This article is a compilation of several entries in wikipedia and other sources.
Photos: Jacob Halun

The Art of The Traditional Chinese Garden

The first European to describe a Chinese garden was the Venetian merchant and traveler Marco Polo, who visited the summer palace of Kublai Khan at Xanadu.

Marco Polo described the gardens of the imperial palace in Khanbaliq, the Mongol name for the city which eventually became Beijing.

He described ramparts, balustrades and pavilions surrounding a deep lake full of fish and with swans and other aquatic birds, whose central feature was a manmade hill one hundred steps high and a thousand steps around, covered with evergreen trees and decorated with green azurite stones.

In 1738, the French Jesuit missionary and painter Jean Denis Attiret, went to China, where he became court painter to the Qianlong Emperor. He described in great detail what he saw in the imperial gardens near Beijing:

"One comes out of a valley, not by a straight wide alley as in Europe, but by zigzags, by roundabout paths, each one ornamented with small pavilions and grottos, and when you exit one valley you find yourself in another, different from the first in the form of the landscape or the style of the buildings. All the mountains and hills are covered with flowering trees, which are very common here. It is a true terrestrial paradise.

The canals are not at all like ours- bordered with cut stone- they are rustic, with pieces of rock, some leaning forward, some backwards, placed with such art you would think they were natural. Sometimes a canal is wide, sometimes narrow. Here they twist, there they curve, as if they were really created by the hills and rocks.

The edges are planted with flowers in rock gardens, which seem to have been created by nature. Each season has its own flowers. Aside from the canals, everywhere there are paths paved with small stones, which lead from one valley to the other. These paths also twist and turn, sometimes coming close to the canals, sometimes far away."

A typical traditional Chinese garden is enclosed by walls and includes one or more ponds, rock works, trees and flowers, and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries. By moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully composed scenes, unrolling like a scroll of landscape paintings.

The earliest recorded Chinese gardens were created in the valley of the Yellow River, during the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC). These gardens were large enclosed parks, where the kings and nobles hunted game, or where fruit and vegetables were grown.

The Chinese Garden as a sacred and meditational landscape design were concepts adopted by Confucianism, Taoism and Buddhism. Scholars used these ideas to make private gardens attached to their dwellings. Gardens often include small, austere houses for solitude and meditation, sometimes in the form of rustic fishing huts, and isolated buildings which serve as libraries or studios.

Early inscriptions from this period, carved on tortoise shells, have three Chinese characters for garden, you, pu and yuan. You was a royal garden where birds and animals were kept, while pu was a garden for plants. During the Qin dynasty, yuan became the character for all
gardens. The old character for yuan is a small picture of a garden; it is enclosed in a square which can represent a wall, and has symbols which can represent the plan of a structure, a small square which can represent a pond, and a symbol for a plantation or a pomegranate tree.

The classical garden was surrounded by a wall, usually painted white, which served as a pure backdrop for the flowers and trees. A pond of water was usually located in the center. Many structures, large and small, were arranged around the pond. In the garden described by Ji Cheng, the structures occupied two-thirds of the hectare (hectares are approximately two and a half acres), while the garden itself, occupied the other third. 

In a "scholar garden", the central building was usually a library or study, connected by galleries with other pavilions which served as observation points of the garden features. These structures also helped divide the garden into individual scenes or landscapes. The other essential elements of a scholar garden were plants, trees, and rocks, all carefully composed into small perfect landscapes. Scholar gardens also often used what was called "borrowed" scenery.

Windows and doors are an important architectural feature of the Chinese garden. Sometimes they are round (moon windows or a moon gate) or oval, hexagonal or octagonal, in the shape of a vase or a piece of fruit. The window may carefully frame a branch of a pine tree, or a plum tree in blossom, or other intimate garden scene.

Plum trees (shown in the beautiful scroll painting above) were revered as the symbol of rebirth after the winter, and the arrival of spring. During the Song dynasty, the favorite tree was the winter plum tree, appreciated for its early pink and white blossoms and sweet fragrance.

Each flower and tree in the garden had its own symbolic meaning. Chinese gardens contain a variety of plants chosen to provide beauty for each season. Chinese garden plants may include trees, shrubs, perennials, annuals and aquatic plants. Bonsai plants a re also common. Common plants found in a typical Chinese garden include Magnolia, Azalea, Chrysanthemums, Olive and Spirea. Every plant is carefully chosen for its beauty and meaning. 

Of all the flowers in the Chinese garden, the best-loved and appreciated were the orchid, peony, and lotus. During the Tang dynasty, the peony, the symbol of opulence, and a flower with a delicate fragrance, was the most celebrated flower in the garden. The orchid was the symbol of nobility.  The lotus was admired for its purity, and its efforts to reach out of the water to flower in the air made it a symbol of the search for knowledge

The pine, bamboo and Chinese plum were considered the "Three Friends of Winter" by the scholars who created classical gardens, prized for remaining green or blooming in winter. They were often painted together.  For scholars, the pine was the emblem of longevity and tenacity, as well as constance in friendship. The bamboo, a hollow straw, represented a wise man, modest and seeking knowledge, and was also noted for being flexible in a storm without breaking.

The peach tree in the Chinese garden symbolized longevity and immortality. Pear trees were the symbol of justice and wisdom. It was considered bad luck to cut a pear, for it would lead to the breakup of a friendship or romance. The pear tree could also symbolize a long friendship or romance, because the tree lived a long time.

The apricot tree symbolized the way of the Mandarin. During the Tang dynasty, those who passed the imperial examination were rewarded with a banquet in the garden of the apricot trees.

The fruit of the pomegranate tree was offered to young couples so they would have male children and numerous descendants. 

The willow tree represented the friendship and the pleasures of life. Guests were offered willow branches as a symbol of friendship.

Work With Nature.

Chinese gardens are cosmic diagrams revealing a profound and ancient view of the world and of man's place in it. 
Feng shui, the ancient Chinese system of arranging physical objects to create serenity and balance in a home also offers lessons in garden design. In China, the outdoors and the indoors are two halves of the whole; connect the living spaces physically and visually.

The enclosed outdoor space in the classic Chinese garden was a rectangular domestic courtyard attached to a dwelling.
The interest in orientation led to the art of feng shui. Courtyards were enclosed by buildings and  there were no windows on the outside walls. Rich people had more than one courtyard. The Emperor of China had many courtyards with specialized roles - and he used the feng shui design principles of strict geometry with a north-south axis.

Influence of Chinese Gardens on Japanese Gardens

The Chinese classical garden had a notable influence on the early Japanese garden. The influence of China first reached Japan through Korea before 600 AD. In 607 AD, the Japanese crown prince sent a diplomatic mission to the Chinese court, which began a cultural exchange lasting for centuries. Hundreds of Japanese scholars were sent to study the Chinese language, political system, and culture. The Japanese Ambassador to China described the great landscape gardens of the Chinese Emperor to the Japanese court. His reports had a profound influence on the development of Japanese landscape design.

Below are my recommendations for reading, and ideas for
Asian-themed decor that looks great in any Zen Garden. I have several pieces in my gardens.

Tip: Any garden sculpture by Design Toscano is purely awesome.