 |
| Spring in the master of Nets Garden. |
 |
| The delicate wooden arch bridge crossing over the little stream in the Mind Cultivating Study. | Imperial gardens and private gardens are two major types of classic Chinese gardens. There are similarities as well as differences between them.
Both types of gardens feature man-made landscapes and serve the function of entertainment and rest, but due to the differences between the life contents of their owners and the corresponding requirements on gardens, they also differ in functions. Private gardens are mostly attached to the residence, so they have the places for residing, receiving guests, reading and entertaining. In imperial gardens, in addition to these functions, temples for emperors to worship ancestors and Buddha are also indispensable parts of the garden. For imperial gardens that also serve as temporary headquarters away from Forbidden City, because emperors spend most of time there, the imperial court area for emperors to hold court is added. Besides, in terms of entertaining area, the big opera towel the shopping street, the pavilion or terrace for watching fireworks, fields for cultivating and places for planting mulberry and silkworm breeding are not available in private gardens.
In terms of garden planning and scenery creating, imperial gardens and private gardens both adopt the techniques of imitating and symbolism in order to recreate natural landscapes in a limited space. But because of the differences in land area and the poetic realms their owners seek, imperial gardens and private gardens present different outlooks and views. With an area of several hectares, tens of mu, or just several mu, private gardens seek to "present the feeling of greatness through small details". The designers designed more winding paths and secret scenic spots. They sought to separate the
 |
| Light and primitively simple water pavilion in the Ji Chang Garden in Wuxi. |
 |
| The magnificent and elegant 17 Arches Bridge in the Summer Palace. | limited space into diverse small worlds by making fully use of the rockery, hollow corridor and small walls. No matter large structures such as a hall or a pavilion, or small decorations such as a rock or a bamboo, they all stand as independent scenic spots.
By doing these, macro poetic realm can be felt through micro scenes. In contrast, except for the Imperial Garden inside the Forbidden City, the area of other imperial gardens is at least more than scores of hectares. In such a huge space, the designers must make some big projects. Huge scenic areas with different characteristics were created, for example, some gardens were built taking advantage of natural hill and lake, and others were created by digging man- made lake and piling earth into hills or dykes. In contrast with the natural, delicate and simple style typical in private gardens, scenes in imperial gardens are generally vast and spacious and structures are magnificent, which fully display the dignity and the splendor of imperial gardens.
One may find a phenomenon from the imperial gardens introduced above that many scenic spots were built according to the models of famous scenes or private gardens in Southern China. It was normal that the construction of imperial gardens absorbed or adopted the building techniques from all over the country because imperial construction inevitably concentrated the best techniques and men of
 |
| Five Old Men Listening to the Zither in the Gu Yi Garden in Nanxiang. | talents. In order to build the Forbidden City, the Ming Emperor Yong Le recruited ten thousands artisans including many skillful craftsmen from the south of China. South China landscape painter Ye Zhao participated in the planning of Chang Chun Garden. Rockery making master Zhang Ran was in charge of the rock-piling project of the Chang Chun Garden, which was Kangxi's first imperial garden in northwest outskirts of Beijing. Through efforts of these artisans and masters, the techniques of structure building and gardening from Southern China were introduced to the north and combined with the northern techniques.
But transplanting garden scenic spots completely into imperial garden was not something that could be
 |
| Overlooking each other through windows | realized by ordinary artisans, because it required the understanding of garden owners or planners' pursue. On these aspects, one could not neglect the influences of the two garden art lovers - Emperor Kangxi and Qianlong. Especially under the supervision of Qianlong, large number of scenic spots imitating scenes and gardens in Suzhou and Hangzhou appeared in the building and expanding of the Garden of Perfect Splendor and the Mountainous Summer Resort. The Garden of Harmonious Interests imitating the Ji Chang Garden in Wuxi was built in the Garden of Clear Ripples as well. The construction of imperial gardens, like imperial palatial architecture, concentrated refined building techniques and talented artisans and workers from all over the country, therefore, gardening masterpieces with highest level of technical and artistic achievements in its times could be created. |
