1he racucal Appllcauon of Chlnese Carden

leng Shul ln Lhe WesL

8y Poward Choy 8.Arch, leng Shul ArchlLecL.
Lmall: fengshularchlLecL[hoLmall.com
resenLauon aL World leng Shul uay, Sydney AusLralla.
lebruary. 03, 2011
WhaL Makes a Carden a Chlnese Carden?
ulerenL hllosophy: ulerenL aLh
ln Lhe wesL Lhe garden layouLs Lended Lo be geomeLrlcal,
symmeLrlcal and ordered, as Lhough Man conLrols naLure.
ln Lhe easL, Lhe garden layouLs Lended Lo be free form, non
symmeLrlcal and appeared Lo be naLural.
1he alm ls Lo respecL naLure, Lven Lhough lL ls made by Man, lL
looks as Lhough lL ls made by naLure".
Cardens LasL (8el[lng) and WesL (krakow)
ulerenL Acuvlues: ulerenL layouL
Man's acuvlues are many and varled buL Lhey can be
broadly dlvlded lnLo lndoor' and ouLdoor" acuvlues llke
yln and yang and Lhey should compllmenL each oLher.
1herefore, from a Lradluonal Chlnese polnL of vlew, where
Lhere ls a home, Lhere ls a garden. 1he lnLernal
envlronmenL should exLend and become parL of Lhe
exLernal garden.
1he wesL puLs Lhe bulldlng ln Lhe cenLre of a garden and
show o Lhe bulldlng lnsLead of Lhe garden, whereas Lhe
Chlnese puLs Lhe garden ln Lhe cenLre of a bulldlng by
wrapplng lL ln a courLyard, .
new Age leng Shul Cardens
MosL books one sees ln Lhe WesL nowadays on garden leng Shul are based on Lhe 3-
uoors 8agua meLhod lnvenLed by ln by Lln ?un ln Lhe early 1980s, where a garden ls
arblLrary dlvlded lnLo 8 segmenLs wlLh assoclaLed values and decoraLed accordlngly. lL
has no slLe conLexL and ls noL a Lradluonal way of dolng a garden ln Chlna.
It |s not |n keep|ng w|th the c|ass|ca| approach as vo|ced by e
I|u-k|ng !"#, a famous |ng Dynasty Ieng Shu| Master:
80 of Lhe leng Shul lnpuL should come from xlngshl (lorm and
Congurauons) and LuanLou (MounLaln 1ops) Lechnlques wlLh Lhe
remalnlng 20 from Llql (Cl ManagemenL) Lechnlques whlch wlll
deLermlne wheLher Lhe ouLcome ls cheap or preclous".
What Makes Good Ieng Shu| |n a Garden?
8e|ng honest|y Itse|f (8enx|ng $%),
be|ng Natura| and Unpretennous (2|ran &'),
be|ng Aecnonate, that |s emonona||y engag|ng (ou |ng ()) and
be|ng 1|me|y (ne Sh| *+) = Good Ieng Shu|.
A garden that |s phys|ca||y, emonona||y and Sp|r|tua||y up-||h|ng.
6 slmple ways Lo make a modern Chlnese garden
1) ConLrasL Lhe prlnclple wlLh Lhe subordlnaLe.
2) ConLrasL Lhe sLauonary wlLh Lhe movlng.
3) ConLrasL Lhe looklng-ln wlLh Lhe opposlLe vlews.
4) ConLrasL Lhe subsLanual wlLh Lhe lnsubsLanual.
3) 1he essence ls ln Lhe empLy and noL ln Lhe solld.
6) Comlng LogeLher of space and ume ln human percepuon.
1) ConLrasL Lhe prlnclpal wlLh Lhe subordlnaLe.
1) konLrasL nadrzednego z podporzadkowanym
A clear focal polnL ln Lhe Summer alace, 8el[lng
2) ConLrasL Lhe sLauonary wlLh Lhe movlng.
MovemenL ln sullness - Suzhou Llngerlng Carden
3) ConLrasL Lhe Looklng-ln wlLh Lhe opposlLe
vlews
A framed vlew from Lhe Llngerlng Carden ln Suzhou
4) ConLrasL Lhe subsLanual wlLh Lhe
lnsubsLanual.
Pumble AdmlnlsLraLor's Carden - Suzhou
3) 1he essence ls ln Lhe empLy and noL ln Lhe
solld.
lmperlal Summer alace ln Chengde
6) Comlng LogeLher of space and ume ln human
movemenL and percepuon.
Llon's Crove Carden - Suzhou
LlghL Lhlngs Lo conslder when deslgnlng a
garden:
1) Slze of a garden
2) urpose for a garden
3) Lxlsung aLmosphere and characLers
4) San Cal (Peaven, LarLh and Puman) analysls
3) Pow Lo Lake advanLage of Lhe good and avold Lhe bad
6) Pow Lo creaLe yln and yang conLrasL of all klnds
7) 8especL naLure and re-creaLe naLure
8) 8elng Wuwel (go wlLh Lhe ow) and Zlran (belng lLself)
1he clever use of waLer ln Chlnese gardens
A checkllsL of garden Lechnlques Lo sumulaLe
your lmaglnauon:
lnLernal and exLernal orlenLauons
rlnclpal and subordlnaLes wlLh a maln polnL of lnLeresL
Spaual conLrasL
Clear gulde and subLle hlnLs
8hyLhmlc zlgzag and meanderlng
Plgh and low aL random
lnlLraung and layerlng
CpposlLe and burrowed vlews
LarLh and rocks plled up
ManagemenL of waLer
ueploymenL of owers and Lrees.
1wo garden samples from our work le
upgradlng of Lhe Chlnese Carden aL uarllng
Pabour Sydney AusLralla
A farmhouse garden ln Perzfelde
near 8erlln Cermany
Chinese Garden - An exercise in minimal interference
Cur farmhouse garden ln Perzfelde, Cermany
An exerclse ln !u Clng ,) (gaLherlng aecuons)
Before
After
Before
After
8efore - Cnly ow, no conLalnmenL
Aer - lleld sLone wall and umber pavlllons Lo
assemble Lhe Sheng Cl ln Lhe garden
1lmber pavlllon Lo make a blg space feel small
App|y|ng Ieng Shu|
pr|nc|p|es to pracnce:
8enovaung a 230
years old farm house
ln Perzfelde Cermany
uslng leng Shul wlLh
naLural maLerlals and
Chlnese garden deslgn
prlnclples, so lL ls noL
only praucally emclenL
buL emouonally
engaglng.
Wu Wel ./:
..noL Lo nd a new
and exouc perfume
for her buL Lo leL her
orlglnal scenL come
Lhrough boLh
lnLernally and
exLernally."
Thank you for listening.