? i
I
gardens by Père Béiioît, who went to Pekin as astronomer. The emperor was transported
witli it, and, instead of astronomer, made the reverend fiither the foiiiitainecr.
786. The gardens q f Woo-yitm are thus described in Ellis’s Journal o f an Embassy to
China, 1818 “ We stopped opposite the gardens of Woo-ynen, which, after a little
hesitation on tho part of the mandarins, we wore allowed to visit. Although now much
neglected, they were iiitcresting as a specimen of Chinese gardening. The Chinese arc
certainly good imitators of nature, and thoir piles of rocks are not liable to the same
ridicule as some modern Gothic ruins in England ; indeed, they arc works of art on so
great a scale, that they may well hear a rivalship witli tho original : the bnildiims are
spread over the ground without any attention to effect being produced by tlieir exterior,
unconnected with tlio scenery ; the object seems to be, to furnish pretexts for excursions
within the enclosure, which is so disposed as to appear more extensive than it really is.
Much labour has been expended upon the walks, which, in some places, resemble
mosaic work. These gardens wore a favourite resort of Kicn-long, whose diiiing-room
and study wore slioivn to us ; in the latter was a black marble slab, with a poem inscribed
upon it, composed by bis majesty, in praise of tho garden. The characters were particularly
well cxccntod. The trees in the gai'den wore chiefly the O'lca fràgrans and
some planes.” (Vol. i. p. 433.)
787. The Fa-tee Gardens at Canton. “ I lost no time,” observes Mr. Fortune, “ in
visiting the celebrated Fa-teo Gardens near Canton, the ‘ flowery land,’ as the name
implies, whence a great mimbcr of tliose flnc plants were first procured which now
decorate our gai-dens in England. They are situated two or thrco miles above the
city on the opposite side of the river, aud arc, in fact, Chinese nursery-gardens, where
plants arc cultivated for sale. Here, then, I beheld a specimen of the far-famed system
of Cliinesc gardening, about which wo have road so much in European authors : I will
therefore, describe them somewhat fully. Tlie plants ai'c principally kept in large pots
ai-i-auged in rows along the sides of nan-ow paved walks, with the houses of the gardeners
at tho eiitraiico through which the visiters pass to the gardens. There are about a
dozen of these gardens, more or less extensive, according to the business or wealth of the
proprietor ; but they are gonei'ally smaller than tho smallest of our London nnrseries.”
Tlicy have also stock grounds, where the different plants are planted out in the ground,
and where tho first process of dwarfing trees is put into operation. These gardens
contain largo collections of camellias, azaleas, oranges, and various other well-known
plants, which arc purdiasod by the Chinese when in flower. The most striking plant
ill antiimu is tho curious fingered citron, which the Chinese gather and place in thcir
dwellings or on their altars. I t is much admired both for its sti-angc foi-m and its
perfume. The Mandarin orange, kept in a dwarf state, is also a fiivonritc plant at
Fa-tee. I t is, however, in spring that these gardens are most beautiful from the immense
quantities of azaleas and tree poeonies tliat are groivn in them. The Cliinese
gardeners, however, pique themselves most on gi-owing the chrysanthemum, which
perhaps they manage better than any other plant. {Fortune’s China, p. 154.) The
Chinese make great preparations in procuriiig flowers to decorate thcir houses on thoir
new year’s day, and Mr. Fortune states that, on going up the river towards the Fa-
tce gardens, he met boats in great numhers, loaded with branches of peach and plum
trees in blossom, Enkianthus qiiinqucilora, camellias, cock’s-combs, magnolias, and
various other plants which flower in China at that season. “ The Enki,inthiis is brono-lit
down from the hills with the buds just expanding ; and, after being iilaccd in water for
a day or two, the flowers come out as healthy and fresh as if the branches had not been
removed from the parent tree. This plant is a great favourite amongst the Chineso.
Ih o common jonquil too comes in for a very extensive share of patronage ; and in
tlie streets of Canton one meets with thousands of bulbs growing in small pans amongst
water and a few white stones. In this case the Chinese exliibit thcir peculiar propensity
Mr dwarf and monstrous gro-wth, by planting the bulbs upside down, and making the
plants and flowers assume curious twisted forms, wMch appear to be so agi-eeablc to the
eyes of a Chinaman. Large quantities of all these flowers arc exposed for sale in many of
the shops and in the corners of the streets in Canton, where they seem to be eagerly
bought up by the Chinese, who consider them quite indispensable at this particular
season. Not only are the houses and temples decorated with them, but the boats on
the river also come in for a most extensive share. Indeed, these boats are only floating
houses, for a very gi-eat part of the population of Canton lives upon the river. The
flower-boats, as they are commonly called, are particularly gay at new-ycar time with
flowers of aU hues, a,nd gaudy flags streaming from each inast and stern. Crackers or
fireworks, of which the Chinaman is so fond, are let off iii large quantities for several
days in all parts of the town, and form part of thcir religious ceremonies or oflerings to
their gods. Their shops are closed on new year’s day, and for two or thi-ec days
attenvards. The greater part of the natives wear their holiday clothes, and tramp
about amongst their relations and friends to chin-chin them, and wish them a happy
new year, as we do at home. Large parties are made at this season to go up to the
gardens -at Fa-tce ; and on particulai* days you find there hundreds of these flower-
boats crowded with young Chinese of the better classes, enjoying themselves as om* own
population do at Richmond or Hampton Court. Great niunbers of weU-dressed ladies
also go over to Fa-tee in the flower-boats, and walk about in the gardens ; and this is
the only season when thev are visible at Canton.”
788. The houses o f the Chinese are, for the most part, only one story high, and those
of the lower orders have a mean and miserable appearance, while those of the rich have
numbers of fine, ornamented, and airy apartments, with spaces between them to admit
the light as well as the air. These spaces are always in front and at back, the light
being seldom given at the sides ; and the houses are surrounded by extensive and beautiful
gardens, adorned with artificial lakes, rocks, cascades, buildings of various descriptions,
walks, bridges, &c. In the ornamenting and beautifying of gardens the Chinese
excel’ all other nations. By means of a variety of winding walks, they make a small
place appear twice as large as it really is. Innumerable flower-pots, containing a great
variety of beautiful asters, of which they are very fond, are sometimes arranged in a labyrinth,
from which you cannot get out again without a guide. They seem to have a very
extensive assortment of asters : one species is quite white, as large as a rose, with long
pending leaves, which the Cliinese use, in the season, for salad, justly esteeming them a
very great dehcacy. When the asters are aU in full bloom, the pots an-auged liand-
somely near a piece of water, and the walks and alleys well lighted, at night, with
variously coloured lamps, a Chinese garden has the appearance of one of those enchanted
places we read of in tho Arabian talcs. (DoheWs Travels, &c., vol. ii. p. 314.)
789. A p ia n o f a Chinese garden and dwelling, executed at forty-five leagues from the
city of Fckin, was taken by Stoni-
220 berg, a gardener, who was several
ycai-s in that countiy, and is
given by Ki*aft in his Plans.
(Flans, &c., partic ii. pi. 95.) If
tliis plan (fig. 220.) is really correct,
it seems to countenance the
idea of the modern style being
taken from that of the Chinese.
The house of the mandarin, its
proprietor, contains an entrance
under a triumphant ai’ch (a),
baiTacks or offices (b), fountains
(c), entrance-gate for dignified
persons (d), vases of odours (e),
officers’ dwellings ( / ) , residences
of those in waiting (g), fountains
(/¿), residence of the proprietor (¿),
apaitments for mandarin ladies
(k), triumphal arch (/), bagnio
and room for sports (ni), a pavilion
on a rock (n), building for
the practice of archcry (o), greenhouse
(/)), pleasurc-house (9), and
a rock under which the river
passes and forms a waterfall (r).
(K ra ft, p. 70.)
790. The gardens and palace
o f Shykinqua ai’e thus described
by Mr. Main, from personal inspection,
in the years 1793 and
1794 ; and the description is
amplified, in order to convey a
general idea of Chinese landscape
gardening. These gai'dens
arc situated iu the southern suburbs
of Canton, bordering the
river. The stranger enters a vast
assemblage of buildings for
every purpose of life, of various sizes and cliaractcrs. Among these, tho seraglios
for the old as well as for the young wives of the proprietor, and the chapel, where
are deposited the ashes of his ancestors, are the most conspicuous and splendid Proceeding,
the stranger is conducted into the garden. Here no coup deal calls lor