When Europeans first heard and saw Chinese gardens and parks, they were simply amazed by their charm and originality. The school of landscape art of the Celestial Empire is completely unusual and unlike everything we are used to. There are no neatly cut lawns here, as is customary in the English style, there is no clarity of lines inherent in the principle of regularity of flower beds laid out in France, etc. In China, the highest value is nature itself. Therefore, here, even on the territory of a small area, they try to reproduce it with maximum accuracy and in the most harmonious manifestation.
Originally Chinese garden - not only plants, but also rivers, mountains, lakes, even if they are recreated in miniature. It doesn't matter at all. The main thing is that the created landscape design helps people to understand and feel the harmony between the surrounding nature and themselves.
History of Creation
The ancient Chinese garden has not only a centuries-old rich culture, but alsounique features. It has been in existence for over five millennia. Performed in various styles, the ancient types of Chinese gardens were considered the best among the existing three structural park systems in the world. And so they are today.
The history of Chinese gardens dates back to the Shang and Zhou dynasties. Then they were called "yu", which meant "closest from the landscape." It was a beautiful place for socializing and playing. During the Han Dynasty, the Chinese garden was built as a villa and was called "yuan". Here the emperors could rest and discuss state affairs.
The main idea that the Chinese garden embodies, the vegetable garden is “the creation of the natural world” in miniature. When creating it, the natural landscape with all the features of the geographical zone is used to the maximum. This approach can still be seen today in many national parks, especially when it comes to imperial or monastic Chinese gardens.
Views
Conventionally, there are several types of Chinese-style gardens. First of all, these are the imperial parks located in the north of the country. There are many of them in the suburbs of the capital. There are also analogues in imperial tombs, temple, home, etc. Nevertheless, the whole variety of Chinese gardens today comes down to two main types: imperial and private.
Description
One of the main areas of landscape art in the Celestial Empire is the creation of miniature landscapes on small plots of land. The traditional Chinese garden can accommodate the mostvarious architectural structures, such as bridges, gazebos or pavilions. It must have water. You can even meet rocks and grottoes. For general aesthetics, rare species of trees, flowering shrubs, planted both singly and in small groups are added to the compositions.
Another direction is the design of a landscape over a vast territory with the arrangement of huge reservoirs and large relief forms on it. Most often - man-made type: rocks, mountains, waterfalls. The presence of large groups of plants, which can be separated by paths, as well as "rivers" or even "streams", is considered mandatory. The most commonly used crops are rosaceae. For example, trees such as almonds, apple trees, cherries, plums, peaches, as well as tree-like or herbaceous plants: tulips, peonies, roses, irises, lilacs, lagerstroemias and other beautifully flowering representatives of the flora world can be located here.
Features
A Chinese-style miniature garden can be created even on a summer cottage of six acres, while owners of more impressive land areas are better off choosing the second direction of design. The main idea of park design in China is to make visitors feel absolute peace, tranquility and unity with nature.
Another feature that characterizes the traditional Chinese garden is the creation of "infinity" so that a person walking through it, from each new point, sees not one picture, but several successive landscapes. Whereinthe elements of the composition must be in absolute harmony. Nothing should be too bright and catchy, or, on the contrary, seem invisible.
Natural
Chinese garden just has to look natural. The designer is required to create the impression that everything around was created without human participation. As if nature itself built trees, stones, reservoirs into unusual arbitrary images. However, few people know that such at first glance somewhat careless compositions are actually very deeply thought out to invite meditation and reflection.
The principle of borrowing in the landscape
According to the laws of oriental landscape art, the Chinese garden is divided in such a way that at any point, following one panorama, another opens up. A similar technique in design is called the “principle of borrowing landscapes”, thanks to which you can visually expand the boundaries of the site. The secret to bringing this phenomenon to life is very simple: a multifaceted perspective is created, after which decorative bridges and paths are laid connecting the panoramas to each other.
Symbolism
Chinese garden is not only one of the options for landscape design, but also a projection of the soul of its owner. After all, it is built according to the rules of Feng Shui, in which everything is subject to the harmony of the surrounding world. According to this doctrine, the space surrounding a person must contain elements that symbolize the components of our Universe. Therefore, the components of the Chinese garden are the signs of "yin"and "yang" - personify the unity of opposites. They are combined in the parks of the Celestial Empire in such a way as to enable "qi" - life-giving energy - to move freely in space. In addition, most of the elements also symbolize various states of life, for example, a peach means well-being, a peony means we alth, etc.
Water
In the Celestial Empire at all times, nature was taken very seriously. After all, it was believed that both joy and sorrow depend on it. In the Chinese garden, several essential components are used. One of them is water. She, organizing a common space, divides the territory into different zones. For example, a pond with its smooth surface is a symbol of calmness and peace, jets from a fountain, streams or a waterfall are a symbol of perpetual motion. Any body of water in a Chinese garden should not have artificial cladding or high banks. Pavilions and pavilions installed on the islands occupy almost the entire place that rises above the water. This is necessary to create the impression that these structures "grew" out of the water surface.
Stones
They are indispensable components of Chinese gardens. Stones balance man-made structures and natural elements. To create a similar effect, simple slides of boulders are often arranged, where no plants are planted. In general, in Chinese culture, stones are treated with trepidation - they are admired, they are listened to.
Flowers
Such Chinese garden plants are usuallyfew. But each of them has its own special symbolic meaning. The tree-like peony, which is called the "king of flowers" deserves the greatest worship. Often in the garden there are lotuses, roses, chrysanthemums, daffodils. Each of the noble flowers is necessarily shaded by a simpler plant, a “rank” lower. For example, for a peony, the best companions are a rose or a wild rose, a chrysanthemum is “set off” by a begonia. The same thing happens with trees. For example, a plum is planted next to a magnolia or a camellia.
Trees
Special honor in Chinese-style gardens are large and old trees that have been growing on the site for decades. Almost always there is a pine symbolizing nobility. Not uncommon peach or plum. Landscape designers consider bamboo an excellent addition to a picturesque composition. In the East, he is the personification of vitality and stamina. Other trees that are no less beloved by the Chinese are magnolia, willow and, of course, sakura.
Buildings
Gardens of the Middle Kingdom cannot be imagined without any man-made structures. These are gazebos, terraces, tea houses made in the traditional oriental style. They are placed on the territory in such a way that a person, being in them, has the opportunity, contemplating the whole space, to admire the harmony.
