Comments on: A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization

A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization

hama7 — Sat, 31 Jan 2004 15:53:59 -0800

A Visual Sourcebook of Chinese Civilization.

By: homunculus

homunculus — Sat, 31 Jan 2004 16:02:02 -0800

Nice! Thanks, hama7.

By: namespan

namespan — Sat, 31 Jan 2004 16:18:46 -0800

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.

By: weston

weston — Sat, 31 Jan 2004 18:10:23 -0800

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.

By: moonbiter

moonbiter — Sat, 31 Jan 2004 23:04:35 -0800

I agree, this is a good find. It made it into my bookmarks on history and culture.

By: Joey Michaels

Joey Michaels — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 00:16:24 -0800

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!

By: hama7

hama7 — Mon, 02 Feb 2004 05:59:09 -0800

Thanks, Joey. It's comments like yours that make it worthwhile.

By: furiousthought

furiousthought — Mon, 02 Feb 2004 09:18:00 -0800

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!

By: DenOfSizer

DenOfSizer — Mon, 02 Feb 2004 09:55:44 -0800

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.