History of Chinese Classical Gardens

Taking the Mature Gardens of The Song Dynasty as An Example

Abstract

 From the beginning of Shang Dynasty to the end of Qing Dynasty the development of Chinese classical landscape gardens went through five periods: the formation period of Shang, Zhou, Qin and Han Dynasties, the transition period of Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the heyday of Tang Dynasty, the maturity period of Song, Yuan, Ming and Qing Dynasties, and the middle and end of Qing Dynasty. Five thousand years of glorious Chinese culture makes Chinese classical gardens different from Western gardens and Islamic gardens. The unique garden system and style give rise to the unique and profound Chinese classical garden system in world history. Based on the history of Chinese classical gardens, the paper focuses on the historical background of the development of the Song garden, the characteristics of typical gardens and literati gardens in the two Song dynasties, in order to understand the development process of the Song garden more deeply. Under the condition of learning and understanding, the method and concept characteristics of classical garden design in Song Dynasty are inherited and applied to modern garden planning and design.