Suzhou, near Shanghai, is among the great garden cities of the world. The city's masterpieces of classical Chinese garden design, built from the eleventh through the nineteenth centuries, attract thousands of visitors each year and continue to influence international design. In The Gardens of Suzhou, landscape architect and scholar Ron Henderson guides visitors through seventeen of these gardens. The book explores UNESCO world cultural heritage sites such as the Master of the Nets Garden, Humble Administrator's Garden, Lingering Garden, and Garden of the Peaceful Mind, as well as other lesser-known but equally significant gardens in the Suzhou region. Unlike the acclaimed religious and imperial gardens found elsewhere in Asia, Suzhou's gardens were designed by scholars and intellectuals to be domestic spaces that drew upon China's rich visual and literary tradition, embedding cultural references within the landscapes. The elements of the gardens confront the visitor: rocks, trees, and walls are pushed into the foreground to compress and compact space, as if great hands had gathered a mountainous territory of rocky cliffs, forests, and streams, then squeezed it tightly until the entire region would fit into a small city garden. Henderson's commentary opens Suzhou's gardens, with their literary and musical references, to non-Chinese visitors. Drawing on years of intimate experience and study, he combines the history and spatial organization of each garden with personal insights into their rockeries, architecture, plants, and waters. Fully illustrated with newly drawn plans, maps, and original photographs, The Gardens of Suzhou invites visitors, researchers, and designers to pause and observe astonishing works from one of the world's greatest garden design traditions.

You will gain deep insight not only into the art of gardening in China, but into its historical significance within the context of gardening and landscape design worldwide.".

The garden—a place for refined pleasure and spiritual relaxation—has its roots in ancient China. Western travelers from Marco Polo onward marveled at the intricacy, the elaborate buildings, the subtle design, and the assured use of plants, water, and natural materials in Chinese landscapes. The Great Gardens of China shows, through stunning original photography and cogent text, both the visual splendors of China’s finest gardens and explains their ideas and techniques in accessible terms. Now every gardener, architect, or designer can understand China’s garden heritage and be inspired to use it to dramatic effect. Beginning with an introduction to Chinese beliefs and the historical development of garden design, this book discusses the basic aesthetics and landscaping elements—architecture, rock stacking, waterscapes, plants, borders, and scenic routes—used in Chinese garden design. The author, an expert in the history and theory of Chinese and international gardens, also describes specific gardens, from famed world cultural heritage sites like the Summer Palace in Beijing and the gardens of Suzhou—Lion Grove, Humble Administrator’s, Lingering, and Master-of-Nets Gardens—to the lesser known. The Great Gardens of China serves as a compendium—in text and illustration—of all facets of the Chinese garden. This book allows a total immersion in the enticing art of Chinese classical gardens . . . The book has helped me greatly to understand how Chinese gardens work and how to borrow from them for our own gardens in the West. I believe that Chinese gardens will strongly influence global garden design once their unique versatility is properly understood. —Janet Wheatcroft Craigieburn Garden & Nursery, Scotland

The Splendid Chinese Garden is an illustrated guide to the classic gardens of China. It explains the history of the garden, the traditions and beliefs they represent, their aesthetic and the techniques used to create them. Also included are chapters that survey the great gardens of China, the gardens tourists love to visit and gardeners dream of seeing and exploring. Chinese Gardens in the South of the Yangtze River: Ge Garden (Yangzhou) He Yuan, also known as Jixiao Shan Zhuang (Yangzhou) Zhan Garden (Nanjing) Jichang Garden (Wuxi) Humble Administrator's Garden (Suzhou) Lingering Garden (Suzhou) Master of the Nets Garden (Suzhou) Lion Grove Garden (Suzhou) Chinese Gardens in the North of the Yangtze River: Yihe Garden or the Summer Palace (Beijing) Beihai Park (Beijing) Jingyi Garden in Xiangshan Mountain (Beijing) Imperial Garden, Palace Museum (Beijing) The Back Garden of the Prince Gong Mansion (Beijing)