Chinese Literati Garden

The Chinese nation is a nation with a long history and cultural traditions. By the cultural cohesion and accumulation of the garden landscape, secluded in the painting, delicate in the poetry, plain in the implication, change in the novelty, can be described as colorful, a wide range. Chinese gardens (mainly refers to the Chinese classical gardens) is different from other gardens in the world, can be summarized as four main features: First, in nature, above nature. Second, the integration of architectural beauty and natural beauty. Third, the interest of poetry and painting. Fourth, the implication of the mood. These four characteristics of Chinese gardens in the world is the main symbol of uniqueness. Their formation, on the one hand, is the political, economic, cultural and many other factors. On the other hand, fundamentally, with the traditional Chinese view of nature and the unity of man and nature, as well as heavy gradual realization, heavy intuitive perception, heavy synthesis and derivation of the way of thinking has a more direct relationship. Among them, to promote the prosperity of the garden, garden art popularization and improvement, is a large number of literati directly involved in the results of garden planning. They drew on literature, painting forms of expression, their own view of nature and way of thinking into the art of gardening, giving the garden a profound connotation. To a certain extent, they are the main figures in the formation of Chinese garden styles and characteristics. Since the emergence of Chinese gardens in the Tang Dynasty, the poets and painters have formed their own school of "literati gardens", after a long and uninterrupted development, and even the layout of modern gardens and landscapes, landscape composition, is still closely integrated with literature and painting, which implies the concepts of "silent poetry" and "three-dimensional painting", which are known as "silent poetry" and "three-dimensional painting", respectively. The aesthetic foundation of "three-dimensional painting". The development of "literati garden", to some extent, is also an important part of the development of Chinese gardens and key links.

Background of literati gardens

Classical Chinese gardens originated in the pre-Qin and Han dynasties, where the emperors hunted in "囿" and "台" (platform) for the gods. By the Wei, Jin, North and South Dynasties, Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and Xuanxuan schools of thought competed with each other. Emancipation of ideas to promote the development of the field of art, but also give a great impact on the garden, gardening activities gradually popularized in the folk and sublimated to the realm of artistic creation. This period is a turning point in the history of the development of classical Chinese gardens.

At the end of East Han Dynasty, due to social unrest, a negative and pessimistic mood prevailed. People are y "Hao Hao yin and yang shift, life as the morning dew, life is suddenly like a send, life is not solid gold and stone". Therefore, the growth of the idea of timely happiness, even Cao Cao, such a great statesman can not help but send out the "wine when the song, life geometry, such as the morning dew, the day of the bitter more" sentiment. During the Wei and Jin dynasties, the secret struggle between the scholarly groups intensified, and the means of struggle were either generous rewards or brutal killings. So the negative emotions and the idea of timely happiness is to develop and lead to the action of the two extreme tendencies: greed and luxury, cynicism.

Among the intellectuals, there were a considerable number of "famous scholars", such as the "Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove", who rebelled against the shackles of propriety and sought the liberation of their personalities with their indulgent and cynical attitudes. Their actions are manifested in drinking, eating, impetuous, advocating seclusion and love of landscape, which is also known as the "Wei and Jin style". In such an era of thinking, the society gradually formed a romantic atmosphere of traveling in the mountains and playing in the water. Early landscape poems and writings also appeared in large numbers in the literary world. Sentimental landscape, elegant nature since it has become a social trend, in order to avoid the pain of trekking, to ensure the enjoyment of material life and long-term possession of nature's landscape, the most ideal way to create a "second nature" - the garden. Thus, landscape gardens, landscapes and scenic areas flourished. Among them, especially the literati, the garden operated by the celebrities, because of the times directly by the thinking of the feeding revelation and thrive, more common, is the mainstream of the gardening activities at that time. At that time, the literati's gardens are generally small and refined, gardening techniques from purely realistic to realistic and realistic combination of transition, garden and landscape painting, landscape poetry and literature mutual enlightenment, mutual development, is contained in the old Zhuang philosophy, Buddhism and Taoism, the six dynasties, poetry and literature, the results of the influence of the fun infiltration, gained a wide range of appreciation of the community, the beginning of the later generations of literati gardens of the precedent

The budding of the literati gardens

In the Sui and Tang dynasties, gardens flourished more than in the Wei, Jin, and North and South Dynasties, and the level of art was greatly improved. For one thing, the Sui Dynasty unified the country, built the Grand Canal, communicating the north-south economy. The Tang Dynasty, political stability, economic and cultural prosperity, presenting an unprecedented peace in history. People generally pursued the enjoyment of gardens. Second, the rise of the imperial examination system, the majority of commoners and landowners of intellectuals have the opportunity to promote, once they obtained the status of bureaucrats will have a generous salary and high social status, but there is no hereditary guarantee. The sea of bureaucracy, promotion and relegation is not always, *** with the experience of the formation of the same *** with the philosophy of the world. In the dynasty as an official endeavor to do a career, but also to reserve their own way after the resignation. Management of the garden, is for the future to retire to the forest alone. Third, the imperial examinations, the literati more officials, the garden has become a place for their social interaction, by the literati interest, hobbies, the influence of the previous generation is more extensive and profound. After the Tang Dynasty, the literati directly involved in garden planning, with their deep understanding of the natural landscape and a high degree of appreciation of natural beauty to the planning of the garden, but also their philosophical experience of life, the eunuchs of the feelings of the sea melt into the art of gardening. So the literati bureaucrats stream garden has the kind of fresh and elegant style to further improve and sublimation, add a layer of cultural color, there is a "literati garden". Literati garden is the stream of the garden is more focused on pleasing to the eye and send ideals, cultivate sentiments, the performance of seclusion, but also refers to those who are infiltrated by the literati interest and "literati" of the garden. On the documented situation, the Tang Dynasty gardens inherited the Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties period garden style development tendency is also very obvious, the royal family aristocrats, bureaucrats of the garden in favor of luxury; and the general literati bureaucrats are heavy in the fresh and elegant. The latter seems to be more praised by the community and dominant, the changes in the growth of the literati garden as early as in the Tang Dynasty that has shown a budding state. At that time, more representative such as lushan grass, raccoon flower stream grass, rim river, etc., more representative of the garden literati have Bai Juyi, liu zongyuan, wang wei and so on. Literati bureaucrats to develop gardens, participate in gardening, through these practical activities and gradually formed a more comprehensive view of the garden - to the spring and stone trees to nourish the heart, through poetry, wine and qinshu Yi sex. This is the rise of literati gardens in the Song Dynasty and the formation of style characteristics also has a certain enlightenment.

The development of literati gardens, maturity

From the Song Dynasty to the Qing Dynasty Yongzheng period is the first period of maturity of the Chinese classical gardens, maturity of the first period means that the content and form of the landscape garden system has been completely finalized, the art of gardening and technology has basically reached the highest level. In this long historical process of seven hundred and seventy years, due to the change of dynasties, political and economic situation, the development of gardens, including the development of literati gardens, of course, there are corresponding ups and downs. Macro, it is presented as a saddle-shaped two stages, or climax: two Song is the first climax, the middle of the Ming Dynasty to the early Qing Dynasty is the second climax.

China's feudal society to the Song Dynasty has reached the development of maturity, and the cultural aspect is particularly prominent. Garden as one of the important connotations of culture, of course, is no exception. The reason why it can follow the Sui and Tang Dynasty after the full bloom and achieve maturity, has its own special background. First of all, the Song Dynasty, landlords and small farmers economy is very developed, the manor economy is almost extinct. Urban commerce and handicrafts flourished unprecedentedly, and capitalism was already nurtured within the feudal economy. However, the Song dynasty was a weak dynasty, at the beginning of the decline after the heyday of the Sui and Tang dynasties. The Song dynasty, from the Stillwater Change at the beginning of its foundation to the Jingkang Disaster, and finally to the south of the Yangtze River, settled on half of the river, and exchanged the humiliating policy of ceding land and making reparations for a temporary stable situation. On the one hand, there was a high degree of economic prosperity in both urban and rural areas, but on the other hand, both the ruling class of emperors and scholars, and the common people were always troubled by the sense of worry that the country was falling apart and the family was dying. The poems of the Song dynasty are often characterized by such feelings of sadness. This is not the same as the common Sheng Tang literature of wandering far and wide, swallowing mountains and rivers, and opening up foreign lands, and the spirit of the border. The sense of anxiety of the society can certainly inspire the aspirants to strive for strength and action to restore the river and mountain, but it also leads to the opposite of people indulging in hedonism and the mentality of living a frugal life. And economic development and the weak state of the contradiction between the state and become a breeding ground for this psychological growth in general, and finally formed the court and the social life of debauchery, extravagance and morbid prosperity. Therefore, the construction of a large number of gardens, the number of its wide distribution, compared to the Sui and Tang dynasties have been even worse. Secondly, the high degree of urban and rural economic development, led to the great progress of science and technology. Garden architecture, ornamental flowers and trees cultivation techniques, the level of stone stacking techniques, etc. greatly improved for the extensive construction of gardens to provide a technical guarantee, but also at that time the level of maturity of the art of gardening signs. Thirdly, the Song Dynasty emphasized literature over military, and the social status of the literati was higher than that of any previous dynasties. Scholarship system is more perfect, civil officials ruling can be said to be the characteristics of the Song dynasty politics, and become an important factor in the cultural prosperity. This on the other hand, stimulated the literati scholar's gardening activities, folk stream garden further culturalization, and contributed to the rise of the "literati garden". Fourth, although the Song Dynasty poetry lost the Tang Dynasty, the magnificent, magnificent temperament, the mainstream shift to the lingering sentimental, ethereal and euphemistic, the planning and design of the exquisite and over. Song Dynasty is the most important dynasty in Chinese history to the art of painting, especially landscape painting by the community has reached the highest level of attention, and thus reached the combination of painting and literature at a higher level. The establishment of a unique method of artistic creation and appreciation had a significant impact on the development of literati gardens. In this case, the Shi Liu garden flourished and the literati widely involved in garden planning and design, in the garden cast poetry and painting interest than the Tang Dynasty is more conscious, but also began to pay attention to the creation of the garden mood. Landscape painting, landscape garden mutual penetration of close relations, to the Song Dynasty has been fully established.

Budding in the Tang Dynasty literati garden, to the Song Dynasty has become a private gardening activities in the emerging trend, while affecting the royal garden and temple garden. Song Dynasty literati garden style characteristics can be roughly summarized as simple far, sparse, elegant, natural four aspects. Famous Burgundy, Suzhou's Canglang Pavilion and so on.

The gardens of the two Song dynasties, as the first climax stage of the pre-mature period, summed up the achievements of the previous generation and opened the precedent for the next generation. To the Yuan Dynasty, the Mongolian regime less than a hundred years of short reign, the sharp ethnic conflicts, the beginning of the Ming Dynasty, the war has just been settled, the economy is yet to be recovered, the gardening activity is basically in a stagnant state of low tide. After the Ming Yongle gradually entered the second climax stage of the development of pre-mature gardens. After the middle of the Ming Dynasty, the Yuan Dynasty, that kind of free and easy, each out of the heart of the style of painting and present a brilliant light. Literati painting popular painting into a dominant trend, and reached a high degree of integration of painting, poetry and calligraphy. Literati, painters directly involved in gardening than in the past is more common, garden art creation, accordingly, there are two obvious changes: 1. From the previous panoramic landscapes shrinking to copy the realistic and realistic combination of creative methods, transformed into a realistic tendency to focus on. 2. Scenic title, plaques, couplets in the garden in general use as if the title of the paintings, the context of the information conveyed to be able to directly with the help of literature, language, and greatly increase the amount of information. Greatly increase the amount of information. The implication of the meaning of the garden is more far-reaching, garden art is more closely integrated with poetry and painting than ever before, thus giving the garden itself to a more intense poetic and picturesque. On the one hand, it is the full literati garden and contributed to the development of the literati garden; on the other hand, the merchants due to Confucianism and business unity, attached to the elegant and follow the example of the literati garden, or their own culture is not high and hired the literati for them to plan for the operation of the public garden will inevitably be more or less literati on the tone of the color of the garden. The result of the combination of the city gas and the bookishness diluted the popularity of the garden of the people's nature, thus appearing variations of the literati garden style. Due to the large number of such gardens to create, this variant style and will inevitably become a social force and influence on the folk gardening art at the time. This is especially obvious in the Jiangnan region, the late Ming and early Qing Yangzhou garden is the literati garden style and its variants of parallel development of the typical situation.

In the early Qing Dynasty, Emperor Kangxi's southern tour of Jiangnan, admiring the beauty of the garden of Jiangnan, after returning to the Jiangnan scribe Ye Tao and Jiangnan gardeners Zhang Ran to participate in the planning and design of Changchunyuan, for the first time, the Jiangnan garden folk gardening techniques introduced to the court, but also to the literati interest in court gardening art, the latter injected fresh blood in the garden in the royal atmosphere added a few points of elegant freshness of the rhyme. At that time, there were a number of milestones, excellent large-scale garden works, such as the Summer Palace and so on.

The development of literati gardens is undoubtedly an important factor contributing to the peak of the art of gardening in Jiangnan, which also influenced the royal gardens and temple gardens, and popularized throughout the country, and gradually become a model of gardening with the passage of time. After the Qianlong Qing Dynasty, Chinese feudal society flourished and declined, and Chinese classical gardens entered the late stage of maturity. Literati garden accordingly increasingly show the form from the content of the tendency of the earlier vivid style metamorphosed into a rigid model, the past life vitality is also increasingly exhausted, its four characteristics also gradually dissolved in the vulgar, most of the shell and the loss of spiritual essence. Literati involved in the garden is not like a period of time as a combination of practical, poetry and garden art, although there are some insightful insights, but most of them are half a claw, favoring descriptive understanding, and therefore inevitably vague and empty, lost a period of literati gardening enterprising, active and pioneering spirit.

Chinese literati gardens, which sprouted in the Tang Dynasty, emerged in the Song Dynasty, and developed in the Ming and Qing Dynasties, have made great contributions to the creation and development of Chinese gardens (classical Chinese gardens). As a collection of literati gardens, there are Ji Cheng's Garden Metallurgy, Li Yu's A Family of Words, and Wen Zhenhengheng's Changshi Zhi, which are representative of private garden monographs, and are also the theoretical summaries of literati gardens from the development of the two Song dynasties to the end of the Ming and early Qing dynasties. In addition, Chen Jiru's "rocky secluded things", Lin Youlin's "garden stone spectrum" and other writings, but also to see the close relationship between the literati and the garden, meaning that poetry, painting art infiltrated in the garden art of the depth of the degree of the eventual formation of China's "literati gardens," the tradition. General literati even if not involved in gardening matters, but also generally concerned about the garden, enjoy the garden, comment on the garden. The garden and the literati's life is inseparable, they talk about the garden as if talking about books, paintings, poetry and literature, the art of gardening has been fully established with the books, paintings, poetry and literature art of the same status.

Classical garden is an important part of China's traditional culture, and the literati involved in the garden, and the classical garden to a higher artistic realm, giving it a distinctive oriental characteristics, scenarios, poetic and pictorial, scenery by the text of the Sheng, the text of the scene by the scene, which is known, the text of the landscape, which is in the creation of the art of classical gardens and the process of aesthetics, which has played a great role in the creation of classical gardens and aesthetic process.

Literati garden was born in the difficult times

The earliest recorded sprout of Chinese literati private garden, is in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, Zhuang Zhou has a "Lacquer Garden", located in Gui De County, Henan Province. We do not have a detailed description of this garden, only know that there is a large acacia tree in the courtyard. Zhuang Zhou dreamed of butterflies under the tree. Judging from the historical situation at that time, these literati lacked the same strong financial resources as the emperors, so they could not create large-scale luxurious gardens. However, their garden design theme idea is completely different from the emperor's garden, the garden landscape is simple and natural. In the history of world civilization, the real natural landscape aesthetic Chinese literati gardens appeared in the Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties period. This is also the turning point of the evolution from ancient gardens to classical gardens. Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties was a time of frequent wars and disasters, with constant changes of dynasties and exceptionally cruel political struggles. The harshness of the disputes of the career, so that the literati realized that they are simply unable to fight against the reality of society, more than up to follow the lacquer garden high winds, in the old Zhuang Taoist home to settle down in the landscape, flowers and birds in nature to get soothed. To realize the "heaven and earth realm" of "meditating with the Tao", the literati held high and admired the distance. To preserve one's life, to maintain one's morals, and to live in seclusion in the natural landscape. In the courtyard of one's residence, the natural landscape was arranged at one's fingertips, eventually forming a unique Chinese literati garden.

Hermitage: the spiritual pursuit of the ancient literati

Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties period of celebrities and literati, was in a chaotic world. The seclusion of the forest and springs, the joy of landscape and idyll is the whole of their life and the support of their feelings. Therefore, the period of Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties became a turning point in our traditional culture. Landscape idylls, natural landscape paintings, and natural landscape gardens all emerged during this period, while Tao Yuanming constructed the typical form of the seclusion of forests and springs with his life practice. In his life of cultivation and seclusion, he integrated his own personal experience into his poems, which were plain, natural, sincere and simple, creating the precedent of Chinese idyllic poems, and his charisma has been admired by the future generations. Tao Yuanming's idyllic paradise has become the spiritual home of the ancient literati and scholars, and his spirit of seclusion can be glimpsed in the "Records of the Peach Blossom Garden". In fact, real seclusion in the landscape is still a very difficult thing to do, and it is difficult to maintain individual life in the natural environment of wind and snow. Therefore, in order to realize the practical "seclusion", or to establish a natural landscape garden in their own residence, in order to realize the spiritual ideal of "seclusion", the individual life is still in the world of social interaction with the group.

Expression of feelings through objects, became the dominant tendency of the literati garden aesthetic

With the literati scholar's preference for poetry, rhyme, Buddhism, calligraphy and painting, flowers, trees, rocks, antiques and paintings gradually integrated with their lives. With the further development of landscape poetry and landscape painting, the art of gardening also achieved unprecedented development. This period of the construction of the garden is mostly literati writing garden, which is the same lineage with the middle Tang literati scholars pursued by the hidden life of Linquan, Su Shi in the "Lingbi Zhang's Garden Pavilion Records," said "the ancient gentleman, do not have to serve, do not have to not serve, must be served to forget their bodies, must not serve to forget their king." Thus out of Bai Juyi "hidden" ideas in the true meaning. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, classical garden art has entered a period of splendor. Literati, painters have been involved in gardening, many even became professional gardeners. The garden has become the result of the psychological aesthetic associations of the literati, the chest of heaven and earth, "a small room," but can create a "flavor" of the atmosphere. Poetry, painting, words, music, garden and other forms of art, natural and organic integration, and become a literati enjoy a life of sentiment. Natural landscape is full of infinite life and fun, they appear to be more vigorous and lively interest in the poet's pen. Literati living in seclusion for a long time, with flowers and trees, the sun and moon and heaven and earth with the hosts, boasting the fun of the landscape and springs, has become its main spiritual support. Fist stone, bucket water, a number of bamboo, has long been materialized into an aesthetic interest, virtual and real, scenic and emotional, emotional, which is inseparable from the spiritual needs of the literati, the psychological structure of the changes. The garden is not in the big, not in the luxury, as long as the theme of the mood is elegant, ugly in the scene is also quiet. The material enjoyment of the second, light garden life contributed to the sublimation of the spirit of the literati. Here, they completed the positioning of the free personality, through the reflection on their past life, to obtain spiritual liberation.

Classical Chinese Gardens

Classical Chinese Gardens

Classical Chinese Gardens

Classical Chinese Gardens

Classical gardens are an important part of China's traditional culture, and the participation of literati in the creation of gardens, and classical gardens pushed to a higher level of art, giving it a distinctive oriental characteristics, scenarios, poetic and pictorial. Scenery by the Wen Sheng, Wen by the scenery is obvious, Wen Jing Qi Ming, which plays a great role in the creation of the art of classical gardens and the aesthetic process.

Literati gardens were born in difficult times

The earliest recorded sprout of Chinese literati private gardens, is in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States period, Zhuang Zhou had a "Lacquer Garden", is located in Henan Province, Gui De County. We do not have a detailed description of this garden, only know that there is a large acacia tree in the courtyard. Zhuang Zhou dreamed of butterflies under the tree. Judging from the historical situation at that time, these literati lacked the same strong financial resources as the emperors, so they could not create large-scale luxurious gardens. However, their garden design theme idea is completely different from the emperor's garden, the garden landscape is simple and natural. In the history of world civilization, the real natural landscape aesthetic Chinese literati gardens appeared in the Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties period. This is also the turning point of the evolution from ancient gardens to classical gardens. Wei Jin and North and South Dynasties was a time of frequent wars and disasters, with constant changes of dynasties and exceptionally cruel political struggles. The harshness of the disputes of the career, so that the literati realized that they are simply unable to fight against the reality of society, more than up to follow the lacquer garden high winds, in the old Zhuang Taoist home to settle down in the landscape, flowers and birds in nature to get soothed. To realize the "heaven and earth realm" of "meditating with the Tao", the literati held high and admired the distance. To preserve one's life, to maintain one's morals, and to live in seclusion in the natural landscape. In the courtyard of one's residence, the natural landscape was arranged at one's fingertips, eventually forming a unique Chinese literati garden.

Hermitage: the spiritual pursuit of the ancient literati

The Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties period of the celebrities and literati, was in a chaotic world. The seclusion of forests and springs, the joy of landscape and idylls was the whole of their life and the support of their feelings. Therefore, the period of Wei, Jin and North and South Dynasties became a turning point of our traditional culture. Landscape idylls, natural landscape paintings, and natural landscape gardens all emerged during this period, while Tao Yuanming constructed the typical form of the seclusion of forests and springs with his life practice. In his life of cultivation and seclusion, he integrated his own personal experience into his poems, which are plain, natural, sincere and simple, creating the precedent of Chinese idyllic poems, and his charisma has been admired by the future generations. Tao Yuanming's idyllic paradise has become the spiritual home of the ancient literati and scholars, and his spirit of seclusion can be glimpsed in the "Records of the Peach Blossom Garden". In fact, real seclusion in the landscape is still a very difficult thing to do, and it is difficult to maintain individual life in the natural environment of wind and snow. Therefore, in order to realize the practical "seclusion", or to establish a natural landscape garden in their own residence, in order to realize the spiritual ideal of "seclusion", the individual life is still in the world of social interaction with the group.

Borrowing things to express emotions, became the dominant tendency of the literati garden aesthetics

With the literati's preference for poetry, rhyme, Buddhism, calligraphy and painting, flowers, trees, rocks, antiques and paintings gradually integrated with their lives. With the further development of landscape poetry and painting, the art of gardening also achieved unprecedented development. This period of the construction of the garden is mostly literati writing garden, which is the same lineage with the middle Tang literati scholars pursued by the hidden life of Linquan, Su Shi in the "Lingbi Zhang's Garden Pavilion Records," said "the ancient gentleman, do not have to serve, do not have to not serve, must be served to forget its body, must not serve to forget its ruler." Thus out of Bai Juyi "hidden" ideas in the true meaning. After the Ming and Qing dynasties, classical garden art has entered a period of splendor. Literati, painters have been involved in gardening, many even became professional gardeners. The garden has become the result of the psychological aesthetic associations of the literati, the chest of heaven and earth, "a small room," but can create a "flavor" of the atmosphere. Poetry, painting, words, music, garden and other forms of art, natural and organic integration, and become a literati enjoy a life of sentiment. Natural landscape is full of infinite life and fun, they appear to be more vigorous and lively interest in the poet's pen. Literati living in seclusion for a long time, with flowers and trees, the sun and moon and heaven and earth with the hosts, flaunted the fun of landscape and spring, became its main spiritual support. Fist stone, bucket water, a number of bamboo, has long been materialized into an aesthetic interest, virtual and real, scenic and emotional, emotional, which is inseparable from the spiritual needs of the literati, the psychological structure of the changes. The garden is not in the big, not in the luxury, as long as the theme of the mood is elegant, ugly in the scene is also quiet. The material enjoyment of the second, light garden life contributed to the sublimation of the spirit of the literati. Here, they completed the positioning of the free personality, through the reflection on their past life, to obtain spiritual liberation.