A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is control . The garden can incorporate both natural and artificial materials.
85-528: Gardens often have design features including statuary, follies , pergolas , trellises , stumperies , dry creek beds, and water features such as fountains , ponds (with or without fish ), waterfalls or creeks. Some gardens are for ornamental purposes only, while others also produce food crops, sometimes in separate areas, or sometimes intermixed with the ornamental plants . Food-producing gardens are distinguished from farms by their smaller scale, more labor-intensive methods, and their purpose (enjoyment of
170-632: A 2,500-year period from the age of the legendary Yellow Emperor to the reign of Emperor Wu of Han in the author's own time, and describes the world as it was known to the Chinese of the Western Han dynasty . The Shiji has been called a "foundational text in Chinese civilization". After Confucius and Qin Shi Huang , "Sima Qian was one of the creators of Imperial China, not least because by providing definitive biographies, he virtually created
255-549: A complement to home or architecture, but conceived as independent spaces, arranged to grow and display flowers and ornamental plants. Gardeners demonstrated their artistry in knot gardens , with complex arrangements most commonly included interwoven box hedges , and less commonly fragrant herbs like rosemary . Sanded paths run between the hedgings of open knots whereas closed knots were filled with single colored flowers. The knot and parterre gardens were always placed on level ground, and elevated areas reserved for terraces from which
340-482: A few significant gardens were found in Britain which were developed under the influence of the continent. Britain's homegrown domestic gardening traditions were mostly practical in purpose, rather than aesthetic, unlike the grand gardens found mostly on castle grounds, and less commonly in universities. Tudor Gardens emphasized contrast rather than transitions, distinguished by color and illusion. They were not intended as
425-478: A general term, "folly" is usually applied to a small building that appears to have no practical purpose or the purpose of which appears less important than its striking and unusual design, but the term is ultimately subjective, so a precise definition is not possible. The concept of the folly is subjective and it has been suggested that the definition of a folly "lies in the eyes of the beholder". Typical characteristics include: Follies began as decorative accents on
510-622: A hiatus of around twenty years. The changes in the manuscript of the Shiji during this hiatus have always been disputed among scholars. That the text was more or less complete by ca. 91 BC is established in the Letter to Ren An ( 報任安書 ), composed in the Zhenghe ( 征和 ) era of Emperor Wu's reign. In this letter, Sima Qian describes his work as "spanning from the time of the Yellow Emperor to
595-582: A hobby or self-sustenance rather than producing for sale, as in a market garden ). Flower gardens combine plants of different heights, colors, textures, and fragrances to create interest and delight the senses. The most common form today is a residential or public garden, but the term garden has traditionally been a more general one. Zoos , which display wild animals in simulated natural habitats, were formerly called zoological gardens. Western gardens are almost universally based on plants, with garden , which etymologically implies enclosure , often signifying
680-623: A knowledge and experience of using plants. Some professional garden designers are also landscape architects , a more formal level of training that usually requires an advanced degree and often an occupational license . Elements of garden design include the layout of hard landscape, such as paths, rockeries, walls, water features, sitting areas and decking, as well as the plants themselves, with consideration for their horticultural requirements, their season-to-season appearance, lifespan, growth habit , size, speed of growth, and combinations with other plants and landscape features. Most gardens consist of
765-612: A mixture of natural and constructed elements, although even very 'natural' gardens are always an inherently artificial creation. Natural elements present in a garden principally comprise flora (such as trees and weeds ), fauna (such as arthropods and birds), soil, water, air and light. Constructed elements include not only paths, patios , decking, sculptures, drainage systems, lights and buildings (such as sheds , gazebos , pergolas and follies ), but also living constructions such as flower beds , ponds and lawns . Garden needs of maintenance are also taken into consideration. Including
850-414: A result of Sima Qian's use of different source texts. After ca. 91 BC, the more-or-less completed manuscript was hidden in the residence of the author's daughter, Sima Ying ( 司馬英 ), to avoid destruction under Emperor Wu and his immediate successor Emperor Zhao . The Shiji was finally disseminated during the reign of Emperor Xuan by Sima Qian's grandson (through his daughter), Yang Yun ( 楊惲 ), after
935-548: A shortened form of botanical garden . Some traditional types of eastern gardens, such as Zen gardens , however, use plants sparsely or not at all. Landscape gardens, on the other hand, such as the English landscape gardens first developed in the 18th century, may omit flowers altogether. Landscape architecture is a related professional activity with landscape architects tending to engage in design at many scales and working on both public and private projects. The etymology of
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#17327723348961020-756: A small enclosed area of land, usually adjoining a building. This would be referred to as a yard in American English . A garden can have aesthetic , functional, and recreational uses: The earliest recorded Chinese gardens were created in the valley of the Yellow River , during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). These gardens were large enclosed parks where the kings and nobles hunted game, or where fruit and vegetables were grown. Early inscriptions from this period, carved on tortoise shells, have three Chinese characters for garden, you , pu and yuan . You
1105-634: A symbol for a plantation or a pomegranate tree. A famous royal garden of the late Shang dynasty was the Terrace, Pond and Park of the Spirit ( Lingtai, Lingzhao Lingyou ) built by King Wenwang west of his capital city, Yin . The park was described in the Classic of Poetry this way: Another early royal garden was Shaqui , or the Dunes of Sand , built by the last Shang ruler, King Zhou (1075–1046 BC). It
1190-482: A use which was lost later, such as hunting towers. Follies are misunderstood structures, according to The Folly Fellowship , a charity that exists to celebrate the history and splendour of these often neglected buildings. Follies ( French : fabriques ) were an important feature of the English garden and French landscape garden in the 18th century, such as Stowe and Stourhead in England and Ermenonville and
1275-547: A winding stream". Korean gardens are a type of garden described as being natural, informal, simple and unforced, seeking to merge with the natural world. They have a history that goes back more than two thousand years, but are little known in the west. The oldest records date to the Three Kingdoms period (57 BC – 668 AD) when architecture and palace gardens showed a development noted in the Korean History of
1360-530: Is also careful to balance the negative with the positive, for example, in the biography of Empress Dowager Lu which contains startling accounts of her cruelty, he points out at the end that, despite whatever her personal life may have been, her rule brought peace and prosperity to the country. Sima's family were hereditary historians to the Han emperor. Sima Qian's father Sima Tan served as Grand Historian, and Sima Qian succeeded to his position. Thus he had access to
1445-475: Is in accord with the general meaning of the French word folie ; however, another older meaning of this word is "delight" or "favourite abode". This sense included conventional, practical buildings that were thought unduly large or expensive, such as Beckford's Folly , an extremely expensive early Gothic Revival country house that collapsed under the weight of its tower in 1825, 12 years after completion. As
1530-690: Is located at Bolsover Castle in Derbyshire , but is too simple to attract much interest. During the reign of Charles II , many new Baroque style country houses were built; while in England Oliver Cromwell sought to destroy many Tudor, Jacobean and Caroline style gardens. Garden design is the process of creating plans for the layout and planting of gardens and landscapes. Gardens may be designed by garden owners themselves, or by professionals. Professional garden designers tend to be trained in principles of design and horticulture, and have
1615-475: Is not a more laborious life then is that of a good Gard'ners; but a labour full of tranquility and satisfaction; Natural and Instructive, and such as (if any) contributes to Piety and Contemplation." During the era of Enclosures , the agrarian collectivism of the feudal age was idealized in literary "fantasies of liberating regression to garden and wilderness". Following his campaign in Italy in 1495, where he saw
1700-648: Is the earliest collection of the Sanjiazhu commentaries on the Shiji ( 三家注 , literally: The Combined Annotations of the Three Experts ). In modern times, the Zhonghua Book Company in Beijing has published the book in both simplified Chinese for mass consumption and traditional Chinese for scholarly study. The 1959 (2nd ed., 1982) Sanjiazhu edition in traditional Chinese (based upon
1785-432: Is the shortest of the five Shiji sections, and contains eight chapters (23–30) on the historical evolution of ritual, music, pitch pipes , the calendar, astronomy, sacrifices, rivers and waterways, and financial administration. The "Hereditary Houses" ( shìjiā 世家 ) is the second largest of the five Shiji sections, and spans chapters 31 to 60. Within this section, the earlier chapters are very different in nature than
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#17327723348961870-499: Is unknown. It is certain that Sima Qian completed it before his death in approximately 86 BC, with one copy residing in the imperial capital of Chang'an (present-day Xi'an ) and the other copy probably being stored in Sima's home. Little is known about the Shiji ' s early reception and circulation. Several 1st-century BC authors, such as the scholar Chu Shaosun ( 褚少孫 ; fl. 32–7 BC), added interpolations to it. Ten of
1955-514: The Château de Blois . Beginning in 1528, King Francis I created new gardens at the Château de Fontainebleau , which featured fountains, parterres, a forest of pine trees brought from Provence , and the first artificial grotto in France. The Château de Chenonceau had two gardens in the new style, one created for Diane de Poitiers in 1551, and a second for Catherine de' Medici in 1560. In 1536,
2040-802: The Dunhuang manuscripts in the early 20th century, and six manuscripts preserved in Japanese temples and museums such as the Kōzan-ji temple in Kyoto and the Tōyō Bunko museum in Tokyo . Several woodblock printed editions of the Shiji survive, the earliest of which date to the Song dynasty (960–1279). The Shiji is about 526,500 Chinese characters long, making it four times longer than Thucydides ' History of
2125-640: The Great Famine in Ireland, were built as a form of poor relief , to provide employment for peasants and unemployed artisans. In English, the term began as "a popular name for any costly structure considered to have shown folly in the builder", the Oxford English Dictionary 's definition. Follies are often named after the individual who commissioned or designed the project. The connotations of silliness or madness in this definition
2210-498: The Han dynasty court during the late 2nd century BC. Sima Tan drafted plans for the ambitious work and left behind some fragments and notes that may have been incorporated into the final text. After Sima's death in 110 BC, the Shiji was continued and completed by his son and successor Sima Qian , who is generally credited as the work's author. The exact date of the Shiji 's completion
2295-600: The Shiji 's original 130 chapters were lost in the Eastern Han period (AD 25–220) and seem to have been reconstructed later. The first commentaries to the Shiji date from the Northern and Southern dynasties (420–589) and the early Tang dynasty (618–907). Most historical editions of the Shiji included the commentaries of Pei Yin ( 裴駰 , 5th century), Sima Zhen (early 8th century), and Zhang Shoujie ( 張守節 , early 8th century). The primary modern edition of
2380-497: The Shiji is the ten-volume Zhonghua Book Company edition published in 1959 (revised in 1982), which is based on an edition created in the early 1930s by the Chinese historian Gu Jiegang . Only two fragments of pre-Tang dynasty Shiji manuscripts have survived to the present, and both are held by the Ishiyama-dera temple in Ōtsu , Japan. Portions of nine Tang dynasty manuscripts survive: three fragments discovered among
2465-674: The Shiji with an account of the five rulers of supreme virtue, the Five Emperors , who modern scholars, such as those from the Doubting Antiquity School , believe to be originally local deities of the peoples of ancient China. Sima Qian sifted out elements of the supernatural and fantastic which seemed to contradict their existence as actual human monarchs, and was therefore criticized for turning myths and folklore into sober history. However, according to Joseph Needham , who wrote in 1954 on Sima Qian's accounts of
2550-580: The Three Kingdoms period, Shiji gradually began to be used exclusively to refer to Sima Qian's work. In English, the title is variously translated as Records of the Grand Historian , Historical Records , The Grand Scribe's Records , or Records of the Historian , although other titles are sometimes used. The work that became the Shiji was begun by Sima Tan , who was Grand Historian ( Tàishǐ 太史 , also translated "Grand Scribe") of
2635-458: The gardens of Versailles in France. They were usually in the form of Roman temples, ruined Gothic abbeys, or Egyptian pyramids. Painshill Park in Surrey contained almost a full set, with a large Gothic tower and various other Gothic buildings, a Roman temple, a hermit's retreat with resident hermit , a Turkish tent, a shell-encrusted water grotto and other features. In France they sometimes took
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2720-465: The "Tables" ( biǎo 表 ), which comprise one genealogical table and nine other chronological tables. They show reigns, important events, and royal lineages in table form, which Sima Qian stated that he did because "the chronologies are difficult to follow when different genealogical lines exist at the same time." Each table except the last one begins with an introduction to the period it covers. The "Treatises" ( shū 書 , sometimes called "Monographs")
2805-547: The 121st chapter, "Biographies of Scholars", he writes, "I read the Imperial Decrees that encouraged education officials." Sima Qian wrote of the problems with incomplete, fragmentary and contradictory sources. For example, he mentioned in the preface to chapter 15 that the chronicle records of the Zhou dynasty states kept in the royal archive were burnt by Qin Shi Huang because they contained criticisms and ridicule of
2890-477: The Basic Annals, but slipping negative information into other chapters, and so his work must be read as a whole to obtain full information. For example, the information that Liu Bang (later Emperor Gaozu of Han), in a desperate attempt to escape in a chase from Xiang Yu 's men, pushed his own children off his carriage to lighten it, is not given in the emperor's biography, but in the biography of Xiang Yu. He
2975-593: The Five Emperors", he writes, 余嘗西至空桐，北過涿鹿，東漸於海，南浮江淮矣，至長老皆各往往稱黃帝、堯、舜之處，風教固殊焉，總之不離古文者近是。 I myself have travelled west as far as Kongtong , north past Zhuolu , east to the sea, and in the south I have sailed the Yangtze and Huai Rivers . The elders and old men of these various lands frequently pointed out to me the places where the Yellow Emperor , Yao , and Shun had lived, and in these places
3060-540: The French gardening traditions of Andre Mollet and Jacques Boyceau , from which the latter wrote: "All things, however beautiful they may be chosen, will be defective if they are not ordered and placed in proper symmetry." A good example of the French formal style are the Tuileries gardens in Paris which were originally designed during the reign of King Henry II in the mid-sixteenth century. The gardens were redesigned into
3145-613: The Grand Historian The Shiji , often known in English as Records of the Grand Historian or The Grand Scribe's Records , is a Chinese historical text that is the first of the Twenty-Four Histories of imperial China. It was written during the late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC by the Han dynasty historian Sima Qian , building upon work begun by his father Sima Tan . The work covers
3230-741: The Isle of Wight, and parts of Beth Chatto 's garden in Essex, Sticky Wicket garden in Dorset, and the Royal Horticultural Society's gardens at Harlow Carr and Hyde Hall . Rain gardens absorb rainfall falling onto nearby hard surfaces, rather than sending it into stormwater drains. Folly In architecture , a folly is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends
3315-876: The Peloponnesian War and longer than the Old Testament . Sima Qian conceived and composed his work in self-contained units, with a good deal of repetition between them. His manuscript was written on bamboo slips with about 24 to 36 characters each, and assembled into bundles of around 30 slips. Even after the manuscript was allowed to circulate or be copied, the work would have circulated as bundles of bamboo slips or small groups. Endymion Wilkinson calculates that there were probably between 466 and 700 bundles, whose total weight would have been 88–132 pounds (40–60 kg), which would have been difficult to access and hard to transport. Later copies on silk would have been much lighter, but also expensive and rare. Until
3400-560: The People", a chapter in the Guanzi ), Shan Gao ("The Mountains Are High"), Chengma ( chariot and horses; a long section on war and economics), Qingzhong (Light and Heavy; i.e. "what is important"), and Jiufu (Nine Houses), as well as the Spring and Autumn Annals of Yanzi ." In his 64th chapter, "Biography of Sima Rangju ", the Grand Historian writes, "I have read Sima's Art of War." In
3485-499: The Qin state, and that the Qin annals were brief and incomplete. In the 13th chapter he mentioned that the chronologies and genealogies of different ancient texts "disagree and contradict each other throughout". In his 18th chapter, Sima Qian writes, "I have set down only what is certain, and in doubtful cases left a blank." Scholars have questioned the historicity of legendary kings of the ancient periods given by Sima Qian. Sima Qian began
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3570-586: The Three Kingdoms . Gardening was not recognized as an art form in Europe until the mid 16th century when it entered the political discourse, as a symbol of the concept of the "ideal republic". Evoking utopian imagery of the Garden of Eden , a time of abundance and plenty where humans didn't know hunger or the conflicts that arose from property disputes. John Evelyn wrote in the early 17th century, "there
3655-441: The accounts in the "Biographies" give profiles using anecdotes to depict morals and character, with "unforgettably lively impressions of people of many different kinds and of the age in which they lived." The "Biographies" have been popular throughout Chinese history, and have provided a large number of set phrases still used in modern Chinese. Unlike subsequent official historical texts that adopted Confucian doctrine, proclaimed
3740-789: The ancient Chinese court chronicle tradition, such as the Spring and Autumn Annals . The first five cover either periods, such as the Five Emperors , or individual dynasties, such as the Xia , Shang , and Zhou dynasties. The last seven cover individual rulers, starting with the First Emperor of Qin and progressing through the first emperors of the Han dynasty . In this section, Sima chose to also include de facto rulers of China, such as Xiang Yu and Empress Dowager Lü , while excluding rulers who never held any real power, such as Emperor Yi of Chu and Emperor Hui of Han . Chapters 13 to 22 are
3825-494: The architect Philibert de l'Orme , upon his return from Rome, created the gardens of the Château d'Anet following the Italian rules of proportion. The carefully prepared harmony of Anet, with its parterres and surfaces of water integrated with sections of greenery, became one of the earliest and most influential examples of the classic French garden. The French formal garden ( French : jardin à la française ) contrasted with
3910-430: The author in the postface, is Taishigongshu ( 太史公書 ), or Records of the Grand Historian . However, the book was also known by a variety of other titles, including Taishigongji ( 太史公記 ) and Taishigongzhuan ( 太史公傳 ) in ancient times. Eventually, Shiji ( 史記 ), or Historical Records became the most commonly used title in Chinese. This title was originally used to refer to any general historical text, although after
3995-498: The case of Wu Qian, the marquis of Bian...." (The father of Marquis Bian, Wu Rui , was named prince ( 王 ; wáng ) of Changsha for his loyalty to Gaozu .) In his chapter on the patriotic minister and poet Qu Yuan , Sima Qian writes, "I have read [Qu Yuan's works] Li Sao , Tianwen ("Heaven Asking"), Zhaohun (summoning the soul), and Ai Ying ( Lament for Ying )". In the 62nd chapter, "Biography of Guan and of Yan", he writes, "I have read Guan's Mu Min ( 牧民 - "Government of
4080-404: The chronicle recorded: "The Emperor Keikō put a few carp into a pond, and rejoiced to see them morning and evening". The following year, "The Emperor launched a double-hulled boat in the pond of Ijishi at Ihare, and went aboard with his imperial concubine, and they feasted sumptuously together". In 486, the chronicle recorded that "The Emperor Kenzō went into the garden and feasted at the edge of
4165-641: The corresponding chapters from the Hanshu . The earliest extant copy of the Shiji , handwritten, was made during the Southern and Northern Dynasties period (420–589 AD). The earliest printed edition, called Shiji jijie ( 史記集解 , literally Scribal Records, Collected Annotations ), was published during the Northern Song dynasty . Huang Shanfu 's edition, printed under the Southern Song dynasty ,
4250-1243: The death of living beings outside the garden, such as local species extinction by indiscriminate plant collectors ; and climate change caused by greenhouse gases produced by gardening. Gardeners can help to prevent climate change in many ways, including the use of trees, shrubs, ground cover plants and other perennial plants in their gardens, turning garden waste into soil organic matter instead of burning it, keeping soil and compost heaps aerated, avoiding peat, switching from power tools to hand tools or changing their garden design so that power tools are not needed, and using nitrogen-fixing plants instead of nitrogen fertiliser. Climate change will have many impacts on gardens; some studies suggest most of them will be negative. Gardens also contribute to climate change. Greenhouse gases can be produced by gardeners in many ways. The three main greenhouse gases are carbon dioxide , methane , and nitrous oxide . Gardeners produce carbon dioxide directly by overcultivating soil and destroying soil carbon , by burning garden waste on bonfires , by using power tools which burn fossil fuel or use electricity generated by fossil fuels , and by using peat . Gardeners produce methane by compacting
4335-575: The deep historical-mindedness of the Chinese—and that the Shang dynasty is perfectly acceptable. While the king names in Sima Qian's history of the Shang dynasty are supported by inscriptions on the oracle bones, there is, as yet, no archaeological corroboration of Sima Qian's history of the Xia dynasty . There are also discrepancies of fact such as dates between various portions of the work. This may be
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#17327723348964420-428: The design principles of the English landscape garden ( French : jardin à l'anglaise ) namely, to "force nature" instead of leaving it undisturbed. Typical French formal gardens had "parterres, geometrical shapes and neatly clipped topiary", in contrast to the English style of garden in which "plants and shrubs seem to grow naturally without artifice." By the mid-17th century axial symmetry had ascended to prominence in
4505-515: The desired stylistic genres, and the way the garden space will connect to the home or other structures in the surrounding areas. All of these considerations are subject to the budget limitations. Budget limitations can be addressed by a simpler garden style with fewer plants and less costly hard landscape materials, seeds rather than sod for lawns, and plants that grow quickly; alternatively, garden owners may choose to create their garden over time, area by area. Gardeners may cause environmental damage by
4590-456: The divine rights of the emperors, and degraded any failed claimant to the throne, Sima Qian's more liberal and objective prose has been renowned and followed by poets and novelists. Most volumes of Liezhuan are vivid descriptions of events and persons. Sima Qian sought out stories from those who might have closer knowledge of certain historical events, using them as sources to balance the reliability and accuracy of historical records. For instance,
4675-415: The early Han dynasty archives, edicts, and records. Sima Qian was a methodical, skeptical historian who had access to ancient books, written on bamboo and wooden slips , from before the time of the Han dynasty. Many of the sources he used did not survive. He not only used archives and imperial records, but also interviewed people and traveled around China to verify information. In his first chapter, "Annals of
4760-511: The entire work. The 69 "Biographies" chapters mostly contain biographical profiles of about 130 outstanding ancient Chinese men, ranging from the moral paragon Boyi from the end of the Shang dynasty to some of Sima Qian's near contemporaries. About 40 of the chapters are dedicated to one particular man, but some are about two related figures, while others cover small groups of figures who shared certain roles, such as assassins, caring officials, or Confucian scholars. Unlike most modern biographies,
4845-453: The first century of the Han dynasty (i.e. the 2nd century BC) correspond exactly to the relevant chapters from the Book of Han ( Hanshu ). It is unclear whether those chapters initially came from the Shiji or from the Hanshu . Researchers Yves Hervouet (1921–1999) and A. F. P. Hulsewé argued that the originals of those chapters of the Shiji were lost and they were later reconstructed using
4930-576: The first chapter, "Annals of the Five Emperors", he writes, "I have read the Spring and Autumn Annals and the Guoyu ." In his 13th chapter, "Genealogical Table of the Three Ages", Sima Qian writes, "I have read all the genealogies of the kings ( dieji 諜記 ) that exist since the time of the Yellow Emperor." In his 14th chapter, "Yearly Chronicle of the Feudal Lords", he writes, "I have read all
5015-519: The form of romantic farmhouses, mills and cottages, as in Marie Antoinette 's Hameau de la Reine at Versailles. Sometimes they were copied from landscape paintings by painters such as Claude Lorrain and Hubert Robert . Often, they had symbolic importance, illustrating the virtues of ancient Rome, or the virtues of country life. The temple of philosophy at Ermenonville, left unfinished, symbolised that knowledge would never be complete, while
5100-535: The formal French style for the Sun King Louis XIV . The gardens were ordered into symmetrical lines: long rows of elm or chestnut trees, clipped hedgerows, along with parterres, "reflect[ing] the orderly triumph of man's will over nature." The French landscape garden was influenced by the English landscape garden and gained prominence in the late eighteenth century. Before the Grand Manner era,
5185-493: The gardens and castles of Naples, King Charles VIII brought Italian craftsmen and garden designers , such as Pacello da Mercogliano , from Naples and ordered the construction of Italian-style gardens at his residence at the Château d'Amboise and at Château Gaillard, another private résidence in Amboise. His successor Henry II , who had also travelled to Italy and had met Leonardo da Vinci , created an Italian garden nearby at
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#17327723348965270-488: The great estates of the late 16th and early 17th centuries, but they flourished especially in the two centuries which followed. Many estates had ruins of monastic houses and (in Italy) Roman villas; others, lacking such buildings, constructed their own sham versions of these romantic structures. However, very few follies are completely without a practical purpose. Apart from their decorative aspect, many originally had
5355-556: The intricacy of the gardens could be viewed. Jacobean gardens were described as "a delightful confusion" by Henry Wotton in 1624. Under the influence of the Italian Renaissance , Caroline gardens began to shed some of the chaos of earlier designs, marking the beginning of a trends towards symmetrical unified designs that took the building architecture into account, and featuring an elevated terrace from which home and garden could be viewed. The only surviving Caroline garden
5440-562: The kings of the Shang dynasty (c. 1600 – c. 1050 BC): It was commonly maintained that Ssuma Chhien [Sima Qian] could not have adequate historical materials for his account of what had happened more than a thousand years earlier. One may judge of the astonishment of many, therefore, when it appeared that no less than twenty-three of the thirty rulers' names were to be clearly found on the indisputably genuine Anyang bones . It must be, therefore, that [Sima Qian] did have fairly reliable materials at his disposal—a fact which underlines once more
5525-475: The later chapters. Many of the earlier chapters are chronicle-like accounts of the leading states of the Zhou dynasty , such as the states of Qin and Lu , and two of the chapters go back as far as the Shang dynasty . The later chapters, which cover the Han dynasty, contain biographies. The "Ranked Biographies" ( lièzhuàn 列傳 , usually shortened to "Biographies") is the largest of the five Shiji sections, covering chapters 61 to 130, and accounts for 42% of
5610-487: The manners and customs seemed quite different. In general those of their accounts which do not differ from the ancient texts seem to be near to the truth. The Grand Historian used The Annals of the Five Emperors ( 五帝系諜 ) and the Classic of History as source materials to make genealogies from the time of the Yellow Emperor until that of the Gonghe regency (841–828 BC). Sima Qian often cites his sources. For example, in
5695-468: The material on Jing Ke 's attempt at assassinating the King of Qin incorporates an eye-witness account by Xia Wuju ( 夏無且 ), a physician to the king of Qin who happened to be attending the diplomatic ceremony for Jing Ke, and this account was passed on to Sima Qian by those who knew Xia. It has been observed that the diplomatic Sima Qian has a way of accentuating the positive in his treatment of rulers in
5780-422: The names of a total of fifteen scholars supposed to have added material to the Shiji during the period after the death of Sima Qian. Only the additions by Chu Shaosun ( 褚少孫 , c. 105 – c. 30 BC) are clearly indicated by adding "Mr Chu said," (Chu xiansheng yue, 褚先生曰 ). Already in the first century AD, Ban Biao and Ban Gu claimed that ten chapters in Shiji were lacking. A large number of chapters dealing with
5865-466: The needy for work on useful projects would deprive existing workers of their jobs. Thus, construction projects termed "famine follies" came to be built. These included roads in the middle of nowhere, between two seemingly random points, screen and estate walls, piers in the middle of bogs, etc. Follies are found worldwide, but they are particularly abundant in Great Britain . Records of
5950-604: The park in the Vana-krida chapter. Shilparatna , a text from the sixteenth century, states that flower gardens or public parks should be located in the northern portion of a town. The earliest recorded Japanese gardens were the pleasure gardens of the Emperors and nobles. They were mentioned in several brief passages of the Nihon Shoki , the first chronicle of Japanese history, published in 720 CE. In spring 74 CE,
6035-436: The present age and consisting of ten tables, twelve basic annals, eight treatises, thirty chapters on hereditary houses, and seventy biographies, together totaling 130 chapters." These numbers are likewise given in the postface to Shiji . After his death (presumably only a few years later), few people had the opportunity to see the whole work. However, various additions were still made to it. The historian Liu Zhiji reported
6120-532: The range of usual garden buildings. Eighteenth-century English landscape gardening and French landscape gardening often featured mock Roman temples , symbolising classical virtues. Other 18th-century garden follies imitated Chinese temples , Egyptian pyramids , ruined medieval castles or abbeys , or Tatar tents, to represent different continents or historical eras. Sometimes they represented rustic villages, mills and cottages, to symbolise rural virtues. Many follies, particularly during times of famine, such as
6205-401: The roasted meat from the trees. Later Chinese philosophers and historians cited this garden as an example of decadence and bad taste. During the Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC), in 535 BC, the Terrace of Shanghua , with lavishly decorated palaces, was built by King Jing of the Zhou dynasty . In 505 BC, an even more elaborate garden, the Terrace of Gusu , was begun. It was located on
6290-573: The royal annals ( chunqiu li pudie 春秋曆譜諜 ) up until the time of King Li of Zhou ." In his 15th chapter, "Yearly Chronicle of the Six States", he writes, "I have read the Annals of Qin ( qin ji 秦記 ), and they say that the Quanrong [a barbarian tribe] defeated King You of Zhou [ca 771 BC]." In the 19th chapter, he writes, "I have occasion to read over the records of enfeoffment and come to
6375-513: The side of a mountain, and included a series of terraces connected by galleries, along with a lake where boats in the form of blue dragons navigated. From the highest terrace, a view extended as far as Lake Tai , the Great Lake. Manasollasa is a twelfth century Sanskrit text that offers details on garden design and a variety of other subjects. Both public parks and woodland gardens are described, with about 40 types of trees recommended for
6460-448: The soil and making it anaerobic, and by allowing their compost heaps to become compacted and anaerobic. Gardeners produce nitrous oxide by applying excess nitrogen fertiliser when plants are not actively growing so that the nitrogen in the fertiliser is converted by soil bacteria to nitrous oxide. Some gardeners manage their gardens without using any water from outside the garden. Examples in Britain include Ventnor Botanic Garden on
6545-452: The temple of modern virtues at Stowe was deliberately ruined, to show the decay of contemporary morals. Later in the 18th century, the follies became more exotic, representing other parts of the world, including Chinese pagodas , Japanese bridges, and Tatar tents. The Great Famine of Ireland of 1845–1849 led to the building of several follies in order to provide relief to the poor without issuing unconditional handouts. However, to hire
6630-418: The time or funds available for regular maintenance, (this can affect the choices of plants regarding speed of growth) spreading or self-seeding of the plants (annual or perennial), bloom-time, and many other characteristics. Garden design can be roughly divided into two groups, formal and naturalistic gardens. The most important consideration in any garden design is how the garden will be used, followed closely by
6715-407: The two earlier figures." The Shiji set the model for all subsequent dynastic histories of China. In contrast to Western historiographical conventions, the Shiji does not treat history as "a continuous, sweeping narrative", but rather breaks it up into smaller, overlapping units dealing with famous leaders, individuals, and major topics of significance. The original title of the work, as given by
6800-531: The way they garden, or they may enhance their local environment. Damage by gardeners can include direct destruction of natural habitats when houses and gardens are created; indirect habitat destruction and damage to provide garden materials such as peat , rock for rock gardens, and by the use of tapwater to irrigate gardens; the death of living beings in the garden itself, such as the killing not only of slugs and snails but also their predators such as hedgehogs and song thrushes by metaldehyde slug killer;
6885-600: The word gardening refers to enclosure : it is from Middle English gardin , from Anglo-French gardin , jardin , of Germanic origin; akin to Old High German gard , gart , an enclosure or compound, as in Stuttgart . See Grad (Slavic settlement) for more complete etymology. The words yard , court , and Latin hortus (meaning "garden", hence horticulture and orchard), are cognates—all referring to an enclosed space. The term "garden" in British English refers to
6970-413: The work was transferred to paper many centuries later, circulation would have been difficult and piecemeal, which accounts for many of the errors and variations in the text. Sima Qian organized the chapters of the Shiji into five categories, which each comprise a section of the book. The "Basic Annals" ( běnjì 本紀 ) make up the first 12 chapters of the Shiji , and are largely similar to records from
7055-447: Was a royal garden where birds and animals were kept, while pu was a garden for plants. During the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), yuan became the character for all gardens. The old character for yuan is a small picture of a garden; it is enclosed in a square which can represent a wall, and has symbols which can represent the plan of a structure, a small square which can represent a pond, and
7140-516: Was composed of an earth terrace, or tai , which served as an observation platform in the center of a large square park. It was described in one of the early classics of Chinese literature, the Records of the Grand Historian ( Shiji ). According to the Shiji , one of the most famous features of this garden was the Wine Pool and Meat Forest (酒池肉林). A large pool, big enough for several small boats,
7225-401: Was constructed on the palace grounds, with inner linings of polished oval shaped stones from the seashore. The pool was then filled with wine. A small island was constructed in the middle of the pool, where trees were planted, which had skewers of roasted meat hanging from their branches. King Zhou and his friends and concubines drifted in their boats, drinking the wine with their hands and eating
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