The so-called garden art refers to the use of typical images in gardens to reflect social reality and express the author's aesthetic taste, thoughts and feelings. Chinese and Western garden art form two different types due to the differences in the structure and form of Chinese and Western culture, or the philosophical foundation and ideological concepts of cultural formation. However, they are both part of the world garden culture and belong to the world garden art. This article discusses the exchange and integration of Chinese and Western garden art and the uniqueness of garden art.

1. Differences in origin and cultural background result in different styles

Chinese gardens originated from the "Yuan En" in the 11th century AD. The so-called "Yuan En" means "building walls" It is a place where animals are raised within a realm and used for human activities such as hunting, spiritual communication, seeking immortality, and production. Later, it was gradually transformed into a place mainly for recreation and viewing. Under the influence of the ideas of "Unity of Nature and Man" and "Harmony of Nature and Man", people pay more attention to the protection of the natural ecological environment such as mountains, forests, rivers and swamps, and the philosophies of "Gentlemen are more virtuous" and "Humanizing Nature" are more It directly led to people's respect for landscapes, and therefore required gardens to take nature as the aesthetic object, thus clarifying the landscape development direction of gardens and forming the overall layout of Chinese gardens that "although they are made by humans, they appear to be open from the sky". It is also often combined with poetry, painting, etc., such as couplets, inscriptions, carved beams and painted buildings, giving people the fun of blending scenes and endless reverie. The characteristic of Chinese gardens is that mountains, water, plants, and buildings are designed and laid out according to the rules of painting, giving people an implicit and elegant artistic appeal, and showing the harmonious unity and natural relationship between man and nature.

Western gardens originated from "vegetable gardens" or "medicine gardens". For the convenience of farming, a rectangular flat land is divided into a number of squares, vegetables, herbs, etc. are neatly planted in these grid-shaped borders, and shrubs or hedges are planted on this basis. This is the prototype of Western gardens. . Influenced by ancient Greek philosophical thought, people instinctively distinguish humans from nature. They like some concrete facts and express clearly what they see and hear. Herakli once said: "Thought is the greatest advantage. Wisdom lies in telling the truth, acting in accordance with nature, and listening to nature." This idea gradually developed and formed the Western culture of focusing on individuality, advocating human dignity, and emphasizing human dignity. The concept of value has led Westerners to put people above nature when dealing with the relationship between man and nature. When it comes to garden design, it is manifested in the use of regular forms as the main body and the use of regular geometric shapes to express artificial Natural, axially symmetrical, and uniform. Flowers, trees, lawns, pools, roads, sculptures, fountains and other compositional elements are designed and arranged according to architectural rules, showing the beauty of the overall artificial pattern of the garden, thus showing the relationship between man's enslavement and transformation of nature, which is characterized by its majestic The colors are bright, the patterns are exquisite, and the space is open, giving people a grand and gorgeous artistic feeling. Among them, the Italian terrace gardens of the 16th century, the French Baroque gardens of the 17th century, and the British natural style gardens of the 18th century are typical representatives of Western classical gardens.

2. The exchange and integration of Chinese and Western garden art

Chinese and Western gardens have taken their own different paths from birth, development to maturity, and have formed multiple factions, including Chinese gardens , West Asian gardens, European French classical gardens, British natural style gardens, etc. However, in their respective development processes, they did not develop in isolation from each other. Especially in the late 17th century, with the increasing exchanges between China and the West, The garden art of both sides is also undergoing mutual exchange and integration. Among them, Chinese gardens, which have a long history, have had a more profound influence on Western gardening art with their unique artistic style.

The exchange of Chinese and Western garden art can be traced back to the Silk Road in the prosperous Tang Dynasty. In the late 17th century, with the development of overseas trade, the exchange of Chinese and Western garden art developed further. At that time, a large number of European businessmen and missionaries came to China. They were refreshed by the unique style of Chinese gardens, so they introduced Chinese garden art to Europe, making many Westerners admire the beauty of Chinese palaces and gardens. . The great French writer Hugo once wrote when talking about the Old Summer Palace in China: "Art has two origins: one is ideal-from which European art is produced, and the other is fantasy-from which Oriental art is produced. The Old Summer Palace belongs to fantasy art, an almost superhuman being. Everything that the nation can imagine is gathered in the Old Summer Palace. The Old Summer Palace is the prototype of a huge fantasy. If fantasy can have a prototype, just imagine an indescribable building, a fairyland like a moon palace. It is the Old Summer Palace. If there is a splendid treasure house that embodies the greatest achievements of human imagination, it is the Old Summer Palace." It can be seen that Chinese gardens have conquered the hearts of Western artists with their natural wildness and fantasy charm. soul.

From the late 17th century to the early 19th century, Chinese gardens began to have a substantial impact on Western garden art. In 1670, Louis XIV of France built the first "blue and white porcelain palace" with Chinese flavor in Versailles, imitating the Nanjing Glazed Tower and named it "Chinese Tea House". The country most influenced by Chinese gardens is undoubtedly the United Kingdom. The British nation’s tradition of loving nature makes them better able to understand and accept the ideas of Chinese garden art. In the 18th century, with the rise of the Romantic literary movement, the yearning for Eastern art triggered a revolution in British gardens.

From 1742 to 1744, the British royal architect Chambers came to China twice, specializing in the study of Chinese architectural forms and collecting a large amount of information. After returning to China, he published "Discourse on Oriental Gardens", "China "The Art of Garden Layout" and other works. He highly admired Chinese garden art and believed that Chinese gardens "although imitating nature in every aspect, do not abandon man-made ones. Its design principle is to create a variety of landscapes to suit intellectual or emotional enjoyment." "Chinese gardens The art of designing gardens is indeed unparalleled. Europeans cannot compare with the brilliant achievements of the East in terms of art. They can only absorb as much as possible of its light and heat like facing the sun." He advocated "a more perfect garden by wisely reconciling art and nature and taking the best of both sides." In his works, he also talked about the temperament of Chinese gardens, the contrasting techniques used in Chinese gardens, the suspense and artistic conception created by Chinese gardens, and the buildings in the gardens. In 1750, Chambers used Chinese gardening techniques to design and build the first Chinese-style courtyard in the UK, "Kew Garden", for Lord Kent. He diverted water into the garden to create a natural lake with islands in the lake. He built a pavilion, and also built a 10-meter-high octagonal, ten-story Chinese-style tower and a Chinese-style hall on the shore of the lake, and named the hall "Confucius Tower". Chinese symbols were also painted in the building. "Confucius's Holy Relics" mural. This garden style, which imitated the natural layout of Chinese gardens with pools, springs, bridges, caves, rockeries, and secluded woods, was very different from the geometrically symmetrical "Lelott" gardens that were popular in England at that time. People were surprised and imitated them one after another. Under the influence of the style of Chinese gardens, the original pattern of British gardens has undergone great changes: the water body has changed from planned to natural shapes and berths. In terms of plant configuration, the original determinants and geometric shaping have been abandoned. style, paying more attention to the natural growth of plants and the diversity of varieties, paying attention to the natural configuration of garden flowers and trees, requiring scenery in all seasons, etc., thus establishing the style of British natural style gardens in the 18th century.

Influenced by Britain, some other countries on the European continent also followed suit and began to build Chinese-style pagodas and tea pavilions in their gardens. King Augustus of Poland built a Chinese-style bridge and pavilion in the Rajenk Royal Garden in Warsaw, Sweden built a Chinese-style garden hall on the outskirts of the capital Stockholm, and Germany built the "Mulan Village" in Williamsburg. An imitation Chinese-style village, Vienna even changed the decoration of a living room in Pulun to imitation Chinese-style blue and white ceramic tiles to show its love for Chinese forms. In 1774, the Frenchman Leroutte wrote the book "The English Garden" on the "Sino-British Garden" formed by the British imitating the style of Chinese gardens. In the book, he made a more detailed description of this form of garden. description and summary. Since then, the "English Garden", as a freehand style garden that is different from the Western regular layout, was once popular in the West.

While Chinese gardens went abroad to influence Western gardens, China was also influenced by the French "Lelott" style gardens from the 16th to 17th centuries. With the activities of Western missionaries in China, Western ideas, culture and material civilization began to penetrate into China's traditional culture. As a part of traditional culture, gardens were inevitably affected. In some economically and culturally developed cities, such as Macao, Guangzhou, Yangzhou, Anqing and other places, some imitation Western-style gardens have appeared successively, such as "Chengbitang" and "Shizhuju" in Yangzhou, "Five Family Gardens" in Anqing, etc. , and the "Old Summer Palace" in Beijing is the master of Chinese imitation Western-style garden architecture, and has become the best proof that Chinese gardens absorb Western garden styles and are committed to innovation and change.

The Western-style buildings of the Old Summer Palace, located in the North Scenic Area of ??Changchun Garden, were designed by Western missionaries and carefully crafted by Chinese craftsmen. It includes six Baroque buildings and three large groups of De Saint-Claude fountains. The plants in this scenic area are either trimmed into geometric shapes or made into carpet-like patterned flower beds. The overall layout adopts the symmetrical and regular layout of Western gardens, setting a clear axis, reflecting the rich Western garden style. Therefore, the Old Summer Palace, as a representative garden that integrates Chinese and Western gardening arts, is known as the "Oriental Versailles".

3. The uniqueness of Chinese and Western garden art

Due to the differences in objective historical conditions, cultural traditions, national aesthetic psychology and other aspects, China and the West not only have great differences in garden art and There are certain differences in aesthetic ideas and other aspects, and they are also different in their forms of expression, but in their essence there are many similarities.

First, as far as the subject of garden art is concerned, the so-called garden refers to the utilization and transformation of natural landscapes within a certain geographical scope, or the artificial development of landscapes, combined with the cultivation of plants and architecture. The layout is designed to form a pleasant, comfortable recreational and living environment that focuses on the pursuit of the beauty of the visual landscape. It can be seen from this definition of gardens that all gardens are designed by people, built by people and serve people. In short, gardens are artificial environments designed and created by people to meet the needs of human beings' own spiritual life and aesthetic taste. Therefore, no matter how different the forms and special types of Chinese and Western garden art are, the subject is the same, and that is "people". On the other hand, both Chinese and Westerners have the same sense of beauty.

The subtle and graceful beauty of Chinese gardens and the grand and gorgeous beauty of Western gardens can both produce strong artistic appeal. It can be seen that both Chinese and Western garden art have the same characteristics of taking "people" as the main body. Therefore, the essence of garden art should first be the art of "people".

Secondly, as far as the composition elements of gardens are concerned, although the styles of Chinese and Western garden art are very different, their compositions without exception make use of compositional elements such as plants, rocks, water bodies and buildings. The difference is only in the specific principles and methods of use. The reason why Western gardens embody geometric regularity is that they design and arrange these compositional elements according to the rules of architecture. Plants are pruned and shaped, and water bodies are regularly excavated so that they all have certain geometric shapes. In terms of architecture, it is more Pay attention to the neatness of its layout. The reason why Chinese gardens embody the natural landscape style is that they use the rules of painting to lay out these elements. Plants, rocks, and water bodies use more natural shapes and arrange them naturally, and the architectural layout is also relatively free. Random, often due to mountains and rivers, high and low, so it looks even more varied.

Thirdly, in terms of the class nature of garden art, Chinese and Western gardens have served the privileged class since their emergence, or have been owned by them. Because any gardening activity requires a lot of manpower, material and financial resources, as a luxury product, gardens in any country are subject to the economic foundation of society. Only when you have a lot of wealth and meet certain material needs, you will have the need to build gardens for spiritual sustenance and aesthetic requirements. However, the poor people who live in poverty and have no food to eat cannot talk about gardens. In the history of China and foreign countries, whether it is China's "Half Acre Garden", France's "Versailles Palace", or ancient Babylon's "Hanging Gardens", they were all enjoyed by the privileged class. Therefore, Chinese and Western garden art has been the art of aristocrats since its inception, with distinct class characteristics. However, with the development of society and the further improvement of social civilization and openness, the strict social hierarchy began to gradually fade away, and public gardens gradually took shape. The emergence of public gardens has given the working people at the bottom of society the right to enjoy gardens, and garden art has therefore transformed from aristocratic to popular. At this point, China is like this, and so are Western countries.

Fourth, as far as the artistry of garden art is concerned, "art has no national boundaries", and garden art is no exception. As a part of the world's garden culture, like literature, music, painting and other arts, it is not exclusive to a certain country or a certain nation, but a cultural treasure common to the whole world and all mankind. From the above-mentioned historical facts that Chinese garden art is highly praised and actively imitated by Westerners, and that Chinese gardens absorb and learn from the characteristics of Western garden art and make innovations and changes, we can see that the native Chinese garden art is not only rooted in the cultural soil of the West. It has taken root and bloomed, and has deeply influenced the development of Western garden art. Garden art rooted in the West has not only not been rejected by Chinese traditional culture, but has been absorbed and adopted. It can be seen from this that this exchange and integration of Chinese and Western garden art itself stems from mankind's common understanding and pursuit of art and beauty.

To sum up, the reason why Chinese and Western garden art can communicate and integrate with each other is that they have the most similarities in nature. These differences constitute the world garden art. The unique nature of art can not only be freed from the differences in different styles of garden art, but can also transcend all national, class, regional, and historical barriers and become a model for the construction of human culture and psychological structure. . It can be said that it is this unique nature of garden art that is the real reason for the exchange and integration of Chinese and Western garden art and garden culture.

As we all know, today's world has entered the "information age", and the exchange and integration of human multiculturalism has become an inevitable trend. Therefore, we should better grasp the unique nature of garden art, constantly broaden our horizons, and further promote the mutual integration and mutual tolerance of Chinese and Western garden art and garden culture on the basis of their respective national traditional cultures. Taking advantage of each other's strengths and making up for one's own shortcomings will enable garden art, an excellent global culture, to develop in the direction of a "world garden", thereby building a more perfect new garden.