China and the West

Chambers, William. Dissertation on Oriental Gardening [ID D9243]. (2)
I have often seen, in China, berceaus and arbors, not of lattice-work, as in France, but of bamboo, hazel, and elm, whose branches being interwoven at the top, formed an arch not at all displeasing to the eye, and exceedingly useful, during the heat of summer : and to render these cool retreats more agreeable, jessamine, scarlet beans, sweet-scented pease, granadillas of several sorts, nasturtiums, the convulvus major, and many other sorts of climbers, were planted round the outside, which, forcing their way through, enriched the sides and arches of the walks in a very beautiful manner.
I have likewise seen, in Chinese plantations, walks bordered with the cut yew and elm hedges, so common in most countries of Europe, which the Chinese artists sometimes admit of, for variety's sake ; but they never have the stiff appearance of our European ones : the shears are useful sparingly ; towards the top the branches are suffered to spread unmolested ; and even in the cut parts of them are seen large masses of other plants forcing their way through ; such as the sycamore, the fig, the vine, and others, whose foliage and verdure are most opposite to those of the hedge.
The dimensions both of their straight roads and walks, very according to the purposes they are designed for ; and, in some degree too, according to their length. Roads or avenues to considerable objects, are, as has been observed, generally composed of three parallel walks : that in the middle being from thirty to one hundred and fifty, or even two hundred feet wide ; those on the sides, from fifteen to forty. In their Gardens, the principal straight walks are never narrower than twenty feet ; and seldom broader than forty-five or fifty : and the smallest straight walks are at least twelve feet wide. Thirty to thirty-six feet is called a sufficient width for a length of two hundred yards ; forty to fifty for one of four hundred ; sixty for one of six hundred ; and seventy for a length of eight hundred yards : and when the extent is more than this last dimension, they do not tie themselves up to any proportion, but increase their width as much as they conveniently can ; never, however, exceeding one hundred and fifty, to two hundred feet ; which they think the utmost width that can be given, without rendering the avenue disproportionate to the trees that border it.
In the construction of roads and walks, the Chinese Gardeners are very expert, and very circumspect : they never situate them at the foot of mountains or rising grounds, without contriving drains to receive the waters descending from the heights, which are afterwards discharged by arched gulleys under the roads, into the plains below ; forming, in the rainy season, a great number of little cascades, that increase the beauty of the scenery. The roads which are designed for carriages, th3ey make as level as possible ; they give them a solid bottom, and shape them so as to throw off the rain-waters expeditiously ; they use, as much as possible, the nearest materials, to save expence ; and are very judicious in employing different soils to form mixtures, which never become either hard or slippery ; never loose in dry weather, nor deep in wet ; not easily ground into powder ; nor ever forming a rough flinty surface, difficult and painful for horses to move upon.
Their walks are either of grass, of gravel, or chippings of stone, covered with a small quantity of coarse riversand. The first sort, which are seldom used but in private Gardens, they being too liable to be spoiled in public walks, are made of the finest and clearest turf that can be found on downs and commons ; and they are kept in order, by frequent mowing, and rowling with large iron rowlers. The second sort are made of binding gravel, laid about six inches deep, upon the natural ground : if it be dry, or if swampy, upon brick rubbish, flint stones, or any other hard materials, easiest to be had : and these are also kept firm, and in great beauty, by frequent rowling. Those of stone are composed of gallets, laid about a foot thick, rammed to a firm consistence, and a regular surface ; upon which is laid a sufficient quantity of riversand, to fill up all the interstices : which done, the whole is moistened, and well rammed again.
Both in their roads and walks, they are very careful to contrive sink-stones, with proper drains and cess-pools for carrying off the waters, after violent rains : and to those that are upon descents, they never give more fall at the moss than half an inch to every foot, to prevent their being damaged by the current of the waters.
As China, even in the northern provinces, is exceedingly hot during summer, much water is employed in their Gardens. In the small ones, where the situation admits, they frequently lay the greatest part of the ground under water, leaving only some islands and rocks ; and in their large compositions, every valley has its brook or rivulet, winding round the feet of the hills, and discharging themselves into larger rivers and lakes. Their artists assert, that no Garden, particularly if it be extensive, can be perfect, that it is refreshing and grateful to the sense, in the seasons when rural scenes are most frequented ; that it is a principal source of variety, from the diversity of forms and changes of which it is susceptible ; and from the different manners in which it may be combined with other objects ; that its impressions are numerous, and uncommonly forcible ; and that, by various modifications, it enables the artist to strengthen the character of every composition ; to increase the tranquility of the quiet scene ; to give gloom to the melancholy, gaiety to the pleasing, sublimity to the great, and horror to the terrible.
They observe, that the different aquatic sports of rowing, sailing, swimming, fishing, hunting and combating, are an inexhaustible fund of amusement ; that the birds and fishes, inhabitants of the water, are highly entertaining, especially to naturalists ; and that the boats and vessels which appear upon its bosom, sometimes furiously impelled by tempests, at others gently gliding over the smooth surface, form, by their combinations, a thousand momentary varied pictures, that animate and embellish every prospect. They compare a clear lake, in a calm sunny day, to a rich piece of painting, upon which the circumambient objects are represented in the highest perfection ; and say, it is like an aperture in the world, through which you see another world, another sun, and other skies.
They also say, that the beauty of vegetable nature depends, in a great degree, upon an abundant supply of water ; which, at the same time that it produces variety and contrast in the scenery, enriches the verdure of the lawns, and gives health and vigor to the plantations.
Their lakes are made as large as the ground will admit ; some several miles in circumference : and they are so shaped, that from no single point of view all their terminations can be seen ; so that the spectator is always kept in ignorance of their extent. They intersperse in them many islands ; which serve to give intricacy to the form, to conceal the bounds, and to enrich the scenery. Some of these are very small, sufficient only to contain one or two weeping willows, birch, larch, laburnum, or some other pendant plants, whose branches hang over the water : but others are large, highly cultivated, and enriched with lawns, shrubberies, thickets, and buildings : or they are rugged, mountainous, and surrounded with rocks and shoals ; being covered with fern, high grass, and some straggling large trees, planted in the vallies : amongst which are often seen stalking along the elephant, the rhinoceros, the dromedary, the ostrich, and the giant baboon.
There are other islands, raised to a considerable height, by a sucession of terraces, communicating with each other by various flights of magnificent steps. At the angles of all these terraces, as well as upon the sides of the steps, are placed many brazen tripods, that smoke with incense ; and upon the uppermost platform is generally erected a lofty tower for astronomical observations ; an elegant temple, filled with idols ; the colossal statue of a god, or some other considerable work ; serving, at the same time, as an ornament to the Garden, and as an object to the whole country.
They also introduce in their lakes large artificial rocks, built of a particular fine coloured stone, found on the sea-coasts of China, and designed with much taste. These are pierced with many openings, through which you discover distant prospects ; and have in them caverns for the reception of crocodiles, enormous water-serpents, and other monsters ; cages for rare aquatic birds ; and grottos, with many shining apartments, adorned with marine productions, and gems of various sorts. They plant upon them all kinds of grass, creepers and shrubs which thrive on rocks, such as moss, ground-ivy, fern, stonecrop, common house-leek, and various other sorts of the sedum, crane's-bill, dwarf box, rock roses and broom ; with some trees rooted into the crevices : and they place on their summits, hermitages and idol temples, to which you ascend by many rugged, winding steps, cut in the rock.
On the borders of their lakes are seen extensive galleries, and many detached buildings, of different forms and dimensions, surrounded with plantations, sea-ports with fleets of vessels lying before them, forts with flags flying, and batteries of cannon ; also, thickets of flowering shrubs, meadows covered with cattle, corn lands, cotton and sugar plantations, orchards of various fruit-trees, and rice grounds, which project into the lakes ; leaving, in the midst of them, passages for boats : and, in some places, the borders consist of lofty woods, with creeks and rivers for the admission of vessels, whose banks are covered with high grass, reeds, and wild spreading trees, forming close gloomy arbors, under which the vessels pass. From these arbors are cut many vistoes through the woods, to distant prospects of towns, bridges, temples, and various other objects, which successively strike the eye, and fill the mind with expectation ; when suddenly a farther progress is rendered impracticable, by rocks, strong branches, and whole trees lying cross the channel ; between which the river is seen still to continue, with many islands ; whereon, and also in the water, appear the remains of antient structures, monumental inscriptions, and fragments of sculpture : which serve to give an edge to curiosity, and to render the disappointment more affecting.
Sometimes too, instead of being intercepted in your passage, the vessel, together with the whole river, are, by the impetuosity and particular direction of the current, hurried into dark caverns, overhung with woods ; whence, after having been furiously impelled for some time, you are again discharged into day-light, upon lakes encompassed with high hanging woods, rich prospects on mountains, and stately temples, dedicated to Tien-ho, and the celestial spirits.
Upon their lakes, the Chinese frequently exhibit sea-fights, processions, and ship-races ; also fire-works and illuminations : in the two last of which they are more splendid, and more expert than the Europeans. On some occasions too, not only the lakes and rivers, but all the pavilions, and every part of their Gardens, are illuminated by an incredible number of beautiful lanterns, of a thousand different shapes, intermixed with lampions, torches, fire-pots, and sky-rockets ; than which a more magnificent fight cannot be seen. Even the Girandola, and illumination of St. Peter's of the Vatican, though far the most splendid exhibitions of that sort in Europe, are trifles, when compared to these of China.
Their rivers are seldom straight, but winding, and broken into many irregular points : sometimes they are narrow, noisy and rapid ; at other times deep, broad and slow. Their banks are variegated, in imitation of nature : being, in some places, bare and gravelly ; in others, covered with woods quite to the water's edge ; now flat and adorned with flowers and shrubs ; then steep, rocky, and forming deep winding caverns, where pigeons of the wood, and water-fowl build their nests ; or rising into many little hills, covered with hanging groves ; between which are valley and glades watered by rivulets, and adorned with pleasure-houses, cottages, and rustic temples ; with flocks of sheep and goats feeding about them. The terminations of rivers the Chinese artists hide either in woods, or behind hills and buildings ; or they turn them under bridges, direct them into caverns, or lose them amongst rocks and shoals.
Both in their lakes and rivers are seen many kinds of reeds, and other aquatic plants and flowers ; serving for ornament, as well as for covert to their birds. They erect upon them mills and other hydraulic machines, wherever the situation will permit. They introduce a great many splendid vessels, built after the manner of all nations ; and keep in them all kinds of curious and beautiful water-fowl, collected from different countries.
Nor are they less various and magnificent in their bridges than in their other decorations. Some they build of wood, and compose them of rough planks, laid in a rustic manner upon large roots of trees : some are made of many trunks of trees, thrown rudely over the stream ; and fenced with decayed branches, intertwined with the convolvulus, and climbers of different forts : and some are composed of vast arches of carpentry, artfully and neatly framed together. They have also bridges of stone and marble, adorned with colonades, triumphal arches, towers, loggias, fishing pavilions, statues, bas-reliefs, brazen tripods, and porcelain vases. Some of them are upon a curve, or a serpentine plan ; others branching out into various directions : some straight, and some at the conflux of rivers or canals, triangular, quadrilateral, and circular, as the situation requires ; with pavilions at their angles, and basons of water in their centers, adorned with Jets d'eau, and fountains of many sorts.
Some of these are entire, and executed with the utmost neatness and taste ; others seem in ruins ; and others are left half finished, and surrounded with scaffolds, machines, and the whole apparatus of building.
It is natural for the reader to imagine, that all these bridges, with the pavilions, temples, palaces, and other structures, which have been occasionally described in the course of this work, and which are so abundantly scattered over the Chinese Gardens, should entirely divest them of a rural character, and give them rather the appearance of splendid cities, than scenes of cultivated vegetation. But such is the judgment with which the Chinese artists situate their structures, that they enrich and beautify particular prospects, without any detriment to the general aspect of the whole composition, in which Nature almost always appears predominant ; for though their Gardens are full of buildings, and other works of art, yet there are many points from which none of them appear : and more than two or three at a time are seldom discovered ; so artfully are they concealed in valleys, behind rocks and mountains, or amongst woods and thickets.
There are, however, for variety's sake, in most of the Chinese Gardens, particular places, consecrated to scenes of an extraneous nature ; from whence all, or the greatest part of the buildings are collected into one view, rising above each other in amphitheatrical order, spreading out to a considerable extent ; and, by their whimsical combinations, exhibiting the most magnificent confusion imaginable. Their artists knowing how powerfully contrast agitates the human mind, lose no opportunity of practising sudden transitions, or of displaying strong oppositions, as well in the nature of the objects which enter into their compositions, as in their modifications. Thus they conduct you from limited prospects to extensive views ; from places of horror to scenes of delight ; from lakes and rivers to woods and lawns ; and from the simplest arrangements of nature, to the most complicated productions of art. To Dull and gloomy colours, they oppose such as are brilliant ; and to light, they oppose darkness : rendering, by these means, their productions not only distinct in the parts, but also uncommonly striking in their total effect.
The cascades of the Chinese, which are always introduced, where the ground admits, and where the supply of water is sufficient, are sometimes regular, like those of Marli, Frescati and Tivoli ; but more frequently they are rude, like the falls of Trolhetta and the Nile. In one place a whole river is precipitated from the summit of the mountain, into the vallies beneath ; where is foams and whirls amongst the rocks, till it falls down other precipices, and buries itself in the gloom of impenetrable forests. In another place the waters burst out with violence from many parts, spouting a great number of cascades, in different directions ; which, through various impediments, at last unite, and form one great expanse of water. Sometimes the view of the cascade is in a great measure intercepted by the branches which hang over it ; sometimes its passage is obstructed by trees, and heaps of enormous stones, that seem to have been brought down by the fury of the torrent ; and frequently rough wooden bridges are thrown from one rock to another, over the steepest parts of the cataract ; narrow winding paths are carried along the edges of the precipices ; and mills and huts are suspended over the waters ; the seeming dangerous situation of which, adds to the horror of the scene.
As the Chinese are so very fond of water, their Gardeners endeavor to obtain it by art, wherever it is denied by Nature. For this purpose, they have many ingenious inventions to collect water ; and many machines, of simple construction, which raise it to almost any level, at a trifling expence. They use the same method for overflowing vallies, that is practised in Europe ; by raising heads of earth or masonry at their extremities : where the soil is too porous to hold water, they clay the bottom, in the same manner that we do to make it tight : and in order to prevent the inconveniences arising from stagnant waters, they always contrive a considerable discharge to procure motion, even where the supply is scanty ; which is done by conveying the discharged water back, through subterraneous drains, into reservoirs ; whence it is again raised into the lake or river, by means of pumps, and other machines, proper for that purpose. They always give a considerable depth to their waters, at least five or six feet, to prevent the rising of scum, and the floating of weeds upon the surface ; and they are always provided with swans, and such other birds as feed on weeds, to keep them under.
In overflowing their grounds, and also in draining them, they take all possible care not to kill many of their old trees, either by over moistening their roots, or draining them too much ; saying, that the loss of a fine old plant is irreparable ; that it impairs the beauty of the adjacent plantations ; and often likewise destroys the effect of the scenery, from many distant points of view : an in shaping their grounds, they are, for the same reason, equally cautious with regard to the old plantations ; carefully observing never to bury the stems, nor to expose the roots of any trees which they mean to preserve.
In their plantations, the Chinese artists do not, as is the practice of some European Gardeners, plant indiscriminately every thing that comes in their way ; nor do they ignorantly imagine that the whole perfection of plantations consists in the variety of the trees and shrubs of which they are composed : on the contrary, their practice is guided by many rules, founded on reason and long observation, from which they seldom or ever deviate.
"Many trees, shrubs and flowers", sayeth Li-Tsong, a Chinese author of great antiquity, "thrive best in low moist situations ; many on hills and mountains : some require a rich soil ; but other will grow on clay, in sand, or even upon rocks ; and in the water : to some a sunny exposition is necessary ; but for others the shade is preferable. There are plants which thrive best in exposed situations ; but, in general, shelter is requisite. The skilful Gardener, to whom study and experience have taught these qualities, carefully attends to them in his operations ; knowing that thereon depend the health and growth of his plants ; and consequently the beauty of his plantations".
In China, as in Europe, the usual times of planting are the autumn and the spring ; some things answering best when planted in the first, and some in the last of these seasons. Their Gardeners avoid planting, whenever the grounds are so moist as to endanger the rotting of the roots ; or when the frosts are so near as to pinch the plants, before they have recovered the shock of transplantation ; or when the earth and air are too dry to afford nurture to them ; or when the weather is so tempestuous as to shake or overturn them, whilst loose and unrooted in the ground.
They observe, that the perfection of trees for Ornamental Gardening, consists in their size ; in the beauty and variety of their forms ; in the colour and smoothness of their bark ; in the quantity, shape, and rich verdure of their foliage ; in its early appearance in the spring, and long duration in the autumn ; in the quickness of their growth ; in their hardiness to endure the extremities of heat, cold, drought and moisture ; in their making no litter, during the spring or summer, by the fall of the blossom ; and in the strength of their branches, to resist, unhurt, the violence of tempests.
They say, that the perfection of shrubs consists not only in most of the above mentioned particulars, but also in the beauty, durability, or long succession of their blossom ; and in their fair appearance before the bloom, and after it is gone.
"We are sensible", say they, "that no plant is possessed of all good qualities ; but choose such as have the fewest faults ; and avoid all the exotics, that vegetate with difficulty in our climate ; for though they may be rare, they cannot be beautiful, being always in a sickly state : have, if you please, hot-houses and cool-houses, for plants of every region, to satisfy the curiosity of botanists ; but they are mere infirmaries : the plants which they contain, are valetudinarians, divested of beauty and vigor ; which only exist by the power of medicine, and by dint of good nursing".
The excessive variety of which some European Gardeners are so fond in their plantations, the Chinese artists blame, observing, that a great diversity of colours, foliage, and direction of branches, must create confusion, and destroy all the masses upon which effect and grandeur depend : they observe too, that it is unnatural ; for, as in Nature most plants sow their own feeds, whole forests are generally composed of the same sort of trees. They admit, however, of a moderate variety ; but are by no means promiscuous in the choice of their plants ; attending, with great care, to the colour, form, and foliage of each ; and only mixing together such as harmonize and assemble agreeably.
They say that some trees are only proper for thickets ; others only fit so be employed singly ; and others equally adapted to both these situations. The mountain-cedar, the spruce and silver firs, and all others whose branches have an horizontal direction, they hold improper for thickets ; because their branches indent into each other ; and likewise cut disagreeably upon the plants which back them. They never mix these horizontal branched trees with the cypress, the oriental arbor vitae, or other upright ones ; nor with the larix, the weeping willow, the birch, the laburnum, or others of a pendant nature ; saying, that the intersection of their branches forms a very unpicturesque kind of net-work : neither do they employ together the catalpha and the acacia, the yew and the willow, the plane and the sumach, nor any of such heterogeneous sorts ; but on the contrary, they assemble in their large woods, the oak, the elm, the beech, the tulip, the sycamore, maple and plane, the Indian chesnut and western walnut, the arbeal, the lime, and all whose luxuriant foliages hide the direction of their branches ; and growing in globular masses, assemble well together ; forming, by the harmonious combination of their tints, one grand mass of rich verdure.
In their smaller plantations, they employ trees of a smaller growth, but of the same concordant sorts ; bordering them with Persian lilacks, gelder-roses, seringas, coronillas or sennas of various sorts, flowering rasberries, yellow jessamine, hypericum or St. John's wort, the spiraea frutex, altheas, roses, and other flowering shrubs ; intermixed with flowers and with the padus of various species, elder, mountain ash, acacia, double blossomed thorn, and many other sorts of flowering trees : and wherever the ground is bare, they cover it with white, blue, purple and variegated periwinkle, the convolvulus minor, dwarf stocks, violets, primroses, and different kinds of creeping flowers ; and with strawberries, tutsen and ivy, which climbs up and covers the stems of the trees.
In their shrubberies they follow, as much as possible, the same rules ; observing farther, in some of them to plant all such shrubs as flourish at one time ; and in others, such as succeed each other : of which different methods the first is much the most brilliant ; but its duration is short ; and the appearance of the shrubbery is generally shabby, as soon as the bloom is off : they therefore seldom use it, but for scenes that are to be enjoyed at certain periods ; preferring the last, on other occasions, as being of long duration, and less unpleasing after the flowers are gone.
The Chinese Gardeners do not scatter their flowers indiscriminately about their borders, as is usual in some parts of Europe, but dispose them with great circumspection ; and, if I may be allowed the expression, paint their way very artfully along the skirts of the plantations : and in other places, where flowers are to be introduced. They reject all that are of a straggling growth, of harsh colours, and poor foliage ; choosing only such as are of some duration, grow either large, or in clusters, are of beautiful forms, well leaved, and of tints that harmonize with the greens that surround them. They avoid all sudden transitions, both with regard to dimension and colour ; rising gradually from the smallest flowers to hollioaks, peonies, sun-flowers, carnation-poppies, and others of the boldest growth ; and varying their tints, by easy gradations, from white, straw colour, purple and incarnate, to the deepest blues, and most brilliant crimsons and scarlets. They frequently blend several roots together, whose leaves and flowers unite, and compose only one rich harmonious mass ; such as the white and purple candituff, larkspurs, and mallows of various colours, double poppies, loopins, primroses, pinks and carnations ; with many others, whose forms and colours accord with each other : and the same method they use with flowering shrubs ; blending white, red, and variegated roses together ; purple and white lilacks ; yellow and white Jessamine ; altheas of various sorts ; and as many others, as they can with any propriety unite. – By these mixtures they increase considerably the variety and beauty of their compositions.
In their large plantations, the flowers generally grow in the natural ground : but in their flower-gardens, and in all other parts that are highly kept, they are in pots, buried in the ground ; which, as fast as the bloom goes off, are removed, and others are brought in their places ; so that there is a constant succession, for almost every month in the year ; and the flowers are never seen, but in the height of their beauty.
Amongst the most interesting parts of the Chinese plantations, are their open groves ; for as the women spend much of their time there, care is taken to situate them as pleasantly as possible, and to adorn them with all kinds of natural beauties.
The ground on which they are planted, is commonly uneven, yet not rugged ; wither on a plain, raised into many gentle swellings ; on the easy declivity of a mountain, commanding rich prospects ; or in vales, surrounded with woods, and watered with springs and rivulets.
Those which are in an open exposure, are generally bordered with flowery meadows, extensive corn-fields, or large lakes ; the Chinese artists observing, that the brilliancy and gaiety of these objects, form a pleasing contrast with the gloom of the grove : and when they are confined in thickets, or close planted woods, the plantation is so formed that, from every approach, some part of the grove is hid ; which opening gradually to the eye of the passenger, satisfies his curiosity by degrees.
Some of these groves are composed of evergreens, chiefly of pyramidal forms, thinly planted over the surface, with flowering shrubs scattered amongst them : others are composed of lofty spreading trees, whose foliage afford a shady retreat during the heat of the day. The plants are never crowded together ; sufficient room being left between them for sitting or walking upon the grass ; which, by reason of its shady situation, retains a constant verdure ; and, in the spring, is adorned with a great variety of early flowers, such as violets, crocus's, polianthus's and primroses ; hyacinths, cowslips, snow-drops, daffodils and daisies. Some trees of the grove are suffered to branch out from the very bottom of the stem upwards ; others, for the sake of variety, have their stems bare : but far the greater number are surrounded with rose-trees, sweet-briar, honeysuckles, scarlet beans, nasturtiums, everlasting and sweet-scented peas, double-blossomed briar, and other odoriferous shrubs, which beautify the barren parts of the plant, and perfume the air.
Sometimes too their open groves are composed of lemon, orange, citron, pompelmose, and myrtle-trees ; which, as the climate varies, either grow in the earth, or in buried tubs and pots, which are removed to green houses during the winter. They also have groves of all forts of fine formed fruit-trees ; which, when they blossom, and also when their fruit is ripe, are exceedingly beautiful : and to add to the luxuriance of these scenes, the Chinese artists plant vines of different coloured grapes near many of the trees, which climb up their stems, and afterwards hang in festoons from one tree to another.
In all their open groves are kept young broods of pheasants, partridges, pea-fowls, turkies, and all kinds of handsome domestic birds, who flock thither, at certain times of the day, to be fed : they also retain in them, by the same method, squirrels, small monkies, cokatoos, parrots, hog deer, spotted capritos, lambs, Guinea pigs ; and many other little beautiful birds and animals.
The trees which the Chinese Gardeners use in their open groves, and also for detached trees, or groups of two, three, or four together, are the mountain cedar, the spruce silver and balm of Gilead firs, the larix, the smooth stemmed or Weymouth pine, the arbor vitae, and cypress ; the weeping willow, the ash, the maple, western walnut, arbeal, tulip, acacia, oak, elm, and all others that grow in picturesque forms : and whenever they loose their natural shape, either by too quick vegetation, or other accidents, they endeavor to reduce them to an agreeable form, by lopping off their exuberances ; or by forcing them into other directions. The Indian, or horse-chesnut, the lime, and some others of a stiff, formal growth, they never use detached ; but find them, on account of their rich verdure, their blossom, and abundant foliage, very fit for thickets, woods and avenues.
They have particular plants for the dressed gay parts of the Garden ; others in their wilds and scenes of horror ; and others appropriated to monuments and ruins ; or to accompany buildings of various forts ; according as their properties fit them for these different purposes.
In planting, they are nicely attentive to the natural size of their plants ; placing such as are of humble growth in the front ; and those that are higher, gradually inwards : that all many be exposed to view at the same time. They appropriate certain plants to low moist situations ; and others to those that are dry and lofty ; strictly attending therein to Nature : for though a willow, say they, may grow upon a mountain, or an oak in a bog, yet are not these by any means natural situations for either.
When the patron is rich, they consider nothing but perfection in their plantations : but when he is poor, they have also an eye to oeconomy ; introducing such plants, trees and buildings, into their design, as are not only beautiful, but also useful. Instead of lawns, they have meadows and fields, coverd with sheep and other cattle ; or lands planted with rice and cotton, or sowed with corn, turneps, beans, pease, hemp, and other things that produce flowers, and variegated pieces of colouring. The groves are composed of all useful kinds of fruit-trees ; such as apple, pear, cherry, mulberry, plumb, apricot, fig, olive, filbert, and many others, peculiar to China.
The woods are full of timer-trees, useful for fuel and building ; which also produce chesnuts, walnuts, acorns, and other profitable fruits and feeds : and both woods and groves abound with game of all sorts.
The shrubberies consist of rose, raspberry, bramble, currant, lavender, vine and gooseberry bushes ; with barberry, alder, peach, nectarine and almond trees. All the walks are narrow, and carried under the drip of the trees, and skirts of the plantation, that they may occupy no useful ground : and of the buildings, some are barns for grain or hay ; some stables for horses and oxen ; some dairies, with their cow-houses and calf-pens ; some cottages for the husbandmen, with sheds for implements of husbandry ; some are dove-houses ; others menageries for breeding poultry ; and other stoves and green-houses, for raising early or rare fruits, vegetables and flowers : all judiciously placed, and designed with taste, though in a rustic style.
The lakes and rivers are well stored with fish and water-fowl : and all the vessels contrived for fishing, hunting, and other sports that are profitable as well as entertaining. In their borders they plant, instead of flowers, sweet herbs, celery, carrots, potatoes, strawberries, scarlet beans, nasturtiums, endive, cucumbers, melons, pineapples, and other handsome fruits and vegetables : and all the less slightly productions for the kitchen, are carefully hid behind espaliers of fruit-trees. – Thus, they say, that ever farmer may have a Garden without expence ; and that if all land-holders were men of taste, the world might be formed into one continued Garden, without difficulty.
Such is the substance of what I have hitherto collected relative to the Gardens of the Chinese. My endeavor, in the present Publication, has been to give the general outline of their style of Gardening, without entering into trifling particulars, and without enumerating many little rules of which their artists occasionally avail themselves ; being persuaded that, to men of genius, such minute discriminations are always unnecessary, and often prejudicial, as they burden the memory, and clog the imagination with superfluous restrictions.
The dispositions and different artifices mentioned in the preceding pages, are those which are chiefly practised in China, and such as best characterize their style of Gardening. But the artists of that country are so inventive, and so various in their combinations, that no two of their compositions are ever alike : they never copy nor imitate each other ; they do not even repeat their own productions ; saying, that what has once been seen, operates feebly at the second inspection ; and that whatever bears even a distant resemblance to a known object, seldom excites a new idea. The reader is therefore not o imagine that what has been related is all that exists ; on the contrary, a considerable number of other examples might have been produces : but those that have been offered, will probably be sufficient ; more especially as most of them are like certain compositions in musick, which, though simple in themselves, suggest, to a fertile imagination, and endless sucession of complicated variations.
To the generality of Europeans many of the foregoing descriptions may seem improbable ; and the execution of what has been described, in some measure impracticable : but thouse who are better acquainted with the East, know that nothing is too great for Eastern magnificence to attempt ; and there can be few impossibilities, where treasures are inexhaustible, where power is unlimited, and where munificence has no bounds.
European artists must not hope to rival Oriental splendor ; yet let them look up to the sun, and copy as much of its lustre as they can, circumstances will frequently obstruct them in their course, and they may often be prevented from soaring high : but their attention should constantly be fixed on great objects ; and their productions always demonstrate, that they knew the road to perfections, had they been enabled to proceed on the journey.
Where twining serpentine walks, scattering shrubs, digging holes to raise mole-hills, and ringing never-ceasing changes on lawns, groves and thickets, is called Gardening, it matters little who are the Gardeners ; whether a peasant or a Poussin ; whether a child in sport, or a man for hire : the meanest may do the little there is to be done, and the best could reach no farther. But wherever a better style is adopted, and Gardens are to be natural, without resemblance to vulgar Nature ; new without affectation, and extraordinary without extravagance ; where the spectator is to be amused, where his attention is constantly to be kept up, his curiosity excited, and his mind agitated by a great variety of opposite passions ; there Gardeners must be men of genius, experience and judgement ; quick in perception, rich in expedients, fertile in imagination, and thoroughly versed in all the affections of the human mind.

Sekundärliteratur
1923
Adolf Reichwein : Dieser Essai enthielt ausser der Empfehlung des chinesischen Gartens eine begründete Ablehnung des reinen Landschaftsgartens.
1950
R.C. Bald : The account of Chinese gardening was written to provide a vehicle for an extended criticism of current fashions in English gardening and linked to it was an attack on Lancelot Brown (1715-1783), the most successful landscape gardener of the day.
The principal aim of the Dissertation is not to describe Chinese gardening at all ; the book is an example of the use of the well-established literary convention by which the Chinese were endowed with all the skill and virtue Europeans did not possess, and the shortcomings of Europe were laid bare either by implications or specific comparison.
The description of pleasing scenes are based in large measure on Attiret, but most of the rest is pure invention.
Chambers completely abandoned the discreet attitude towards the Chinese. It is true that he does attempt to guard himself from criticism by such remarks as "Whether the Chinese manner of Gardening be better or worse than those now in use amongst the Europeans, I will not determine".
The copy of the second edition of the Dissertation in the library of the College of Architecture at Cornell University has four pages of manuscript, bound in at the end. They contain two letters. The first is a note from Oliver Goldsmith, the other a letter from Chambers to a Gentleman who had objected to certain parts of his Treatise on Oriental Gardening (1772) :
“… The justice of your objections to the enchanted Scenery of the Chinese I will not deny ; they would perhaps be unanswerable, but for one circumstance, which is, that these whimsical productions, make only a small part of my general plan ; in which 'great Nature' in various forms, & under various modifications, always appears triumphant, as I flatter myself you will clearly perceive, upon a second reading of my litte Book, if you should ever think it worth the while… The Weymouth Pine is named in my work merely by way of explanation. I have indeed mentioned in it (as you remark) most of the plants known in Europe though few of them I confess have ever appeared upon Chinese Paper. Yet, Father Du Halde assures, that the Chinese have not only all the Vegetables know in Europe, but many other unknown tu us, & imperfect as my observations have been in that Country, they have served to convince me, That the learned Father is right. Were the Chinese to judge of our European Plants by the representation they see of them upon our Printed Linens, they would imagine that not twig of their Vegetation ever grew in Europe. Yet in our Herbals, there are many Chinese Vegetable productions, well known, & commonly cultivated amongst us…”
Chambers defended his fondness for water-works by inserting some new sentences on the effects to be gained by combining coloured glass with jets of water and a new paragraph on the management of Cascades. He also took seriously the criticism that he had only mentioned trees and plants already known in Europe, but not those indigenous to China, and tried to make up for this deficiency by introducing a large numbers of Chinese names, mostly of plants, which provided an opportunity for a rather spurious display of erudition in explanatory footnotes. The erudition was spurious, since names and explanations alike came from the pages of Du Halde.
Chambers chose a form which allowed for decoration and gave free play to his fancy. The result was that he made his ideas seem more eccentric than they really were, and rendered him unnecessarily liable to misinterpretation.
2010
Elizabeth Hope Chang : The Dissertation is a lengthy exploration of the power of aesthetic mediation to effect both an immediate visceral response and a permanent epistemological transformation in every garden visitor. Chambers establishes the important distinction between common and uncommon nature. The triple function of a garden - to render visitors simultaneously amused, curious, and attentive - indicates the responsibilities of the garden's heightened version of the natural world. The Dissertation places a high priority on conforming the garden as aesthetic object requiring physical, emotiona, and narrative interpretation. The greatest quality of the Chinese, Chambers emphasizes, is that 'they rank a perfect work in art, with the great productions of the human understanding ; and say, that its efficacy in moving the pssions, yields to that of few arts whatever'. Chamber's description of an Oriental garden offers a model of diversity within singularity that betokens the viewing experience of the modern subject, able to occupy more than one perspective at the same time. As the larger context of Chambers's work makes clear, the Chinese garden succeeds by unsettling the viewer's sense of the nearby and the faraway, the large and the small, and the simulated and the real, and so too, the relational standards by which likeness and difference can be construed.