Origin Of The Classical Gardens In China

The classical gardens in China have a long history. Before the Qin dynasty, the garden architecture was characterized by agricultural gardens, orchards, from which the landscape gardens evolved. With the development of gardens, the idea of the ecological maintenance that "gardens can avoid disaster" was realized. The gardens held an important place in Chinese mythology and were often used as a place for totern worship or as sacrificial altar. Moreover they eventually became the base of education and beadhouse. As a substantial medium of Chinese ancient culture, the gardens offered a broader perspective for religion, aesthetics, philosophy, ritual and music of art even before the Qin dynasty. The classical gardens also materialize the change from mythical, sorcery thinking to rational thinking, especially during the era of the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, which witnessed an era of cultural prosperity – named by "the hundred schools of thought". This was an unprecedented era when rational thinking became dominant. Such a development established the aesthetics framework of classical gardens, from which many important aesthetics branches originated.