In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Chapter 2 Disposition The Yuanming Yuan imperial garden consisted of the most magnificent architectural works the Qing Empire ever created. It represents a glory in the Chinese cultural tradition and the pinnacle of Chinese garden arts. The site on which the Yuanming Yuan was built is a plain rich in fresh water at the foot of the Jade Spring Hills near present-day Haidian, northwest of Beijing. The water from the Jade Spring has been described as cool and clear, to be admired as “pearls under moonlight” (mingyue yeying qingguang yuan) (Liu Tong and Yu Yizheng 1980, 297). The plentiful spring accounts for the abundant groundwater in Haidian and its neighborhood. In fact, “dian” means the place where water runs together (Jing Yikui 1980, 69). Moreover, the terrain allowed a gigantic garden to achieve its maximum aesthetic e¤ects. As the great modern Chinese architect Liang Sicheng summarizes, the Yuanming Yuan was essentially a design of hillocks and lakes with buildings, courts, chambers, pavilions, arbors, and other structures in between. Even though symmetry and balance were stressed, Liang goes on, greater emphasis was placed on variations and liveliness in accordance with topography to the extent of being unconventional. Although the garden, for Liang’s critical eyes, perhaps contained too many man-made structures, which jeopardized the beauty of the landscape, he has no doubt about its lively creativity (1985, 3:225, 231). A more recent scholar has called the Yuanming Yuan the “the garden of ten-thousand gardens” (wanyuan zhi yuan) in reference to its ingenious and judicious disposition on a large lake and near the tall West Hills in the neighborhood (Chen Congzhou 1994, 5). Indeed, due to the excellent location, pleasant country homes appeared here as early as the Yuan dynasty in the thirteenth century. By the sixteenth century, natural beauty made this region so attractive that the Marquis Li Wei of the Ming was inspired to construct the wellknown Clear Flowery Garden (Qinghua Yuan), which had claims to be “the leading garden in the region” (jingguo diyiyuan). Shortly afterward, the distinguished calligrapher Mi Wanzhong built the equally famous Ladle Garden (Shao Yuan) in this area. Both celebrated 24 |  gardens, according to the Peking University scholar Hou Renzhi, deteriorated during the transition from the Ming to the Qing (1991, 99). The Qing rulers constructed gardens in the Haidian region all over again. As the three available maps show, the Yuanming Yuan contained vast lakes connected by a network of canals and winding waterways. From a bird’s eye view, all of the structures in the garden appear to have been situated on islets or spits of land surrounded by artificial hills, terraces, hollow rocks, and blooming trees and shrubs. The specially named “scenes” (jing) comprised a series of independent and yet cohesive smaller gardens. And this huge park, as a Briton observed, “contained a vast variety of elegant little buildings” (Holmes 1798, 134). In 1737, the second year of his reign, Qianlong instructed the distinguished court artists Castiglione,Tang Dai, Sun You, Shen Yuan, Zhang Wanbang, and Ding Guanpeng to draw a silk map of the Yuanming Yuan. Once completed, it was hung on the north wall of the Clear Sunshine Belvedere (Qinghui Ge). The belvedere was situated on the west side of the royal living room at the center of the Nine Continents. Its structure, a simple rectangle with elaborate motifs and decorations carved on the posts and beams by carpenters, fit beautifully in the landscape and among other surrounding structures. Noticeably, it had a large overhang to protect the inhabitants from foul weather and was carefully painted to protect it from decay.The right angles and axial symmetry reflected the sublime order.This was the place where the emperor and his companions enjoyed the quiet pleasures of composing poems, drawing pictures, and admiring the landscape (cf. Yu Mingzhong 1985, 2:1333–1334). The famous Forty (Best) Views (sishi jing) of the Yuanming Yuan were completed and designated in 1744, of which twelve views, or scenes, were constructed after Qianlong became emperor in 1736. Even though Yongzheng had completed so many of the forty views, Qianlong continued to refurbish all the views extensively.The urbane Qianlong gave every one of the Forty Views a cultured name with an explanatory poem (Yuanming Yuan sishijing tuyong 1985). The emperor’s practice was quite in line with what a refined scholar did for his private garden, that is to use an elegant name and poetic theme to...

Share