A Typical Chinese Rock Garden

Purpose

• According to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, records of the Zhou dynasty state that the earliest Chinese gardens were vast parks built for hunting and the idle pleasure of the aristocracy. Smaller private gardens came into fashion later, which featured rocks and other landscape design elements to represent the natural world on a miniature scale. By producing landscapes in microcosm, occupants could experience every aspect and sensation of nature by perusing the garden, as each object is typically meant to represent a natural element in Chinese rock gardens.

Rocks

• The sculptural rocks in typical Chinese rock gardens vary in size, shape, color and texture, depending on their purpose or the symbolism associated with them. Long-admired as essential elements in any Chinese garden, singular rocks typically stood for islands or mountain peaks, while compositions of various rocks often represent mountain ranges or moving water. The Metropolitan Museum of Art also states that texts from the Han Dynasty describe an association between ornamental rocks and the "mythical mountain paradises of immortals," namely the Isles of Eternal Youth of Chinese lore: the main island Horai and the smaller islands Eishu, Hojo and Koryo. Rocks in Chinese gardens have been judged by their surface texture, leanness and perforations since the Tang Dynasty, and preferred stones are typically top-heavy, vertically-oriented and heavily textured.

Water

• The Chinese word "shan shui" literally translates to "mountains and waters," making it appropriate that water is the element most often included in typical rock gardens. In Chinese gardening, the element water represents a softness that balances the solidness of surrounding rocks. Chinese rock gardens usually feature a small central pond with small, off-shooting streams to represent large bodies of water, but small fountains, waterfalls and springs are also common fixtures. In rock gardens where a pond or waterfall is inconvenient, glass sheets or objects can be used to symbolize reflective lakes.

Plants

• In typical Chinese rock gardens, rocks represent the "skeleton of the universe," water the "blood of the universe" and plants the "hair of the universe." Trees, shrubs and flowers are not the focal points of typical Chinese gardens, but they do play a role in creating a balanced, harmonious landscape on a miniature scale. Small bushes and trees represent vast forests, while flowering plants celebrate the beauty and brevity of life. Ornamental plants typically hold deep inner meaning in Chinese rock gardens, with bamboo symbolizing fidelity and longevity, pine trees the wisdom of old age, chrysanthemums good friendship and willow trees grace.