28 



THE PRAISE OF GARDENS 



CHOU 



TUN-I 



Chinese 

 Writer 

 (1017-1073). 



I OVERS of flowering plants and shrubs we have had by 

 *-* scores, but T'ao Yuan-ming alone devoted himself to the 

 chrysanthemum . 



Since the opening days of the Tang dynasty, it has been 

 fashionable to admire the peony ; but my favourite is the water- 

 lily. How stainless it rises from its slimy bed ! How modestly 

 it reposes on the clear pool an emblem of purity and truth ! 

 Symmetrically perfect, its subtle perfume is wafted far and 

 wide ; while there it rests in spotless state, something to be 

 regarded reverently from a distance, and not to be profaned 

 by familiar approach. 



In my opinion, the chrysanthemum is the flower of retirement 

 and culture ; the peony, the flower of rank and wealth ; the 

 water-lily, the Lady Virtue sans pareille. 



Alas ! few have loved the chrysanthemum since T'ao Yuan- 

 ming; and none like the water-lily like myself; whereas the peony 

 is a general favourite ivith all mankind. Herbert A. Giles ; f Gems 

 of Chinese Literature? 



LIEN- 

 TSCHEN. 



HPHE art of laying out gardens consists in an endeavour to 

 * combine cheerfulness of aspect, luxuriance of growth, shade, 

 solitude and repose, in such a manner that the senses may be 

 deluded by an imitation of rural nature. Diversity, which is the 

 main advantage of free landscape, must, therefore, be sought in a 

 judicious choice of soil, an alternation of chains of hills and 

 valleys, gorges, brooks, and lakes covered with aquatic plants. 

 Symmetry is wearying, and ennui and disgust will soon be excited 

 in a garden where every part betrays constraint and art. Quoted 

 by A. von Humboldt. 



WILLIAM OF TT (Thorney Abbey) represents a very Paradise, for that in 

 P leasure and delight it resembles Heaven itself. These 

 marshes abound in trees, whose length without a knot doth 



