Chinese Garden

As an overview, the classical Chinese gardens are more than just collections of trees, plants and water. They are also depiction of nature itself. It will provide an idea on what the spiritual and philosophical mind of the ancient Chinese has to offer.

The principles involved in the classical Chinese gardening are quite useful and can provide garden insights to garden designers all over the world. The Chinese gardening design has inspired numerous home gardeners to try out something different such as the use of a garden fountain and encouraging the expression of culture and philosophy through gardening. The traditional gardening method in China was developed into an art form with equivalent ranking to other popular arts such as painting, poetry and calligraphy. The well known and finely built gardens were built during the Qing and Ming dynasties and have even survived the passing of time.

One famous Chinese garden is Suzhou, located about 50 miles west of Shanghai. It is also known as the “city of gardens”. Over the years, various officials, merchants, scholar, garden designers settled in Suzhou. In Suzhou, you will see the application of the principles of the classical Chinese gardens. Visitors from all over the world visit Suzhou in order to take a glimpse of the wonderful gardens and to learn their secrets.

These Chinese gardens will provide an insight to the traditional Chinese view of nature as well as the inclusion of the human role in the natural order. The gardens contain clues to the ancient Chinese mind through the twisting paths and they utilize symbolism and the selection of plants. Based on the traditional Chinese view of nature, they view humans as equals with everything in the natural world.

The Chinese gardens were primarily designed to represent a living entity. The rocks and stones form the skeleton whereas the water and fountains serve as the blood while the plants provided the outfits. In order to portray the influence of humans in nature, the architectural constructions were incorporated into the design of the garden. The main purpose was to provide the ideal interaction that reveals the merging of humans together with nature. The elements that makes up all that is natural includes mountains, vegetation, bodies of water and Chinese fountains as well as the human influence. The manner in which they were incorporated in the garden expresses their relationships they have in nature.

Gardeners from other parts of the world were not able to follow the style in which the ancient Chinese gardeners characterized nature, but they can comprise the other parts of every element. The main goal is to create a sense of wholeness within a particular location and to incorporate all the important elements as the main part of the garden.

The main elements of the Chinese garden represents the parts of a living whole, they are considered as the symbols that comprises the cultures and beliefs that are scattered all over various Chinese gardens. One example of a popular belief, the bad spirits were thought to move in a straight manner, as a result, the pathways in the gardens were not designed in a straight or even manner. The Chinese believe that the changes in the height and route made it quite hard for the bad spirits to inflict harm to people strolling in the garden. The dragon is a symbol of strength, goodness and change is also generally used to adorn the Chinese fountains, walls and roofs of the garden structures.

When it comes to the creation of the ideal Chinese garden, there are certain factors that you need to take into consideration. The first is the appropriateness of the location where you will create your garden. You need to look for a fitting location for your Chinese garden. You also need to take note of the seasonal changes, plants as well as the physical necessities of the garden site. Another is to find a suitable place for every garden element within your chosen location such as the rocks, plants, water fountains and architectural constructions. Others details such as the shape, size, color and placement of the railings, windows, and doors in a particular building. This is important to ensure a complete harmony with the surroundings.

Next is to take advantage of what you have. The Chinese garden designer utilizes every aspect of the garden’s surrounding. The highlights, movement, sounds and quietness are also used as part of the scenes created within the Chinese garden. Most of the private gardens in China were small in size. Another factor is the refinement of the Chinese garden. In Chinese gardens, refinement simply means the incorporation of tranquility, sophistication, tidiness and distinctness that is in tune with nature.

Another important factor is maintaining the simplicity of the Chinese garden. Resources that are found on the location are considered as the ideal materials to be used in the creation and designing of the garden. You no longer need to place uncommon or strange objects and plants since it will only make your garden look profligate. Lastly is the variableness of the garden. It expresses the natural law of constant change. A particular Chinese garden design can give out a sense of change and unexpectedness with different scenes at every turn of the path, a different view from every window and aesthetic modifications with each changing season. The designs used includes changes caused by the weather and nature such as the sun, wind, clouds, rain, snow, birds, insects, plants and water.