Imperial Gardens inside the Imperial City
Imperial gardens of the Ming Dynasty were mainly built inside the Imperial City and the Forbidden City. Inside the high walls of the Forbidden City, there lie the Imperial Garden at the north end of the axis and the Garden of Creating Happiness Palace at the northeast. Within the range of the Imperial City, the Longevity Hill stands to the north of the Forbidden City, while the Rabbit Garden and the West Gardens scatter in the west, the East Gardens in the southeast. Among all these gardens, the West Gardens are considered as the most important.
With a location close to the west of the Forbidden City, exploitations of the West Gardens can be dated back to early years. As early as 1151, the Jin kingdom that was founded by the Northern Nuzhen Minority set up its capital in Yanqing area. and named it the Middle Capital. Located in the northwest outskirts of the capital, the site of the West Gardens was originally an area of lake marsh that connected to the Gaoliang River. Taking advantage of the excellent natural environment, the rulers of the Jin built the Great Tranquility Palace as their imperial resort by transforming the marsh into a lake and making a man-made islet. This islet in the lake was named the Jade Flower Islet. The Guang Han Hall (Severe Coldness Hall) and huge rockeries were built afterwards.
 |
| Overlooking the Round City and the Middle and Sea from the North Sea Lake. |
In the 13th century, the Mongolian-founded Yuan Dynasty unified the separate kingdoms into one China. In 1272, the Yuan rulers decided to build their capital at the former site of the Middle Capital of the Jin. Though most buildings were severely damaged, the Great Tranquility Palace was still well preserved, therefore the Yuan emperor began to plan and build the new national capital - the Grand Capital ¨C with the Great Tranquility Palace as the center of the city planning. The Great Tranquility Palace was walled inside the Imperial City and the lake was redesigned and renovated. Renamed as the Tai Ye Pond, the lake was located to the west of the Forbidden City inside the Imperial City layout. Imperial water resources in the northwest outskirts of the Grand Capital flowed into the lake through the Jin River. Large numbers of trees and shrubs were planted along the banks of the pond, and two more islets, the Yuan Di Islet and the Screen Mountain Islet, were formed. The former Jade Flower Islet was renamed the Longevity Hill. With painstaking efforts and elaborate design, the Tai Ye Pond was transformed into an imperial garden full of the charm and appeal of nature inside the Imperial City.
In 1422, following the moving of the capital to Beijing, the rulers of the Ming Dynasty settled in the newly-built Forbidden City. The spatial relationship between the Forbidden City and the Tai Ye Pond was not changed, but large scale renovation was undertaken for the Tai Ye Pond. More buildings were constructed at the north bank and man-made landscapes were added without losing the natural beauty of the Tai Ye Pond. Along the east bank of the Yuan Di Islet, earth was piled so that the islet was changed into a "peninsula" that stretched to the east. Walls were built surrounding the earth platform and this newly-formed place was named the "Round City". The Tai Ye Pond was enlarged further down south resulting in a large increase of
the size of water surface. The newly-formed water body was called the South Sea and the water on the north of the Round City was named the North Sea. Water between these two "seas" was called the Middle Sea. A new layout with the North, the Middle and the South Sea was formed on the site of former Tai Ye Pond. Since then, the West Gardens had become the most important imperial gardens inside the Ming Imperial City.
After the Qing military troops crossed the Great Wall borderline and entered into Beijing City, their rulers took the Forbidden City as their dwelling place. Original imperial gardens inside the Forbidden City were kept, and structures scattered in gardens around the three seas (the North, Middle and South Sea) were built, rebuilt or enlarged. Examples were the White Pagoda, several Buddhist buildings on the north bank of the North Sea, the Jing Qing Meditating Room inside the north yard. the natural scenery area and several architectural groups along the east bank of the North Sea, the Ying Platform in the South Sea and the Qin Zheng Hall on the north bank of the South Sea. With these new constructions, both the type and the number of architecture at structures were increased inside the West Gardens. The strengthening of cultural flavor in the gardens displays the typical style of imperial gardens - magnificent, luxurious and splendid. This kind of scale, style and feature was maintained for long time afterwards. The Middle and South Sea Garden is now where the Chinese central government is located, and the North Sea Garden is open to the public as a park. Today, these gardens are still the models and examples of planting and afforesting in Beijing City.
Imperial Resorts and Palaces for Temporary Stay
In 1994, the Mountainous Summer Resort in Chengde and the surrounding temples as a whole was added to the list of World Heritage by UNESCO for its unique architectural charm and achievements. Absorbing the essence of architectural art from both north and south, the resort stands as a perfect architectural example, which borrows the style, frame and building skills of
 |
| A painting of opera watching in the Summer Resort in Chengde in Qian Long years of the Qing Dynasty. | southern style gardens while maintaining the common techniques used in garden building practice in the north.
In the 16th year of Emperor Kangxi's reign (1678), the Qing rulers started the regular inspection tours to the Outer Fortress (places north of the Great Wall) and the military training. These activities that usually took place in autumn gradually became traditions of the Qing Dynasty. Because of the pleasant climate in the Kalaqin herding areas in Mongolia, formal imperial pleasure grounds were gradually formed. Along the way from Beijing to those pleasure grounds, resorts and villas were built, the largest of those being the Summer Resort in Chengde. Originally a herding ground for Mongolians, this place is sparsely populated and boasts of rolling mountains covered with rich vegetation, plenty of underground springs and delightful weather. Being fond of this perfect environment, Emperor Qianlong ordered the Summer Resort to be built at the site. One large imperial garden began to take shape in the early years of the Qing Dynasty.
In 1735, the fourth emperor of the Qing Dynasty - Emperor Qianlong - ascended the throne and
 |
| The design and construction of lakes area in the Summer Resort in Chengde were based on natural mountains and water. | under his reign, China once again enjoyed a period of economic prosperity. Emperor Qianlong, who had a deep understanding of Han culture, was deeply impressed by the mountains, rivers and famous gardens that he visited during his six inspection tours to Southern China. Supervised by Qianlong himself, the construction of imperial gardens that started from Emperor Kangxi boomed in this period, which formed some clear-cut features: the excessive pursuit of artistic techniques made the gardens in this period overly polished and orate.
Emperor Qianlong spent most of his efforts on the construction of imperial gardens in the northwest suburbs of Beijing and the Mountainous Summer Resort in Chengde. Starting from 175 l, it took 40 years to expand the Summer Resort. Scores of scenic spots were completed and eight Buddhist temples were built. These temples are known as "The Eight Outer Temples" at present. The Mountainous Summer Resort in Chengde became the largest and most magnificent imperial garden of that time.
The Garden Zone in the Northwest Outskirts of Beijing
Most of the Ming private gardens in the northwest outskirts of Beijing were left in a deserted state
 |
| The distributing plan of the gardens in northwest outskirts of Beijing in Qian Long years of the Qing Dynasty. | after the chaos caused by the war at the end of the Ming Dynasty. The Qing rulers then started a large-scale garden construction project. The former gardens, such as those in the Fragrant Hills and the Jade Spring Hill in the natural garden scenic district, were renovated and expanded. Some Ming private gardens were taken over and transformed into imperial gardens. The northwest outskirts of Beijing hence became a zone concentrating large numbers of gardens.
A small part of the West Mountain Range, the Fragrant Hills, are covered with lush trees and its climate is pleasant. As early as the period of the Liao (907-1125), Jin and Yuan Dynasties, there were temples built here and emperors paid visits now and then. In 1677, Kangxi reconstructed the temples in the Fragrant Hills and changed them into an imperial resort. In the period of Yongzheng and Qianlong's reign, this resort was expanded twice, and named the Jing Yi Garden in 1747.
A small hill rising out of the plain of the northwest suburbs, the Jade Spring Hill boasts of the abundance of spring water and deep forests. Several temples were built in the Jin and Yuan period. Under the reign of Kangxi, the emperor built the Cheng Xin Garden and later renamed the Jing Ming Garden. Later Qianlong enclosed parts of the river, lake and land nearby into the garden, and expanded the range of the Jing Ming Garden.
The construction of imperial gardens in the northwest outskirts of the Qing Dynasty began in 1684. To save expenses, the Qing rulers chose to build a garden at the former site of the well-known private garden of the Ming Dynasty- the Qinghua Garden. Though most of the buildings were severely damaged, trees, hills, pools, springs and stones in the Qinghua Garden were still well preserved. The first imperial garden with man-
 |
| Lush trees in the Jingming Garden in the Jade Spring Mountain. Several temples were built here. | made hills and river was completed after 3 years' renovation and construction, and was named the Chang Chun Garden. Upon completion, it became an important working location where emperor Kangxi could deal with official affairs. This garden was also the first imperial resort type garden outside the Beijing City in the Qing Dynasty. Later Kangxi gave a Ming private garden north of the Chang Chun Garden to his fourth son, (who later became the emperor Yongzheng) as a "garden of grant", and named it the Garden of Perfect Splendor.
Through years of efforts under Emperor Yongzheng, the area of the Garden of Perfect Splendor as well as the number of buildings inside increased. As Yongzheng spent most of his time in the garden, the Garden of Perfect Splendor became another important imperial resort in the northwest outskirts of Beijing. After being enthroned, Emperor Qianlong still used this garden as his imperial resort. He further expanded and improved the garden on the base of 28 scenic spots completed in the years of Kangxi, and by 1744, the number of scenic spots reached 40. In 1751, Qianlong built the Everlasting Spring Garden on the east and the Yi Chun Garden on the southeast of the Garden of Perfect Splendor. These three gardens that connect to each other were collectively maintained and managed. The Garden of Perfect Splendor evolved into the largest garden in the city suburbs comprising of 3 gardens with an area of 350 hectares.
After the expansion of the Garden of Perfect Splendor was completed, Qianlong wrote an article, which while giving a description of the beauty and magnificence of the imperial garden, demanded that his descendants stop building more gardens for the sake of saving financial and human resources. But not long after that, he forgot what he said and set about the construction of the Garden of Clear Ripples. Lying in between the Jade Spring Hill and the Garden of Perfect Splendor, the Garden of Clear Ripples was built on the site where the Weng Hill and the west lake are located. The lake had been for years a reservoir that supplied water to the city from the northwest outskirts. So besides the reason of celebrating the birthday of his mother, Emperor Qianlong also stressed that the project could expand the west lake and dredge up the water-supplying tunnel. But the truth lying behind was that this experienced and knowledgeable emperor who had a liking for garden construction was not content with either the Fragrant Hills Garden that didn't have a lake or the Garden of Perfect Splendor that was built on flat land without hills. The Weng Hill area turned out to be a perfect place to build a garden as this place had mountains as well as water. Beginning From 1750, supervised by Qianlong himself, the Garden of Clear Ripples was finished in 1764 after 14 years' construction.
 |
| The Jing Yi Garden in the Fragrant Hills that harmonizes with the natural landscape. | Till then, there were five imperial gardens in the northwest outskirts of Beijing including the Jing Yi Garden in the Fragrant Hill, the Jing Ming Garden in the Jade Spring Hill, the Garden of Clear Ripples of the Longevity Hill, the Chang Chun Garden and the Garden of Perfect Splendor. These five gardens altogether were called "five gardens on three mountains". There were dozens of "gardens of grant" and private gardens scattered around these five gardens. Following the construction of the Garden of Clear Ripples, the clearing up of the water supplying tunnel, the rising of the water level and the increasing of the volume of water flow, a new water sight-seeing route from the Jade Spring Hill to the Kunming Lake, and further through the Chang River arriving at Xizhi Gate inside the city was opened up. Since then, the Haidian District in the northwest outskirts has become a vast imperial garden zone, where different types of imperial and private gardens with natural hills, water, land or artificial hills and water are concentrated. Condensing the garden-building tradition of the classic gardens, these gardens serve as examples and reference for the understanding of Chinese classical garden an for later times. |
