Landscape Stone Scenery (Landscape Design Reference Collection)

Author: Qiu Weigeng, Editor-in-Chief
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2002-10-01
Features: China has numerous mountains and hills, shaped by countless orogenies and cataclysms, creating a variety of rich and mysterious rock landscapes. Our ancestors have lived in these mountainous areas for generations, content and at peace, long recognizing the importance of living in harmony with nature. Principles such as "the benevolent love mountains" and "unity between heaven and man" are countless. The Great Wall of China, the Mogao Caves in Dunhuang, the Longmen Grottoes, the Dazu Rock Carvings, and the Suzhou Gardens—each of these UNESCO-listed natural and cultural heritage sites is deeply connected to stone. In the history of world painting, the most influential is undoubtedly Chinese ink wash landscape painting, which is inseparable from stone. In Chinese literature, poems, and prose, the beauty of natural mountains and rocks is described countless times. The spiritual essence of heaven, humanity, and culture has given rise to Chinese freehand landscape gardens, achieving a harmonious unity of natural beauty, architectural beauty, artistic beauty, and literary beauty. This not only has had a profound influence on the world's architecture and gardens but also represents an outstanding contribution of Chinese culture to world culture. In traditional Chinese garden art, people have accumulated a set of theories and practices for shaping mountains and managing water, writing a glorious chapter in the history of classical gardens. However, the traditional techniques of shaping mountains and stacking rocks in Chinese classical gardens have gradually been lost, leading to the gradual erosion of the essence and spirit of the exquisite beauty of mountains, the profound depth of water, and the lushness of forests in Chinese freehand landscape gardens. After years of preparation and deliberation, we have rock landscapes, attempting to feature traditional rock landscapes as the main focus and supplemented by outstanding modern innovations, to compile this book, allowing readers to appreciate the exquisite techniques of shaping mountains and stacking rocks in China.
In nature, rocks generally exist in two distribution states: on dry land and in water. Therefore, garden rock landscapes can be divided into two major systems—dry rock landscapes and water rock landscapes. However, just as a single apple cut vertically differs from one cut horizontally, the profiles are entirely different. Dry rock landscapes and water rock landscapes are often interdependent, even when separated, they remain "cut but not broken." Moreover, garden rock landscapes are endlessly varied, so there must be a vague "gray area" between these two systems. Thus, this garden rock landscape system is merely an adaptation to nature and an inheritance of tradition, serving only as a convenient narrative framework.