tieularly if they had the side hnmclies opposite or regular ; for much depends upon tliis :
■a one-sided dwarf tree is of no value in tho eyes of the Cliinese. Tho main stem was
tlien m most cases twisted in a zigzag form, which process checked tlic flow of tlio sap,
and at tlie same thno oiiconraged the production of side branches at thoso parts of the
stem whore they were most desired. When these suckers had formed roots in tlio
open ground, or kind of nursery where they wore planted, tlicy were looked over, .and
the best taken up for potting. The same principles, which I have already noticed, were
still kept in view, tho pots used being narrow and shallow, so that they held but a
small quantity of soil comp.arod with the wants of the plants, .and no more water being
given than what was barely sufflcicnt to keep them alive. Wliilst tho branches were
Ibrming they were tied down and twisted in various ways ; tlic points of the loaders
.and strong growing ones were generally nipped out, aud eveiy means were taken to
aiscoiu'age the production of young shoots whicli -were possessed of any degree of
vigour. Nature generally struggles against this treatment for a while, until her poivers
seem m a great measure exhausted, when she quietly yields to the power of ait. The
Chinese gardener, however, must be ever on the watch, for should the roots of liis iilants
get through the pots into the ground, or happen to be liberally su]iplicd -with moisture,
or siioidd the young shoots be allowed to grow in their natural position for a sliort time,
the vigour of the plant, which has so long been lost, will be restored, and tlic fairest
specimen of Chinese dwarflng dostroj-ed. Sometimes, as in the case of peach aud
Ilium trees, which are often dwarfed, the plants ave thrown into a flowering state, and
then, as they ilowcr freely year after year, they have little inclination to make vigorous
gro)vth. The plants generally used in divarfing are pines, junipers, cypresses, bamboos,
peach and phun trees, and a species of small-lcavccl elm.” (Fortune's Wandcrinqs in
China, in. 1843-4-5, p. 98.)
792. The gardens o f the Mandarins in the city o f Ning-po, Mr. Fortune ohseiwes,
from a personal inspection of them in 1845, “ arc very pretty and unique ; they contain
a choice selection of the ornamental trees and shnibs of China, and generally a considerable
number of divaif trees. Many of the latter are really curious, and afford
another example of the patience and ingenuity of this people. Some of the specimens
are only a few inches high, and yet seem hoaiy with age. Not only are they trained
to^ rein-csent old trees in miniature, but some are made to resemble the fashionable pagodas
of the country, and others different kinds of animals, amongst which the deer seems to
be the favourite. Junipers arc generally chosen for the latter piupose, as they can be
more readily bent into the desired form ; the eyes and tongue are added afterwards,
and the ^representation altogether is really good.” (Fortune’s Wanderings in China,
p. 94.) “Amongst the Mandarins’ gardens in the city of Ning-po, there is one in parti-
cuhu- which is generally visited by all strangers, and is much admired. I t is situated
near the lake in the centre of the city. The old man to whom it belongs has long
retired from trade with an independent fortune, and he now enjoys liis declining years
m the peaceful pursuits of gardening, and is passionately fond of flowers. Both his
house and garden ai'C unique in their way, but they arc most difficult to describe, and
must he seen to be appreciated. In tins part of the coimtiy the building of artificial
rockwork is so well understood, that the resemblance to nature is perfect, and it forms
a principal feature in every garden. This old gentleman has the different parts of liis
house joined together by nule-looking caverns, and what at first sight appears to be
a subterraneous passage, leading from room to room, through wliich the visiter passes to
the garden, which lies behind the house. The small courts, of which a glimpse is
caught m passing througli, are fitted up with this rockwork ; dwarf trees are planted
here and. there in various _ places, and creepers hang down naturally and gracefully
until their ends touch the little ponds of water which arc always placed in front of the
rockwork. These small places being passed, we arc again led through passages like
those ah-eady noticed, when_ the garden, with its dwarf trees, vases, rockwork, ornamental
windows, and beautiful flowering shnibs, is suddenly opened to the view. I t
must be understood, however, that all which I have now described is vciy limited in
ex te n t; but the niost is made of it by windings and glimpses througli rockwork and
arches in tlie walls, as well as by liiding the boundary with a mass of slmibs and trees.”
(Ibid., p . 99.)
793. The national taste o f the Chinese in gardening must have had something characteristic
in It, even to general observers; and, from Sir Williara Temple’s Essay,
written about the middle of the seventeenth ccntuiy, this character seems to have been
obscurely known in Europe. Ho informs us, that though he recommends regularity in
gardens, yet, there may be more beauty in such as are wholly in-egular. “ Something
of this sort, ’ he says, “ I have seen in some places, hut heard more of it from others, who
have lived much among the Chinese.” RefeiTing to their studied irregularity, ho adds,
‘ when they find this beauty in perfection, so as to hit the eye, they say it is shanawadgi;
an expression signifying fine or admu-ablc.” I t appears from tliis passage, that the
Chinese style had not only been known, but imitated in England, nearly a ccntuiy previous
to the publication of tbe Jesuits’ Letters, and at least sixty years before Kent’s
time. Sir William Temple retfred to East Sheen in 1680, and died in the year 1698,
aged 70.
G * ]M S " S L ^ e f bTso judg¥arGmV.“‘ s ir WUlTam'chambcrV avows that his inlbrmatio'n is
not derived entirely irom personal examination, but chiefly from the conversation ot a Chinese p a in te r;
/ / d U h a s beVn conjectured, that he has drawn, in some cases.on his own imagination
t e o r d e r t e S h a / S / h e reader’/o p in io n of Chinese taste, with the laudable view of improving that oi
his own country. In his essay of 1757, which was published in French as well as Lnglish, and was soon
in n s la ted IS llirschfeld informs us, into Gennan, he says, “ the Chinese taste m laying out gardens is
S o d i / d w / a t tiriie past been a im in g ^ t in England.” With the exception of the r
formkl and continual display of garden-buildings, and their attempts of raising cha rac tys, not only
nicturesaue and pleasing, b u t also of horror, surprise, and enchantment, Sir William s directions,
S S c i/ l lv in his second work, will apply to the most improved conceptions of planting, and forming
S e s of i " te i in the modern s ty l^ or, in other words, for creating scenery such as wi 1 .always
K ! !S b le mid often might be mistikeA for, that of nature. But whatever may be the merits of the
Chinese in this .art, it may reasonably be conjectured, that thcir taste for picturesque beauty is not so
exactly conformable to European ideas on that subject as Sir illiam would lead us to believe, riie ir
d S a / i v e s S s are carried to such an extreme, so encumbered with deceptions, and what we would
not hesitate to consider puerilities, and there appears throughout so little reference to utility, that the
L ! ? !L ,t e ,\ e d taste of Europeans cannot sympathise with them. Chinese nor iiesiLitLu tu wiioreixi* . . . . . . ,------^ taste is, indeed,
most mature and chastened taste of Europeans cannot sympathise
nltefTPther peculiar; but it is perfectly natural to that people, a............... . .
European criticism. Horace Walpole’s opinion of the Chinese gardens is, that they are as whimsically
iYrt ee/lOT as gardens wwperrfet ffoorrmipeerrllyv uUnniiffoorrmm aanndd uunnvvaarriieedd;; nnaattuurree mm tthheemm iiss aass mmuucchh aavvooiided
as m"hose of our ancestors.” In allusion to those of the emperor’s palace, described in ihn Leitres
EdffUxSel he says, “ this pretty gaudy scene is the work .of caprice and whim; and, when we reflect on
fi,/.i>-hiiiidinp-s presents no image but that of unsubstantial tawdriness.
T nifiu a ca rtn cii's remarks on these gardens show, that at least picturesque scenes are seen from them.
“ Í C v í e ¿ ” r i a v s ^ ^ ^ of the imperial gkrdens might be compared to th a t from the terrace
a t Lowtoer’Castle.’^ ’ This view is altogether wild and romantic, and bounded by high uncultivated
mnmit-iiiis with no other buildmgs than one or two native cottages. In what degree of estim^ion such
Tvipw'is there held does not, however, appear; it would be too much to conclude that, because it
¿ i s t ¿ in th /r s itu a ion, it had been created Af left on purpose, or was considered as erninently beautiful
! ¿ d /s i r /b l e “ It is our excellence,” observes his lordship, “ to improve nature ; th a t of a Chinese
¿ e r to fonquer herVhis aim is to change every thing from w h a t¥ e found, i t , - - a waste he adorns
with trees • a desert he waters with a river or a lak e ; and on a smooth flat are raised hills, hollowed out
HirrohteM; “ b u t thcir aim appears to have been to
im i t t a her ™lv In her irregularities. As the Chinese arc not fond of walking we rarely Imd avenues
nr hi-o-id c rav e f walks in their gardens; and their grounds, however extensive they may be, otc broken
foto a V ufotv of small scenes, each perfect in itself, but so totally unconnected with everything around
b th-it it m ieht be removed w ithout any injury being done to th e whole. Gardens of pleasure are almost
e n S S y t / X r i ^ and th e ¡ardens"^ of th e great mass of th e people resemble fields set aside
lfoorr tthn?e ccuuilituurree ooif vvueggce t_a bles.” (tHhiurssc /aipfepleda’sr sT, hpeaorrtaiek edse s oJfa rthden isg,evnoel.r ail. character of th e people, and is Chinese taste in ;he grotesque and of monstrosities i
are almost ahvays found combined with simplicity.
794 Cemeteries About Canton and Macao the high lands are very little cultivated,
hcing'gene rally set apart for burying the d e ad ; those about C.anton are entirely
occupied as cemeteries, the low grounds, which can be covered with water being the
only ones which will produce rice. {Dobell's Travels, &o.,vol. n. p. 191 ) Sometimes
however, the Chinese clioose a valley for a cemetery, as that of the Vide of l ombs
near the lake See IIoo ( fg . 224,). The Chinese bnrymg-placc near the Yclloiv Eiver
(fig 225 ) is a specimen of a cemetery on high ground. Mr. Fortune tells us that a vciy
conkderable portion of the land in tho neighbourhood of Shanghac is occupied by the
tombs of the dead. “ In all directions large conical-shaped mounds meet the eye, overgrown
with long gross, aud in some instances planted with shrubs and floweis. The
Lv cUer here, a! well as at Ning-po and Clmsan, constantly meets with coffins placed
on the surface o fth e ground out iu the fields, carefully thatched over with straw or mats
to preserve them from the weather. Sometimes, though rarely, when the relatives are
less careful than they generally are, I met with coffins broken or cram bhnj to pieces
with age exposing tho remains of the dead. I was most struck with the coffins of children
which I met with every where ; these are raised from the ground on a few wooden
post! and cai-ofully thatched over to protect them from the weather — reminding the
ta a n g c rth a t some parent, with feelings as tender and acute as his own, has been
bcrcared of a loved ono, whom he, perhaps, expected should cheer and support Inm m
his declining years, and whose remains ho now carefully watches. Those m the highei
miks of life h a v e , generally, a family burial-place at a little distance from the town,
planted with cypress and pine trees, witli a temple and altar built to hold the josses oi
idols and whore the various religious ceremonies are pcrfoimed. A m.an with his
fainiiy is stationed there to protect the place, and to burn candles and uiccnsc on
certain hinh days. Others, again, arc interred in what may be called public cemeteries,
sovoml of“wliich I met with in the vicinity of Shanghac. These arc huge buildings,
each containing a certain number of spacious halls or rooms, and having the coffins
placed in rows around tho sides.” (Fortune's China in 1843-4-5.)