A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization
January 31, 2004 3:53 PM   Subscribe

 
Nice! Thanks, hama7.
posted by homunculus at 4:02 PM on January 31, 2004


Good stuff...

"It may be useful to note that what we are calling a garden in China is somewhat different from its counterpart in western Europe or the United States. It is not an expanse of green with incidental buildings, but rather an area in which buildings surround arrangements of rocks, plants and water; without these buildings, the Chinese garden is not a garden. The architectural elements themselves are decorative and structure how one views the scenery. Good views are many and intimate in scale, in contrast with the sweeping vistas and mathematically ordered plantings of European gardens of the same period. The enclosure of the entire compound by walls or other natural barriers marks this area off as a special precinct for private enjoyment."

Enough to make a guy want to abandon I/T and go in for specialty landscaping.
posted by namespan at 4:18 PM on January 31, 2004


An interesting offline related read (think I heard about it here on Metafilter first, but I'll repeat it anyway) is Lords of the Rim by Sterling Seagrave.
posted by weston at 6:10 PM on January 31, 2004


I agree, this is a good find. It made it into my bookmarks on history and culture.
posted by moonbiter at 11:04 PM on January 31, 2004


Dude, I don't say this nearly enough, but nearly every link you've posted makes my jaw drop in some way. This one is no exception. Thank you!
posted by Joey Michaels at 12:16 AM on February 1, 2004


Thanks, Joey. It's comments like yours that make it worthwhile.
posted by hama7 at 5:59 AM on February 2, 2004


Not only is it a typically good post, but at the moment I'm working on a project that's about ancient China, and this will be an excellent reference. Thanks!
posted by furiousthought at 9:18 AM on February 2, 2004


I like the site too, but I believe on the Qing dynasty map there is a missing dotted line that should go from the northern tip of Burma, up to Chengdu, skirting the eastern edge of the Tibetan plateau to Mongolia. It was an automomous province at the time; the Manchus supported the spiritual leadership in Lhasa in order to keep the Mongolians, who followed most of Tibetan Buddhism, at bay.
posted by DenOfSizer at 9:55 AM on February 2, 2004


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