Royal Palatial Gardens and Private Gardens in the Han Dynasty

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In Han dynasty, the palatial garden and its architectural art originating and developing from early Qin dynasty grew in maturity. Sculpture was widely employed in gardening and gardens gradually developed into a comprehensive artistic form.

Gardens in the Han dynasty were multifunctional, which offered various services, such as residence and feast holding. Some people even made the garden a place to pursue an immortal life by producing pills of immortality and cultivating immortal energy. The best representative of palatial gardens at that time was the Shang-Lin Park built in the reign of Han Emperor Wudi(140-87BC).

1) Shang-Lin Park—the representative of the Han royal gardens In the reign of Han Emperor Wudi, the empire was wealthy and powerful. The Emperor had the old Shang-Lin Park first built in the Qin times reconstructed and extended. Later, the Shang-Lin Park, with a sophisticated garden structure, became the first imperial park of the Han royal family. According to Record of Guanzhong,

“in the Shang-Lin park, there are twelve gates, twenty-six gardens, twenty palaces, and thirty-five halls.”One can imagine its size by a quote from 01d Rituals of the Han Dynasty,”the Shang-Lin Park covers three hundred li of land.(li, or Chinese mile, is equal to about a third of an English mile.)A1l kinds of animals were raised in the park; and later, in the fall and winter, the emperor would hunt them as games.

A notable thing is that, in the Han dynasty, the garden constructors began to divide a whole garden into several different scenic zones or spaces with different subjects and characteristics. For instance, in the Shang-Lin Park, lakes likeKunming, Sichi, Langchi, and Dongpo were designed as water scenery. Around the lakes, lush vegetations were arranged. Officials provided two thousand different types of rare and precious trees and fruiters.

2) Celestial Lake—a pattern of “One Lake with Three Mounts” The most important palace in the Shang-Lin Park is the Jianzhang Palace, which boasted the best garden scenery—Celestial Lake—in the north. There are three mounts of immortals—Penglai, Yingzhou, and Fangzhang in the Lake. They were miniatures of the immortal abodes in the sea and the pattern of “one lake with three mounts”came into being since then.

As an extensive artificial lake, the Celestial Lake is well-known for the threemounts of immortals built in it. This pattern,a lake with three mounts, has far-fetched influence on the later Chinese garden designs. Till the Qing dynasty, this pattern could still find its way when gardens were constructed.

As recorded in Miscellanea of the Two Capitals, hydrophilous plants covered the bank of the Celestial Lake while flocks of birds rested on the sand. The handsome mounts were reflected in the ripples of the water. The arrangement of waters and spaces and the extraordinary artistic conceptions set a great example for the later imperial parks. In gardens of Han times, trees, flowers, ponds and springs were widely employed. In addition, people began to develop skills and techniques to construct gardens by directly using or transforming the natural objects, and building artificial hills with piled rocks. Involving all the important elements of a garden, such as the hills, waters, and architecture, these gardening techniques helped create special artistic effects and were considered as the paradigm for the later design.

3) Emergence of private gardens, the resemblance of palatial gardens In the early Han dynasty, trade was well developed. Rich businessmen and merchants were fond of luxurious life. They ran their own hunting parks to indulge themselves in merry-making; and hence, private gardens made their appearance inChinese history of gardens. According to On the Iron and Salt,”the rich family formed hills by collecting earth and created woods by planting trees. They builtterraces and pavilions in chains, and erected chambers and storied buildings.”Th private garden owned by Yuan Guanghan,a wealthy merchant in Maoling, the RabbitGardern of King Liang Xiao, and the Liangji Garden of the General were the most famous of its type at that time.

The private gardens owned by the influential clans, the literati and the officials were different from the palatial gardens in terms of the size; however, the techniques and objects all followed those adopted by the royal family. Private gardens, covered by trees and flowers, are tranquil and elegant; meanwhile, pavilions, terraces, towers, and chambers are constructed in gardens, which are important elements of Chinese garden culture.

With gardens, walls, and Taoist temples inside, palatial gardens and private gardens in the Qin and Han dynasties are a mixture of the ancient hunting parks and palaces. The architectural clusters, such as chambers and palaces become the main part of gardens. In terms of the content, the form, and the design as well as the techniques, the skills and the contents, the Chinese garden is characterized with its own artistic values.