The Chinese consider gardens a serious art form and aim to attain in their design the balance, harmony, proportion and variety that are considered essential to life. Through a combination of such natural elements as rock, water, trees and flowers and such artificial elements as architecture, painting and poetry, the designer sought to attain an effect, which adhered to the principles of balance and harmony, man and nature.

The Chinese garden is also an interesting contrast between traditional Chinese urban planning and private lives. Chinese cities are built on very formal grid systems, the Chinese garden, on the other hand is a very personal construction using both natural and man-made elements: trees, ponds, rockeries, zigzag paths, corridors and bridges blended together to form a living space.

The Chinese garden is not merely a reflection of nature, but a representation of an ideal natural environment. Creating a Chinese garden is likened to a three-dimensional painting. To simply recreate a natural scene is insufficient, the nature of beauty is to be built upon. This may seem to be somewhat topsy-turvy, but in fact to the Chinese art represents not so much reality, but perfection. Similarly the garden reflects a concept of the perfect environment, and no Chinese gardens are modelled on actual places.

The Chinese garden is divided into three categories: the imperial garden, the private garden and the natural scenic site. The earliest imperial garden dates back to the late Shang dynasty (c. 1600-1027 BC) with the construction of an imperial hunting ground, followed by the Shanglin garden built by the Emperor Qinshihuangdi in his capital at Xianyang. The latter was completed by the Han Emperor Wudi (r. 140-87 BC) and is thought to have been the basis upon which the Summer Palace was designed. The first private garden, known also as a literati garden, appeared during the Northern and Southern dynasties (420-589).

Emperor Qin Shihuang undertook large-scale building of imperial gardens in the united China. These huge gardens, which we would call parks today were a sign of the order and authority of the emperor. Natural scenic sites, which were large scale gardens built against the backdrop of naturally existing mountains, valleys, lakes, etc., were used as the pleasure grounds of the imperial house and nobility. Examples of these imperial gardens still exist across China today, and no more so than in Beijing with Beihai Park and the Summer Palace probably the best known examples. Beijing zoo is built on a former imperial garden.

It was during the Tang dynasty (618-907) that the literati garden reached its height, a treatise on garden design being written in 634 by the painter-gardener Ji Cheng. One of the key elements of this treatise was the necessity for the garden to ‘look natural, though man-made’. Also stressed was the harmonious combination of opposites that is of the small and large, of the revealing and concealing, of the real and unreal and the vertical and horizontal.

A common feature of Chinese garden architecture is the waterside pavilion - a derivation of an ancient wooden house supported on stilts. It later became the fashion to build waterside pavilions upon the lake or pond of a garden so that half the structure was built on land, while the other half was raised on stilts above a body of water. So as to allow viewing of the garden from all sides of the building, decorative windows were placed along the periphery of the wall. Such a waterside pavilion can be seen in the Humble Administrator’s Garden.

Another key element of Chinese gardens is their covered corridors; built to allow the owners to enjoy the garden in the rain and snow. These covered walkways fall into two categories, those which connect buildings and those which are built by the shore of a small pond or lake. As with waterside pavilions, corridors often have windows or “scenic openings”, which act as picture frames directing the eye to particular views of the garden. Such scenic openings were designed simply as circles, squares or ovals or in more imaginative shapes like those of a lotus petal, garland or bay leaf.

The Elements in a Chinese garden

Rocks: The Chinese garden seeks to be a microcosm. In this sense rocks play an important part in the garden as representative of the earth. In addition to adding contrasting texture, rocks also offer height and depth, and can serve as a mask to some other element of the garden, which is only revealed once the rock is passed.

Water: Water is considered as an essential element of life, and has a pivotal place in Chinese philosophy. Water is seen as the sustainer of life, and this is not merely a poetic reference. The use of water plants and especially of fish gives a very poignant symbolic reference point.

Plantings: Trees and plants in the Chinese garden are selected as much for their symbolic meaning as much for their colour and appearance, though of course, the composition of the garden must be balanced and harmonious. The soft foliage of the plants balance the hardness of the rocks and man-made elements of the garden.

Walls: Walls play a significant part in the Chinese garden. They enclose it completely, offering seclusion and a haven from the outside world. This affords the garden a contemplative mood. Walls are also used to create smaller spaces within the garden, most notably courtyards. They serve to hide parts of the garden, so that one is lead through a garden and greeted with surprises behind walls. Walls are usually be used to frame views through the use of “doorways” and “windows”.

Paths: Paths are like streams through a garden. This is partly due to superstitious beliefs about spirits being unable to turn corners, and therefore unable to follow one down an irregular path, but equally, the twists and turns are design elements, not accidental, with each turn offering a new vantage point for the garden, and so a new perspective.

Pavilions: Chinese gardens are places that served a purpose. Often they were places to contemplate. Equally they could be used for a whole range of activities from calligraphy to playing chess. Buildings (or pavilions) within a garden served to offer places for such activities, and there may be several in a garden, each with a different purpose.

Xie: Xie is a building with one half over water. It blurs the line between the land and the water, and when properly utilised gives unique perspectives of the garden.

Bridge: Bridges are paths over water, and therefore there is no surprise that they are rarely straight. Quite often they are built very close to the water level bringing people and nature as close together as possible.

Paving: The type of stones used in paving is important as again they can be used to add colour and texture to a garden.

Corridors: These are covered walkways, which offer protection from both the hot sun as well as the rain. The corridors are brightly decorated and often carry landscape scenes.