Another World Lies Beyond – Creating Liu Fang Yuan, the Huntington Chinese Garden: Creating Liu Fang Yuan, the Huntington's Chinese Garden (The Huntington Library Garden Series) - Hardcover

Li, T June

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0873281756 ISBN 13: 9780873281751

Publisher: University of California Press, 2009

Synopsis

From the Lake of Reflected Fragrance to the Pavilion for Washing Away Thoughts to the Isle of Alighting Geese, this gorgeously illustrated volume explores the Huntington's Chinese Garden - Liu Fang Yuan, or the Garden of Flowing Fragrance - one of the largest such gardens outside China. With the first phase of construction completed, the garden opened to visitors in early 2008. It resembles those created in seventeenth-century Suzhou, offering awe-inspiring views and architecture and evoking an era when scholars sought quiet, intimate gardens in which to retreat, write poetry, and practice calligraphy, among many other pursuits.The contributors to "Another World Lies Beyond" discuss the challenges of constructing the garden in Southern California as well as the cultural traditions and aesthetics of Chinese garden design, especially the ways in which the plants and structures engage the imagination of visitors. Inscribed poetic couplets, literary allusions, botanical motifs, and evocative names for structures reveal layers of symbolism for exploration and interpretation. This volume's final essay describes how plants that originated in China - such as the chrysanthemum, the plum, and the camellia - have shaped that country's ancient botanical heritage and have enriched the gardens of both East and West.

About this title

About the Author

T. June Li is Curator of the Huntington's Chinese Garden.

Edition details

• Publisher: University of California Press
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0873281756
• ISBN 13: 9780873281751
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 128