With this two-part post we inaugurate the Crossroads of Cultures category of the blog. The main idea is to create a space for comparison between cultural attractions that can be found in different parts of the world, to explain them "through the eyes of" the other culture.
In the previous part, we looked at the history of European gardens, their different main styles and the elements they shared with Asian gardens. Today we are going to focus on Asian gardens and see how they differ from the cases we met.
Gardens in Asia: harmony with nature
In the first part of this theme we saw that the trajectory of gardens in Europe was relatively recent and that it had a slogan of domestication of nature and the environment.
All this has to do with a central principle of modern European culture: the centrality of the human being (anthropocentrism), superior to any other species and its environment. As we shall see, Asian gardens are an excellent example of another conception of the world, where people are integrated with the environment and humbly place themselves as one more piece in the order of nature.
Asian gardens are known for their harmony, serenity and deep symbolism. In countries such as China, Japan and Korea, these gardens reflect for example Taoist philosophy, Zen Buddhism and feng shui.
Let us now look at some common characteristics of Asian gardens that differentiate them from their European counterparts. For the sake of clarification, we will concentrate on East Asia (China, Japan, Korea); later on we will delve deeper into other areas such as Southeast Asia, India, the Middle East, etc.
Ten characteristics of Asian gardens
Types of East Asian gardens
Now you know the Asian gardens and can play at recognising the different styles when you visit! Whatever they are, they are all a beautiful stop on our travels. They are a unique window to appreciate the culture of these countries and their relationship with nature, and don't forget that you can also find examples outside Asia!
Questions for our readers:
What is your favourite East Asian garden?
Why do you like to visit monumental gardens on your travels?
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