China, Part 2

One of the many things that the Chinese do well is gardens. I have tended to think of gardens in terms of the Botanical Gardens on Penang island, where I grew up, with it's spacious lawns, bits of jungle, monkeys, and streams running through. Or as the British gardens with their close-cut lawns and beds of flowers, or the immaculately trimmed French gardens, or the flower-filled Butchart gardens in Victoria, British Columbia.

The Chinese gardens I visited were different.  They had no lawns, but the paths meandered by pavilions,

ponds,

and over rocky promontories with layer after layer of plants, walls and buildings to please the eye.

The Chinese work from a philosophy of having their gardens mimic the features of the land, but at the same time I think they create their gardens as a miniature of what is big in the land. There were no mountains near the gardens I visited, and no rocky outcroppings, but they were featured in miniature in the gardens.

And the pavilions and bonsai-trimmed trees lent to the harmonious effect when it was all put together. "Harmonious" is an important Chinese word, used quite often to refer to design.

But I think they really do have the idea of what goes together to make a harmonious whole, when it comes to gardens.

The geometric or curving lines of a path,

the view out a pavilion window,

the repeated lines of screen carvings and roofs--they all lend to that feeling of harmony.

And the imagination is put to work.  A pavilion can be placed in a pond, surrounded by water lilies, and give the impression that it's a boat tied up at the edge of a lake.

A real sampan tied up at the edge of a short waterway gives you the idea that you really could go somewhere, and your imagination takes you there while you stand looking at it.

A little gazebo in a quiet corner of the garden, with stepping stones around it, provides a world of exploration all its own, a little hideaway where you might want to tuck in with a good book.

Inside the pavilions, the windows frame a scene.  It may be banana trees,

or bamboo, or some other delight for the eye.  But you may at each window sit or stand and meditate on something that somehow gives rest to the soul.  Did I mention "harmonious?"

Let me bring you to the end of this short stroll through the gardens by walking through the moon gate, and seeing a blessing for you in the cobblestone path:  the Chinese cranes, representing long life. Take some time soon to rest in whatever gardens are near you. It's a good thing.