Description
Book SynopsisQianyuan (the 'Hidden Garden') is a classic southern Chinese scholar's garden that was gifted to Ruhr University (Germany) by its sister school, Tongji University of Shanghai, in 1990. Beginning with the original concept, this book illustrates the history and design of the garden through 29 themes, with abundant pictures and accompanying text. The garden draws on the Legend of Peach Blossom Spring, in which a fisherman who is drawn to a blossoming peach orchard accidentally discovers a hidden outcrop of paradise, which once discovered can never be found again (a plaque in the garden recounts the tale). Qianyuan has borrowed theory and techniques from the ancient Chinese gardening masterpiece The Garden Treatise, whose artistic language was influential in the creation of this Chinese 'paradise' in Germany. The garden is considered an important example of Sino-German cultural exchange.
Text in English and Chinese.
Table of Contents Birth of the Garden
The Garden Layout
White Wall, Scattered Shadows
Charm before the Entrance
Entrance Hall, a Pair of Couplets
Less Is More
Walking along the Gallery, Chatting Freely
The Houses are Neatly Arranged
One Garden Corner
The Unevenness of the Main Hall
Ancient-Style Brick Carvings
Step into Solitude
Improvised Small Scenes
Yedu (Pulling Oneself Across)
Time-Worn ¬atched Hut
Of Rocks and Paintings
Song of Environmental Protection
An Account of the Fengyue Pavilion
Between Rocks and Water
A Mountain Need Not Be Tall
A Cultural Paradise
A Chinese Tea House
Exterior Landscapes
The Story of the Tiles
Borrowed Wonder
Water Paintings, Spring and Autumn
Beautiful Flowers of All Sorts
Silver Adornments, Plainly Wrapped
Asking about the Tao and Zen (Chan)
