Chinese gardens

Private gardens, sometimes known as yuánlín (園林, "garden grove"), flourished in the 16th-18th century as literati spaces. Some estimates indicate that by the mid-17th century, there were a total of as many as 2,000 garden houses in Suzhou, Nanjing, Yangzhou, Beijing, and Taicang.

Literati felt a strong connection to their gardens, with many taking their poetry names from the names of their gardens, or vice versa. Poetry collections and other writings were often named after one's garden, and even those who could not afford to own or maintain a garden created imaginary ones in their poetry and paintings.

Many identify the year 1820, the year garden designer Ge Yuliang (1764-1830) completed his last great work, as marking the end of this flourishing age of gardens.

References

• Chi Xiao, Chinese Garden as Lyric Enclave, Center for Chinese Studies, Univ. of Michigan (2001), 75-100.