The imperial style of Chengde
Type
presentation
Date Issued
2007-06-16
Author(s)
Abstract
A small city in Hebei (Zhili) province, north of the Great Wall, the Qing summer capital of Chengde is sited in a plain sheltered by monasteries and surrounding mountains. Twice as big as the Yuanming yuan summer palace of Beijing, the Bishu shanzhuang mountain resort is the largest imperial park in China. A warm spring and a river feed the lakes of the residence gardens. The garden vistas "borrow" a strange rock formation to the northeast of the residence that contributes to the landscape design of the resort. The composite style of the Chengde gardens is rich in political, esthetic and religious references. The built landscape results from Kangxi's and Qianlong's careful analysis of the internal spatial organization of the residence, the interactions suggested by the physical and architectural landmarks of the site of Chengde, and the universal appeal the two emperors wanted to grant to the Mountain Resort
Language
English
Keywords
Chengde (Hebei
China)
Bishu shanzhuang
Qing dynasty
Kangxi emperor
Qianlong emperor
Chinese gardens
garden history
landscape architecture
landscape archetype
cosmogony
Tibetan Buddhism
Jinshan
Kunlun
jiu shan ba hai
Yu zhi Bishhu shanzhuang tu yong
HSG Classification
contribution to scientific community
Refereed
No
Event Title
The Huntington Library Symposium: Styles of Chinese Gardens
Event Location
Pasadena CA (United States)
Subject(s)
Eprints ID
215270