Yuanye 園冶

Yuanye 園冶, sometimes wrongly written Yuanzhi 園治, is a book on garden architecture written during the late Ming period 明 (1368-1644) by Ji Cheng 計成 (1582–1642), courtesy name Wupi 無否 (Wufou), style Pidaoren 否道人 (Foudaoren) from Songling 松陵 (today's Wujiang 吳江, Jiangsu). The original title of the book was Yuanmu 園牧 "The overseer of garden [construction]", yet because the term mu was more appropriate for governance, it was suggested to the author to rename it Yuanye, literally “The moulding of gardens”, comparing landscape architecture with the production of metal or ceramic objects.

The book of 3 juan length was published in 1631. It comprehensively discusses the principles and specific techniques of constructing residential gardens and villas. It reflects the achievements of ancient Chinese garden design, summarizes the experiences in garden-making, and is an essential work for studying ancient Chinese gardens. The text consists of two parts, the first one dealing with construction and buildings, and the second one on the gardens. The latter is further divided into ten parts: Site selection (Xiangdi 相地), foundation laying (Liji 立基, i.e. the overall layout), buildings (Wuyu 屋宇), decorations (Zuangzhe 裝折), gates and windows (Menchuang 門窗), walls (Qiangyuan 墻垣), ground paving (Pudi 鋪地), arrangement of rockeries (Duoshan 掇山), selection of bizarre stones (Xuanshi 選石), and the "borrowing of scenery" (Jiejing 借景) to achieve special effects. The entire book comprises 235 illustrations.

The author emphasises that the characteristic of garden construction is to adapt to local conditions and arrange elements flexibly. Throughout the design and building process, the guiding principle of skillfully adapting to and borrowing from the environment, with precision in fitting the context should be followed. Ji Cheng therefore concludes that "even if gardens are made by man, they should appear as if naturally formed by Heaven" (sui you ren zuo, yuan zi tian kai 雖由人作，宛自天開).

The section on buildings highlights the differences between garden buildings and regular residential buildings, architectural styles, the close integration between garden structures and landscapes, the art of variation, and innovation. It also explains the names, meanings, and interpretations of various types of garden buildings. The layout of garden buildings is the first step in architectural design and must be mutually agreed upon by both the owner and the builder.

Images 1-4. Illustrations from the Yuanye 園冶

Asymmetrical roof construction (right) and basement of a pavilion(left).

Examples of lattice windows (right) and mural decoration (left).

The section on decoration discusses the decoration of garden buildings, including elements like folding or screen doors (pingmen 屏門), decorated ceilings (yangchen 仰塵), lattice windows (huge 戶槅), open-work shutters (fengchuang 風窗), balustrades (langan 欄桿), and other small woodwork. The author advocated a combination of straightness and curves and urges owners to make use of intricate complexity. The illustrations give examples of how to innovate and reject conventional patterns.

There are also some innovations in craftsmanship mentioned in the book, such as the "one-module petal technique" (yi liao dou ban 一料斗瓣), where small, standardised components are assembled into various patterns. Ji Cheng also introduces the construction techniques for white plaster walls (baifen qiang 白粉墻), polished brick walls (mozhuan qiang 磨磚墻), perforated brick walls (louzhuan qiang 漏磚墻) and rubble stone walls (luanshi qiang 亂石墻). With appropriate design, waste materials could be used to create intricate and charming designs and patterns, for instance, the use of old, broken tiles to plaster pathways.

For the creation of rockeries or artificial "mountain landscapes", the architect must closely study the characteristics of real mountains and waters to be able to "make the false appear real" (zuo jia cheng zhen 做假成真). Rocks were to be stacked according to texture or natural striations. Ji Cheng challenges the prevailing superstition around the exclusive use of "patterned stones" (huashi 花石) from Lake Taihu 太湖. Instead, he proposes to use a much more comprehensive range of materials which can contribute significantly to reducing costs and broadening available options for construction and design.

Ji Cheng's Yuanye is also remarkable for the high quality of the language, characterised by parallelisms, four-syllable phrases, ornate language, and a rich use of classical allusions.