to the layout and plantings in the garden
An overall feeling of the heart opening in a moon lit night sky
Chinese really like rocks
The land is filed with hills plateaus and mountains
Very little of the country is actually arable
Meaning that few parts are able to grow food
The mountains are just outside town and flood plain limits
Grand, steady, immovable
Stable, enduring, virtuous
If you are an old timer
It is the source of rare medicinal herbs
The abode of the snow
The dwelling of mountain gods and immortals
There is a mystery and oldness associated with them
Town and country – they are country
To reach them
The journey requires fortitude and patience
When you reach the level of the clouds then the heavens are close
You might ask favors of the spirit beings
Or you may yourself grab hold of dragon whiskers
And disappear into the billowing masses
Hence, for these reasons
You must have rocks in the Chinese garden
Not just a lump here and there, or as part of a stone wall, or small pebbles on the ground
But ideally a massive imposing monument to the earth mother herself
A huge piece of super hard, ancient, veined, eroded, pitted, metamorphic or igneous chunk
Or better yet, a whole mountain range of a walkway
A cascading steps of a razor backed ridge
Garden spine is composed of such stones
An homage to the rocks
Water is sacred, water is life, every culture knows this
And likewise Chinese pay tribute to water as part of the garden design
As symbol and reality, remembrance and monument
Water can be enclosed as ponds
Channeled as canals
Or fall from height as waterfalls
They don’t seem to mind green water or muddy water, like yuck yuck water
Yes, life is a little bit dirty
They shrug that off as relatively unimportant
As long as theres colorful carp, dragonflies alighting on cattails
And frogs croaking from atop sacred lotus leaves
They like to recreate the whole living system
That is the poetry of organisms
The movement of water being analogous to
The meridian channels in the human body
Blood in the arteries and veins
Heavens, earth, people
The inspiration for songs and calligraphy
Plants are valued for their seasonal beauty
Functional use, edibility, or medicinal quality
As well as for their inherent spiritual quality
That we as people wish to emulate
The plum blossom blooming in the cold of winter
Whilst still snow on the ground
Is esteemed for its hardiness and vigor
A symbol of resilience and hope in the midst of inclement conditions
Bamboo bending in the wind
Yields, but does not break
Strength coupled with flexibility
Pine being a long lived evergreen tree
Is equated with loyalty and presence
The rooted firmness of integrity
Theres a whole bunch of paintings about these three friends of winter
Pine, bamboo, and plum
Its not the individual specimen that is prized
The emphasis is on the group and family unit
And so on with camellias, peonies and lilies
Peaches, pears, loquats, orchids
Every plant is special or representative in some way
Purity, sweetness, justice, wisdom
Reflecting a certain dimension of the human condition
Plants as teachers and mentors, leading the way
They say that there is an Osmanthus tree and a wood cutter in the moon
With a Sisyphus like story that goes with it
Lets just say that in the course of evolving as an agricultural society
The moon and its phases were something that were looked up to every night
As one sat in the courtyard gazing up at the sky, taking a puff on a pipe
Pots of flowering chrysanthemums in neat rows
The fundamental Chinese philosophy key stone concept is that
Humans are a small but vital component of a larger whole
We dwell in nature, and owe our lives to nature
Nature is perfection
Nature is the dynamic opposing forces in a perpetual dance
Nature is that yin yang symbol
Hence the idealized relationship portrayed in the garden
between humans and nature
is harmony and balance
Within the changing spheres
This is witnessed in the turning of the seasons
The tension and letting go of the autumn leaves
The wonky trail of uneven rocks, raised but smooth
The damselfly larval skin shed and fixed to the willow tree trunk
Unlike the western Abrahamic traditions
The Chinese never ate the apple of good and evil
Were not thrown out of the garden of eden
Did not have their minds split into high low polarities of heaven and hell
Are not torn between judgment and salvation
In the mythological world, they are still there in paradise
Or, its is only a breath away
Therefore, the place of humans
Relative to the universe
Is to be tiny humble and subservient
To be part of it, to know your place within it, bow your head down
In the garden this means a small set of stools and a table for tea
Or a well made pavilion to play games and eat snacks
Structures are present and useful, but not overwhelming
They are subtly tucked within the scenes
Of the mountains, rivers, forests and flowers
Not overtaking them
More like a sparrows nest, a badgers den
Or crumpled smeared sheets of petals on the ground after a summer rain
There are six or eight sided structures
And winding zig zag narrow covered corridors
That connect them
Why of course
When the clouds burst
Water is coming down
And the flowers are bathing
You want to stroll through the garden
Be inspired but stay dry
Delight in the pitter patter falling on the banana leaf
And gaze at the reflection of droplets gathering weight on the roof edge
Very classy old time thing to do
How boring to stay cooped up inside the boxy palace on a rainy day
Structure wise, don’t forget the addition of
Bird perches, lanterns, incense burners and potted scenery punjing containers
Early Jesuit visitors called the Chinese garden aesthetic ‘beautiful disorder’
Another apt description might be a garden of joyful vertigo
Nothing quite matches but somehow it all goes together
Theres a bit of chaos woven into the grand design
This is in contrast to the European traditions and aesthetics of the time
Which might be described as something closer to ‘divine symmetry’
In modern times, this western lineage of landscape aesthetic has evolved into ‘clean and crisp’
Like a mall, a starched shirt, or a hospital room
Its an odd idealized vision of shiny white heaven
Transposed onto earth
Very unlike a Chinese garden
There is that old adage, be like water
Paths are likened to rivers with meandering courses
They rise and fall, have depth and undulation, wind and twist
This creates valleys and hidden alcoves in a garden
Turn the corner surprises, multiple dimensions colliding in unity
Or imagine that you are inside of a calligraphic or painted scroll unfurling
You are the contours of a distant hillside, or the pebbles strewn along the shore
The flit of a warbler from branch tip to branch top
The arc of crane wings about to take flight
That is the general feeling
Maybe for the royal palace architecture, you would want it open and grid like
Straight lines criss crossing in unison, rising high in columns and towers
Demonstrating power and might
Shock and awe for the populace
gathered to pay respects to the monarch
But not in the garden
The garden mimics nature
Does not subsume to culture and its whims
There is a distinction
How about seeing the world
Through the lens of the garden and its vistas?
These days, every portal you look through
Every story that enters your mind
Is basically rectangular
Rectangular window
Rectangular book
Rectangular newspaper
Rectangular screen
Rectangular phone
All boxy with no curves
Is that a strange filter or gateway or perspective
To have everything framed and limited as such?
Now imagine if everyday you woke up
And that phone you stared at was a different shape
One day it was a cloud, a cumulus puffy thing
Another day it was a different kinda cloud, a stretchy stratus
Day three it was a lotus fruit
Day four a turtle shell
And so on
Would your world then appear differently?
Would you think about the world in another manner?
That is how gardens of old were built and dreamt of
Every window and doorway is unique
Unusal shapes is the norm, not uniformity
The constant is the precision and craftsmanship that runs throughout
As you open your eyes
Wow another day!
Eyes close and open again
Wow another day!
Basically it is a mind game puzzle of a place
Meant to project your minds eye
Into the spinning fractals of geometry
Inherent in the unfurling of a magnolia blossom
The goal being to transfix your nose
And inundate it with a spillway of rose scents
Tickle your nerves with bumpity bump curves of tiles and pavers
In floral complexity and spirals
An inaccessible place beyond the imagination
Once you are looking through such an aperture
What would you see?
Purposeful viewpoints
Places to sit and watch
Openings to pause and take it all in
An impasse threshold that forces you to stop and look around
There might be several, there might be hundreds such spots in a garden
All deliberate, engineered, purposeful
Once you are still
Then you can watch the movie
Its a really slow, painfully slow art film
And tiny bits of action happens in sequential waves
Sunset is an obvious one
Hummingbird coming in to investigate
Chirping of crickets as night falls
Swooping in of bats at dusk
Oak tree going to sleep as the heat subsides
Immersion, bewilderment, awe
Theme is:
You are not outside of nature, not separate from her
She is not something to be subdued, conquered
Days of dominion are still here
But take a rest from that mindset for a bit
In the garden
You are nature, nature is you
In tune and in harmony
Paired opposites holding hands
Couplets of asymmetrical irregular symmetry
As for balance and rhythm and all those design principles
How to apply them?
With regards to the placement of patios and floral beds?
Well behold a landscape painting
It is thoroughly instructive
Or better yet, paint one yourself
And basic elements will reveal themselves
For one, there is a whole lotta nothingness
That is called negative space
Is your life filed to the brim, calendar all booked, every hour accounted for?
No, theres time to sleep, time to do nothing, time when it is all blank
Is okay, nature is like that
That gives the third eye time to open
As they say, sometimes nothing need be said
The quietness speaks in volumes, etcetera
Use masses of a similar form or color
Details can be a little blurry
Lines are not precise
Weeds are even okay not a big deal
Lawn? What the heck is that?
And eternally green plot of close shaved vegetation?
Ai no, let it go through its cycle as a grass –
Flower, seed, brown, dormant, then green again
Thats the show, and up down seasonal drama of life
It is never the same in time
Every moment happens as a revelation
The neighbors tree can become your tree
The rooflines of houses start to resemble a crest or a wave or ladder to the sky
If you see the contiguousness flow of nature
Strive for the quality and visual impact called ‘infinite’
That is called ‘borrowing a vista’
You see the garden scene as something that stretches far and beyond
All encompassing
Neighborhood homes, distant hills, sky, light and shade
All are part of it, let them come in
You can bend or block them
Conceal, modify and edit their impact
The garden is more than the four corners defined by the property lines and fences
Again, you and the garden are part of larger whole
And the lines of the mountain peaks, in the painting –
Are they realistic or ‘fake’
Photograph like or a phoo phoo representation?
Well you know those moments when you wake up from a half remembered dream
Still in and out of consciousness
Lucid but out of it, ready to start another day but tempted by the sheets and comforter?
Thats the screenshot capture, the aha moment of a garden scene
Where you find yourself totally aware, in the dream, but grounded beneath the maple tree
This is what is evoked or prodded, encouraged and meant to instill
Its not totally ‘real’, not altogether ‘false’
It is ‘Magic’ once you realize where you are
How special it all is
The garden design starts primarily in the mind
And the physical creation then shares it with others
Mind meld telepathy stuff
And alongside the painting of the garden
There is often an inscription, a poem or a letter
To further accentuate and describe
The sensations and presence experienced
How does one capture it as symbols?
What words convey the emotions
Rapture or ecstasy
Peace and tranquility
What did grasshopper said to the hare?
Earthworms singing
And others such oochy trippy Chinese oddities
Okey dokey thats it!
If you grasp most of this flip floppity flop cryptic subterfuge text
Then you are ready to design a Chinese garden, haha
Have fun!
