Documentary Research On Chinese Classical Garden

Garden documents, by definition, refers to all texts and pictures which record, justify, describe, or eulogize Chinese classical gardens and gardening life. Based on differences in the performance of the depth and breadth of the garden, the garden literature can be divided into the main documents and adjunctive documents. The main documents can be subdivided into garden theory, garden records, garden painting, based on another differences in documents theme and content focus of the documents. The adjunctive documents can be divided into four categories, which are garden poetry, garden tablet and garden couplet, anthology and the books about stone, and scattered historical data on gardens.Compared existing versions of the Yuan Ye, we can find that it was not only printed in Chong zhen seven year during the Ming dynasty, but also published during the Qing dynasty, and more than one copy. The Mu Jing Quan Shu and Duo Tian Gong were not published by renaming in Japan, but exported to Japan through merchant ships. Frontispiece of the Duo Tian Gong, "Hua Ri Tang Collection" and "Zhuo Luo Guan Qun Shu" collect of marks. The frontispiece of the Mu Jing Quant Shu, "Long Sheng Tang"brands disclosed the version information. Kan Duo said only Li Yu had read Yuan Ye during the Qing dynasty, which is not indeed, because Wu Hanfen, Xie Putei and Zhu Wenzao,who is the writer of Zhen Qi Tang Shu Lu, Wang Xian and his posterity, who is the owner of Zhen Qi Tang, had also read it. Tablet and couplet were not mentioned in the Yuan Ye, which brought some scholars’ speculation. Someone consider the approach tablet and couplet were combined with Pillar and Lintel didn’t flourish until the Qing dynasty, while others believe couplets became common in gardens in the Song dynasty. In fact, Garden couplets have emerged in the Song dynasty, but rarely documented, there is no proof that it had been widely, but we can sure it has been prevalent in the late Yuan and early Ming dynasty. Ji Cheng did not mention tablet and couplet because division of labor is different.In the twelve volumes of Zhang Wu Zhi, the correlation seven volumes close to garden are Chamber room, flowers and trees, water stone, fishes, couches, utensil and location. They introduced material, structure, purpose and position of dozens of daily utensils in "Couch". "Utensil" and "Location", which was not referenced in Yuan Ye. Everywhere in the book are "elegance", rejecting "badness", it attaches great importance to the scene of the "painting", which has some similarities with Yuan Ye and also some differences. The eight divisions in Xian Qing Ou Ji, ministries of bedroom and planting have reference to building garden. Different from what literatories’opinion to building garden in Ming and Qing dynasty, Li Yu did not only have practice of building garden, but also prestigious at that time and later ages. Li Yu’s opinion are often the same with Ji Cheng’s. The signboards of Xian Qing Ou Ji can replenish Yuan Ye. These two books are not the special monograph discussing building garden after all, the majority is literatories’words game, lack of systematically theoretical support.According to the statistic data, since the mid Tang dynasty to the Qing dynasty, there were more than one thousand four hundred garden literature. If bounded with generation which the author was, the largest number of garden is in Ming dynasty, song and qing are second, the yuan, tang, jin, northern and southern dynasties are third, the fewest was in Han dynasty. If bounded with the province which the garden located in, the most is Jiang Su, the second are Zhejiang, Beijing, Henan, Anhui, Hebei and Shanghai, and other provinces are less. This paper introduces the concept, springing up and development, writing methods and objective, survey and type of garden records first. Then it discourses at four parts, description and exhibition of garden in garden records, reproduction and praises of garden in garden records, outline and hackling of garden history in garden records, notes and reflection of sight naming in garden records. At last, it summarizes on the subject of garden records.The main function of paintings is to depict the garden landscape and garden layout, reproduce the garden life, the ancients researched on the former enough, but paid little attention to the latter. There are two main themes of garden life depicted by garden paintings:first, male amusement, such as antique, tea, summer, enjoying life; second, female world, such as tillage, dressing, needlework, worship, it is good playing chess, poetry, music, reading, antique, flowers and grass, observing things for fun, swing, kicking ball, beating pill, etc. They can be summarized as promoting education, wish and praying, self-cultivation, leisure entertainment and recreation according to its nature.Landscape picture described in the garden poetry often belongs to a general reference, not realistic, but garden poetry still has its irreplaceable value of literature, the "garden prospect" constructed in the poetry also cannot be ignored. The garden tablet and garden couplet are important symbol of garden full of cultural atmosphere compared to pure natural scenic spot, having the effect that make the finishing point to the botanical garden scenery. In anthology classes, flowers and trees become the focus of attention, about the kinds of flowers and trees, producing area, the name of the origin, growth habits, cultivating methods, etc., are put in front of the readers close to the form of natural science. The books about stone, details the origin, characteristics of stone used in building garden in all previous dynasties, which can make up the shortage of general description in the form of "peculiar stone" and "rockery" in garden records.Local Chronicles is the treasure house of record the provincial garden literature. There was recordation of garden pavilion in scenery part of Yu Di Ji Sheng. The number of category refer to garden Fang Yu Sheng Lan increased. Tai Cang Zhou Zhi appeared garden item in chong zhen years.There is no lack of precious garden historical materials in prose writings, such as three Spring Festival couplets in Gui Xin Za Zhi, Bie Ji xia, Yao Zhou Yuan Guan, which are the earliest known landscape architecture heretofore.The pre-qin historical records Yuan You only about name, the text about the garden in the history of the han dynasty is very contracted, but the royal garden name and number can be counted according to the records. Garden records in the history of wei jin southern and northern dynasties has a breakthrough, which changed the method laundry list type writing that used in a former royal generation, such as "one day in one garden", added scene description and argumentum, written not only private gardens with surnames. The number recorded in the new and old tang book significantly increased. The frequency imperial travel to the palace noted in song dynasty history is high than the former and the later dynasty. "You Guan" was added in Song Shi, Li Zhi, Jia Li. Record about garden in three generations of yuan, ming and qing dynasty is rare. We can tease out roughly organization change of past dynasties through history.Novels can be divided into classical Chinese and vernacular, vernaculars can also be divided into novelette and the long. Classical Chinese novels represented by notes novels, lots of stories in Jian Deng Xin Hua occur in the garden, which is the early work of the "courtyard" romance novel. Liao Thai Zhi Yi inherited the novel writing mode of the ming dynasty courtyard, made it more exquisite, the character image more animated and more life stories.The vernacular short stories are represented by Sanyan and Erpai and The twelve floor. The texts about the garden are most limited to the external landscape description, once in a while, involve the room arrangement. The vernacular long stories are represented by A Dream of Red Mansions. The description about the grand sight garden almost involves every sides of gardening, and it’s very careful about the garden life. The garden of A Dream of Red Mansions are the background of the People’s activities and the powerful pusher of the plot development. In addition, garden are the key to mould personage’s image and the development of the story, it helps in setting off, mapping and suggesting. There are close connection between landscape and character. Gardens are first given life in the novel, a change in landscape mode monotony of short stories.Because some differences, such as the depth of author’s thought, the artistic accomplishments, the writing intent and the literature appearance, there are a variety of styles in the garden documents. But that is not isolated among the documents. There are division and interpenetrating. It’s difficult to clear separation boundaries. All kinds of documents will be used when studying a historic garden.The art property can be expounded from the garden documents. Previous arguments about this have focused on the external landscape and the dominant design level, but lacking of knowledge to the recessive ideological level, especially the materiality and privacy about garden.