The Inspiration of Poetic and Picturesque Literati Garden to Chinese Modern Gardening

Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang 330022, China

Abstract Literati garden in Chinese classical garden has its own characteristics, and literature, philosophy and aesthetic values contained in literati garden have a profound impact on the gardening of later generations. Literati garden embodies the aesthetic orientation of Chinese people’s love of poetry and painting, pays attention to the creation of poetic atmosphere and creates an emotional space, making that viewers appreciate the beauty of blending feelings and scenery. In this paper, the characteristics of the literati garden in Chinese classical garden are summarized, and its gardening essence is excavated, and its enlightenment to the modern Chinese garden is explored.

Key words Literati garden, Modern gardening, Poetic charm, Inspiration

1 Introduction

Since ancient times, China has been a poetic and picturesque country. Gardens under the influence of Chinese culture for thousands of years are always inextricably linked with literati. Ancient literati wrote poems and paintings, became officials in politics, and put their emotions in the gardens, and the natural and artificial space combination was included in it. However, current gardens tend to be public and do not take private gardens as the mainstream, so they could not meet personal aesthetic and emotion, and it needs finding gardening features in line with the public’s "taste". So it can start from the cultural gene of Chinese people and go back to ancient times, and poetry is still one of the important factors that run through the Chinese cultural context. But in the planning of modern garden, there is no place to look for poetic feelings, and the influence of basic culture is more and more far away from us. Therefore, this paper explores the style characteristics of literati garden, tries to achieve the dialogue between ancient and modern garden design, and hopes to leave a foothold of artistic beauty in the modern complex garden landscape.

2 Tracing back to literati garden

2.1LiteratigardeninitsinfancyThe emergence of literati garden can be traced back to the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties. In politics, the political power changed frequently, and the political struggle of the gentry groups were serious, and it seemed to be a normal state to fight openly and secretly in the official arena. In culture, metaphysics prevailed, and Buddhism was widely spread, and traditional Confucianism was challenged, and people’s aesthetics entered a new stage. In this historical context, the literati were tired of the political struggle, and formed the cultural fashion of advocating nature and expressing their feelings on mountains and rivers. During this period, the scale of gardens was small and exquisite, and the landscape design focused on freehand brushwork, and the natural landscape was recorded in the form of poetry and painting. In order to satisfy their extravagant life but also to enjoy the beautiful scenery, literati and officialdom usually built the gardens in the city and the outskirts of the city. Literati garden in the period generally contained philosophy of metaphysics, fine technology of the times, style in six dynasties, and has started the vigorous development of literati garden[1].

2.2Literatigardenintheheyday(theSuiandTangDynasties) In the Sui and Tang Dynasties, the country was unified, with stable political situation, and the economy was developing unprecedentedly, and the garden development reached its peak. The unprecedented development of gardens in this period cannot do without two points. First, the imperial examination system established in the Sui Dynasty and perfected in the Tang Dynasty. The imperial examination system replaced the nine-grade Zhongzheng system in the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, and the vast majority of poor children were given the opportunity to enter the imperial court as officials. Class barriers have been broken to some extent, and class mobility was more frequent. Many literati were depressed because of their uncertain career. But compared with the negative avoidance of the aristocrats in the former dynasty, the new generation of literati had the expectation of actively entering the society, cultivating themselves and governing the country. Although the frustrated literati lived in the Jianghu, their hearts were in the imperial court, and the gardens became the sustenance for the literati to express their desires. Meanwhile, gardens were also social places for literati. The owner of the garden integrated his feelings of worrying about the country and the people and his philosophy of life into the garden design. Bai Juyi strongly advocated the seclusion of "Zhongyin". In Ludaofang Garden of Bai Juyi, the pool was the main view of the garden. There were three islands in the pool, and arch and flat bridges were set up to connect them. On the basis of the old garden, Bai Juyi added some buildings, such as millet warehouse in the east of the pool, a library in the north and a piano pavilion in the west. Bai Juyi put Taihu stone in the garden, which showed that Taihu stone had been used for gardening in the Tang Dynasty. Although Ludaofang Garden was small, it embodied the elegant and quiet style of literati garden[2]. Second, the Beijing-Hangzhou Grand Canal built in the Sui Dynasty. The canal was more than 2 700 km, and ran through major cities in the north and south of the whole country, which was conducive to the material circulation in the north and south, and increased the diversity of gardening materials[2].

2.3Literatigardeninthematureperiod(aftertheSongDynasty) Since the position of politics, economy and culture in the feudal society was replaceable in the Tang Dynasty, and the later dynasties changed frequently, the literati tended to be cautious in their attitude towards life, and their worry about the country and people was a prominent theme in their literary works, which was far away from the heroic momentum of the Sui and Tang Dynasties. Since then, the garden style had no scale of the Sui and Tang Dynasty. But the development of small-scale peasant economy after the Song Dynasty promoted the expansion of garden scale, and the development of commodity economy also promoted the integration of urban and rural areas. Therefore, garden has become the spiritual product of people after economic prosperity, which was distributed in every corner of urban and rural areas. After the Song Dynasty, science and technology have been greatly developed, and gardening techniques, cultivation techniques, and the techniques of mountain building and water management have enriched the garden forms[3]. During the period, landscape painters emerged in an endless stream, and literati gardeners paid more attention to the reference of landscape poetry and painting in the creation of artistic conception, and these three were highly integrated in this period.

3 Savoring literati garden

3.1Gardeningideology

3.1.1Etiquette and order. After more than 2 000 years of feudal autocracy in China, the concept of etiquette and order has been deeply rooted in the people’s mind. From civil and military officials to ordinary people, all of them followed the three cardinal principles and five cardinal rules, and the literati were deeply influenced by them, and this was also the basis for the long-term continuation of feudal society. This etiquette and order originated from Confucianism, and "no etiquette, no foundation". It was clear the position of etiquette in people’s mind, and it deeply affected the layout relationship between architecture and garden, and axial symmetry, emphasis and color selection all reflected order and etiquette.

What is produced under the ideological state of imprisonment is social personality, which limits human personality. But under the feudal rule, although the literati had their own independent thoughts, they dared not easily break the habits and ways of doing things that have been handed down for thousands of years, and the garden also followed etiquette and order, which was reflected in the arrangement and combination of building volume and function and the selection of garden plants[4]. But after literati garden developed to the mature stage, the free layout of the garden has become a popular form of literati.

3.1.2Inaction. Due to the influence of Taoist thought, the ancient literati unconsciously developed a kind of aesthetic habit of loving the natural landscape. Only by integrating with nature can people find spiritual sustenance[5]. Literati were good at finding things in nature to express their feelings, and plum, orchid, bamboo and chrysanthemum were regarded as the four gentlemen. The application of gentleman’s virtue in the garden enabled the literati to find the mapping and resonance in the nature. Literati can’t live in nature in urban private gardens, but they still set up mountains to make water and tried their best to get close to nature[6].

3.1.3Myths and legends. Since ancient times, Chinese people have been very respectful of ghosts and gods, which is also a kind of ideological sustenance and a kind of expectation for a better life in the face of real difficulties. Wide application of "one pool and three mountains" illustrates people’s yearning for Penglai myth. Most of the themes of the sculptures in literati garden come from the nature and recurrent themes in mythology, and the legends of Nuwa mending the sky and Pangu opening the heaven and earth are just the common portraits in literati garden.

3.2Gardeningcharacteristics

3.2.1Exquisite site selection. Besides the location of literati garden is exquisite in geomancy, its geographical location is also very special. In initial development stage, literati gardens were mostly built in landscapes, far away from urban disputes. After political environment was relaxed, in the face of the dilemma of choice between entering and leaving the society, literati garden often appeared in the suburbs of cities, and a group of like-minded literati formed the literati garden belt. After the stability of the imperial examination system in the later period, the literati were originally interested in imperial court, so when they wanted to have both landscape and ambition, they moved garden to the city, and Ludaofang of Bai Juyi became the model of literati garden.

3.2.2Showing mood through space. The literati who have experienced the ups and downs of official circles for many years were quite different in mind and mood from the original themselves. They experienced from the ambitious young people to the fact that they were beaten by the reality, but they still fought, and finally they still loved life carefully.

However, literati in different situations had different understanding of garden. The literati with smooth official career in the end usually liked to make the courtyard bigger and showed the symbol of identity. In terms of functional layout, there were not only leisure space for meditation, but also solemn office space. The twists and turns of the garden path reflected the literati’s perception of life experience. Even in adversity, there were roadside scenery to enjoy, which was the literati’s garden view. The literati who avoided from the society usually built countryside villas, and simple architecture and natural scenery showed the literati’s seclusion mood of living in the mountains and forests.

3.2.3Coexistence of function and art. The greatest characteristic of literati garden was that it showed the art of poetry and painting in the skills and techniques of gardening. Garden scale was generally small and delicate. Due to the elegant character of the builder, the thinking of gardening elements usually came from poetry and painting. Combined with functional practicability, it was a place for users to live, watch and travel. The selection of plants was usually taken from the flowers and plants symbolizing the noble character in poems and paintings, while the names of buildings and gardens, and the decoration inspiration of inscriptions all came from poems. The "winding water and flowing wine cup" in ancient poetry showed a scene of literati drinking and talking happily by the water, and embodied the wisdom of the literati in creating scenery.

4 Dialogue between literati garden and modern garden

4.1Differencesbetweenliteratigardenandmoderngarden

4.1.1Aesthetic differences. Ancient literati liked to express their emotions by some concrete objective existence, and we could clearly understand the expression techniques of ancient people’s feelings on objects and scenery in ancient poems and paintings. Writing poems was to express feelings, while painting was to express ideas, and what they wanted to express through substance was the deep ideological connotation. Literati gardens were usually created by literati, who usually can poem and paint, and then realize the scenery in poems and paintings through gardens, in which elements and techniques reflected the emotional color of poetic charm. Via water diversion and mountain piling, manual work and nature were combined skillfully, and the concrete things were imagined. So, the garden integrated the art of poetry and painting, and it was a process from sensibility to rationality and then to sensibility and a product embodying personal aesthetics.

In modern garden, its design is generally constrained by function, and sometimes they don’t play well. Its aesthetic feeling also reflects the will of the public, and streamline, simplicity and abstraction become the craze that people pursue. The designers either cater to the public’s taste or are innovative. With the change of people’s thoughts, aesthetics develop towards diversification, and garden style’s design is more influenced by architecture, and people’s pursuit of landscape beauty also deviates from the tradition.

4.1.2Ideological differences. The "golden mean" of Confucianism, the "inaction" of Taoism and the "fate" of Buddhism are the internal basis of classical garden design. For example, the harmony of all things and the unity of man and nature in Confucianism are embodied in the harmonious matching of landscape and the blending of feelings and scenes. Conforming to the nature of Taoism is shown in paying attention to close to the nature and show the beauty of nature in the garden. The god and ghost system created by Taoism also provides imagination and creativity for garden design, and one pool and three mountains in Xianshan realm is a good example.

Modern garden gradually systematizes and disciplines the beauty of landscape design, and accurate numbers and professional skills provide new standards for the beauty of gardens. Through their own wisdom, people create the artificial beauty which originates from nature but surpasses nature. Combining modern science and technology, computer provides more accurate model design for garden design, and modern architectural technology is beyond the reach of classical garden, such as flower grafting, music fountain, VR landscape. Science and technology bring different artificial beauty to garden.

4.1.3Cultural differences. Classical literati gardens were mainly influenced by Confucianism, Taoism, Buddhism and feudal ideology, and the design of classical gardens has been developing in parallel with the feudal etiquette system for a long time. With the change of dynasties, the thought of seclusion of literati was developing continuously, and gradually evolved into a more systematic and philosophical specialized culture. It was merged into garden, and this idea was input into the garden construction.

In the upsurge of globalization, cultural diversity is also the only way for garden development. The "diversity" of gardens is reflected in school, style, principle and other aspects. The application of modern new materials such as glass, marble and cement enriches the landscape of modern garden. In terms of discipline, the integration of urban planning, architecture, engineering management and garden provides a new direction for the development of garden. With the progress of ideology, people no longer only focus on "official career", but also pay more attention to splendid multi-culture in modern society.

4.2ThereferenceofmoderngardentoliteratigardenHow to find a suitable way of existence in the literati garden, so that modern people can find the satisfaction of spiritual life in the garden. For modern people, garden is the medium of dialogue between man and nature. Garden design should consider how to create the environment to connect emotions, so that some people find emotional resonance[7].

4.2.1Originating from nature. No matter Wang Wei’s Wangchuan Bieye or Bai Juyi’s Lushan Caotang, it was perfectly integrated with nature, and ingeniously used natural beauty. The building was hidden in the trees, so that man and the environment were integrated, and it seemed to travel in the picture.

The modern garden can refer to the practice of literati garden no matter from the perspective of site selection or landscaping, which embodies the view of nature. It can also get inspiration from nature in the construction thought of artificial landscape. In order to escape the noise of the city, modern people like to explore the most natural appearance in the field. If there is a miniature in the city, people don’t have to go far.

4.2.2People oriented. Garden is mainly to meet the users’ entertainment and viewing needs. In design process, it is necessary to conduct in-depth analysis of users, and all considerations should be based on people. From the perspective of people’s aesthetic and functional needs, a landscape with both practical value and artistic value should be built like a literati garden.

Human is a social animal with complex emotions, and each individual has some same attributes and different characteristics. In design process, it should not only study the characteristics of these same attributes to materialize them, but also find the needs of different subjects at different levels.

4.2.3Artistic conception construction. "Poetic dwelling" is a word that has been put forward for a long time, which reveals the life yearning of contemporary people. Artistic conception is not an objective phenomenon that can be explained by logical thinking[8]. The artistic conception has been penetrated into the aesthetic gene of the Chinese nation since ancient times, and has been passed down from generation to generation in the historical changes. In the process of modern garden construction, the creation of artistic conception is still an indispensable part, but this is not a way of mechanically copying. The designer should consider the characteristics of the surrounding environment and users in many aspects, rather than a casual Zen garden and Lugang town.

Today, it is still feasible to put the combination and change of different spaces in literati gardens in such a way that people can get different emotional exchanges. The thought of Bi-de is still inherited, but the representation and hardening of the present practice are somewhat contrary to the original intention of creating artistic conception[9].

5 Conclusions

As a fortune in Chinese classical culture, literati garden should not be buried in the vastness of history, and it should not be forgotten. In today’s society, material desires run rampant, and interpersonal communication seems to become more and more strange. Modern people are in a state of material life tension and spiritual life emptiness. There is only one place to live, that is, home. When planting a few potted flowers, it is a simple garden corner. It shows that the garden always has a place in people’s spiritual world. It doesn’t need to be big, and it can have something that can cause emotional resonance, which is the same as the original intention of literati garden. The combination of spirit and material in literati garden is what we are looking for.