334
BOOK REVIEWS
All in all, students should welcome this handsome book available at a reasonable price.
H. Y. SHIH
Classical Chinese Gardens, ed. Qian Yun. H.K.: Joint Publishing Co., & Beijing: Chinese Building Industry Press, 1982. 240 pp. (including 209 colour plates).
This is the most satisfying among a number of books on the same subject published in the past decade. Although the text is brief, intended for the general reader, it highlights the special aesthetic qualities of these combinations of architecture and constructed landscape, and offers a synoptic but well-founded history of various types of gardens - imperial, private, religious and scenic parks.
Several surviving examples of such gardens and parks are discussed in this book, each illustrated with a plan of its design as well as photographed views. A brief written description of its history, chief monuments and experience of the visitor while walking through or standing at various points, introduces the individual complexes. The quality of this book's reproductions is exceptional. Especially pleasing is the revelation of their views in different seasons.
Apart from the many well-known sites in Beijing, Hangzhou and Suzhou, the book includes such relatively less tourist-ridden locations as the "Magnificent Clear Lake" near Xian, and a number of private (and still occupied) residences in Beijing as well as the provinces. Temple gardens in or near a number of cities are a welcome addition as they have been less well publicized for China than for Japan, yet Chinese examples served as prototypes for many in Japan. The final entry in this section of the book is the Norbu Lingka (Treasure Garden), the former summer resort of the Dalai Lama but originally designed for the Qing Dynasty's Resident in Tibet.
Of course, it would demand a much more ambitious undertaking than the work described above, but this reviewer looks forward to a book on Chinese gardens that would offer basic information as to architectural design and construction and...
334
BOOK REVIEWS
All in all, students should welcome this handsome book available at a reasonable price.
H. Y. SHIH
Classical Chinese Gardens, ed. Qian Yun. H.K.: Joint Publishing Co., & Beijing: Chinese Building Industry Press, 1982. 240 pp. (including 209 colour plates).
This is the most satisfying among a number of books on the same subject published in the past decade. Although the text is brief, intended for the general reader, it highlights the special aesthetic qualities of these combinations of architecture and constructed landscape, and offers a synoptic but well-founded history of various types of gardens imperial, private, religious and scenic parks.
Several surviving examples of such gardens and parks are discussed in this book, each illustrated with a plan of its design as well as photographed views. A brief written description of its history, chief monuments and experience of the visitor while walking through or standing at various points, introduces the individual complexes. The quality of this book's reproductions is exceptional. Especially pleasing is the revelation of their views in different seasons.
Apart from the many well-known sites in Beijing, Hangzhou and Suzhou, the book includes such relatively less tourist-ridden locations as the "Magnificent Clear Lake" near Xian, and a number of private (and still occupied) residences in Beijing as well as the provinces. Temple gardens in or near a number of cities are a welcome addition as they have been less well publicized for China than for Japan, yet Chinese examples served as proto- types for many in Japan. The final entry in this section of the book is the Norbu Lingka (Treasure Garden), the former summer resort of the Dalai Lama but originally designed for the Qing Dynasty's Resident in Tibet.
Of course, it would demand a much more ambitious under- taking than the work described above, but this reviewer looks forward to a book on Chinese gardens that would offer basic information as to architectural design and construction and, some-
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