DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.16633#0260
240
History of Garden Art
to make a new capital. Then, since in China more than m any country the imperial court
was the centre of art and culture, the earlier Residences fell into decay. Even till quite
recent times there were continual complaints of the bad condition of the homes
of the emperor and of the great men, when they were not being occupied as Resi-
dences. It was really a help to the country when the emperors were fond of travelling,
as were most of the members of the Manchu Dynasty, who after 1644 took a great many
journeys into their Tartar lands. For all the palaces which were visited had to be kept up
and well cared for. But this can only have been for a short time, since complaints about
decay always arose as soon as any emperor had grown old and given up travelling. Sums
of money were often embezzled that had been earmarked for keeping up the estates. It
was useless to hand over one or other of the imperial palaces to a rich man on condition
that it should be kept up. The Emperor Kienlung entrusted the beautiful gardens at his
palace at Ou-yen to a wealthy salt merchant, but this man was certain that as the emperor
was old he would never come back, and so he did nothing for the place. Travellers from
Europe found it in such a state of decay a few years later that they scarcely ventured to
step on any bridge or wooden veranda.
On the other hand, there is an unexampled continuity about Chinese culture in every
department, and not least in gardening, for the centralisation at the emperor's court was
a great help. Etiquette at the Chinese courc has always been an asset to the historian.
To the Chinese nation the love of what is old is truly a passion. They were not wanting in
historical research of every sort, though the unbroken development of centuries offered
so little in the way of contrasts that the origins of an art which grew slowly were lost in
the darkness of antiquity.
It is clear from the information that comes through about the doings of the Han
Dynasty, members of which occupied the throne from 206 b.c. to a.d. 201, that it was
under these emperors that the fancy first started of making great mounds and building
palaces on them, and then linking them up by bridges. It is expressly said that the capital
city was not built on formal lines like the earlier ones, but made a kind of "star-picture."
The Chinese certainly tell of far older gardens; but they do not conceal the fact that
there is something legendary about the miraculous gardens of Kuen-luen, though they
also tell of grand show-gardens of the Emperor Chou, which go back to two thousand
years b.c. Parks, which were laid out chiefly with a view to the chase, were always disliked
by the people, who thought they wasted good land. And it is obvious that historians regard
gardens and parks as an error and a snare for princes, whose life of pleasure in their
gardens and consequent neglect of rule made it so easy for the greedy heir to deprive
them of throne and life. But there is nothing to show how these gardens were laid out.
Wu-ti, an emperor of the Han Dynasty, appears to have been conspicuous in his
love for extensive grounds. The historians say that the gardens were fifty miles in area,
and that every valley between the mountains had palaces, pavilions (Fig. 554) and grottoes
scattered over it. This emperor also made the state treasury and its surroundings. He built
gardens and palaces for his beloved Fey-yen, about whose beauty writers such as the great
lyrical poet Li-Tai-pe composed their inspired verses eight hundred years later. The
summer palace of Chao-Yang is described by the poet as a sumptuous paradise of spring,
where the emperor spent nights of love with Fey-yen.
All these descriptions are vague. Although the love felt by the Chinese for artificial
History of Garden Art
to make a new capital. Then, since in China more than m any country the imperial court
was the centre of art and culture, the earlier Residences fell into decay. Even till quite
recent times there were continual complaints of the bad condition of the homes
of the emperor and of the great men, when they were not being occupied as Resi-
dences. It was really a help to the country when the emperors were fond of travelling,
as were most of the members of the Manchu Dynasty, who after 1644 took a great many
journeys into their Tartar lands. For all the palaces which were visited had to be kept up
and well cared for. But this can only have been for a short time, since complaints about
decay always arose as soon as any emperor had grown old and given up travelling. Sums
of money were often embezzled that had been earmarked for keeping up the estates. It
was useless to hand over one or other of the imperial palaces to a rich man on condition
that it should be kept up. The Emperor Kienlung entrusted the beautiful gardens at his
palace at Ou-yen to a wealthy salt merchant, but this man was certain that as the emperor
was old he would never come back, and so he did nothing for the place. Travellers from
Europe found it in such a state of decay a few years later that they scarcely ventured to
step on any bridge or wooden veranda.
On the other hand, there is an unexampled continuity about Chinese culture in every
department, and not least in gardening, for the centralisation at the emperor's court was
a great help. Etiquette at the Chinese courc has always been an asset to the historian.
To the Chinese nation the love of what is old is truly a passion. They were not wanting in
historical research of every sort, though the unbroken development of centuries offered
so little in the way of contrasts that the origins of an art which grew slowly were lost in
the darkness of antiquity.
It is clear from the information that comes through about the doings of the Han
Dynasty, members of which occupied the throne from 206 b.c. to a.d. 201, that it was
under these emperors that the fancy first started of making great mounds and building
palaces on them, and then linking them up by bridges. It is expressly said that the capital
city was not built on formal lines like the earlier ones, but made a kind of "star-picture."
The Chinese certainly tell of far older gardens; but they do not conceal the fact that
there is something legendary about the miraculous gardens of Kuen-luen, though they
also tell of grand show-gardens of the Emperor Chou, which go back to two thousand
years b.c. Parks, which were laid out chiefly with a view to the chase, were always disliked
by the people, who thought they wasted good land. And it is obvious that historians regard
gardens and parks as an error and a snare for princes, whose life of pleasure in their
gardens and consequent neglect of rule made it so easy for the greedy heir to deprive
them of throne and life. But there is nothing to show how these gardens were laid out.
Wu-ti, an emperor of the Han Dynasty, appears to have been conspicuous in his
love for extensive grounds. The historians say that the gardens were fifty miles in area,
and that every valley between the mountains had palaces, pavilions (Fig. 554) and grottoes
scattered over it. This emperor also made the state treasury and its surroundings. He built
gardens and palaces for his beloved Fey-yen, about whose beauty writers such as the great
lyrical poet Li-Tai-pe composed their inspired verses eight hundred years later. The
summer palace of Chao-Yang is described by the poet as a sumptuous paradise of spring,
where the emperor spent nights of love with Fey-yen.
All these descriptions are vague. Although the love felt by the Chinese for artificial