Misplaced Pages

#550449

96-513: Multiple narratives provide conflicting accounts on the date the temple was first constructed. Some traced the history of the temple to as far back as to 1738. The general consensus is that the temple was first put up in 1820 as a simple wood and attap temple. A research study to verify details given in oral traditions published by Phua Chye Long (潘醒农) in Teo-chews in Malaya (马来亚潮侨通鉴) in 1950 found that

192-677: A French Jesuit who became court painter for the Qianlong Emperor from 1738 to 1768, described the Jade Terrace of the Isle of Immortality in the Lake of the Summer Palace: "That which is a true jewel is a rock or island...which is in the middle of this lake, on which is built a small palace, which contains one hundred rooms or salons...of a beauty and a taste which I am not able to express to you. The view

288-536: A banquet in his garden, and wrote about the event himself: I have a country house at the torrent of the Golden Valley...where there is a spring of pure water, a luxuriant wood, fruit trees, bambo, cypress, and medicinal plants. There are fields, two hundred sheep, chickens, pigs, geese and ducks...There is also a water mill, a fish pond, caves, and everything to beguile the eye and please the heart....With my literary friends, we took walks day and night, feasted, climbed

384-483: A book recording the event of the Orchid Pavilion Gathering , another famous poetry setting at a country retreat called the "Orchid Pavilion". This was a park with a meandering stream. He brought together a group of famous poets, and seated them beside the stream. Then he placed cups of wine in the stream, and let them float. If the cup stopped beside one of the poets, he was obliged to drink it and then compose

480-561: A garden with a large lake called Lanchi gong or the Lake of the Orchids . On an island in the lake he created a replica of Mount Penglai, symbolizing his search for paradise. After his death, the Qin Empire fell in 206 BC and his capital city and garden were completely destroyed, but the legend continued to inspire Chinese gardens. Some gardens have a single island with an artificial mountain representing

576-565: A glazed sheen which gives a smooth and vibrant aesthetics. The support system of the massive roof timbering is visible in Yueh Hai Ching Temple. The exposed wooden structural truss are of highly decorated elements. The carvings on the beams are engraved in many different layers, with the most dramatic being the pierced-relief carvings. This style of carving is more three-dimensional. Not only the wood carvings are exceptionally detailed, they are also decorated in gold foil and paint. Yellow

672-555: A hilltop viewing pavilion. Other lakeside pavilions were added, including a reverence hall, a recitation hall, and a special pavilion for watching the fish. Over the centuries it was much modified, but still keeps its essential plan. Another Song dynasty garden still in existence is the Master of the Nets Garden in Suzhou. It was created in 1141 by Shi Zhengzhi , Deputy Civil Service Minister of

768-656: A level never seen before, and new gardens, large and small, filled the capital city, Chang'an . The new gardens, were inspired by classical legends and poems. There were shanchi yuan , gardens with artificial mountains and ponds, inspired by the legend of the isles of immortals, and shanting yuan , gardens with replicas of mountains and small viewing houses, or pavilions. Even ordinary residences had tiny gardens in their courtyards, with terracotta mountains and small ponds. These Chinese classical gardens, or scholar's gardens ( wenren yuan ), were inspired by, and in turn inspired, classical Chinese poetry and painting. A notable example

864-573: A mountain to view the scenery, and sat by the side of the stream. This visit to the garden resulted in a famous collection of poems, Jingu Shi , or Poems of the Golden Valley , and launched a long tradition of writing poetry in and about gardens. The poet and calligrapher Wang Xizhi (307–365) wrote in his excellent calligraphy the Preface to the Poems Composed at the Orchid Pavilion introducing

960-535: A pagoda. The 16th-century Chinese writer and philosopher Ji Cheng instructed garden builders to "hide the vulgar and the common as far as the eye can see, and include the excellent and the splendid." Some early Western visitors to the imperial Chinese gardens felt they were chaotic, crowded with buildings in different styles, without any seeming order. But the Jesuit priest Jean Denis Attiret , who lived in China from 1739 and

1056-673: A poem for each scene in the garden and commissioned a famous artist, to paint scenes of the garden on the walls of his villa. After retiring from the government, he passed his time taking boat trips on the lake, playing the cithare and writing and reciting poetry. During the Tang dynasty, plant cultivation was developed to an advanced level, with many plant species being grown by means of plant introduction , domestication , transplantation , and grafting . The aesthetic properties of plants were highlighted, while numerous books on plant classification and cultivation were published. The capital, Chang'an ,

SECTION 10

#1732848572551

1152-577: A poem. The garden of the floating cup ( liubei tang ), with small pavilions and artificial winding streams, became extremely popular in both imperial and private gardens. The Orchid Pavilion inspired Emperor Yang (604–617) of the Sui dynasty to build his new imperial garden, the Garden of the West , near Hangzhou . His garden had a meandering stream for floating glasses of wine and pavilions for writing poetry. He also used

1248-461: A shrine on the same site on Philip Street with a 999-year lease. It was managed by a board of trustees consisting of 14 members. The shrine was constructed so that sailors sailing between Singapore and China during the 19th century could offer their prayers and gratitude for their safe journey. This is reflected in the temple's name, which translates as “Temple of the Calm Sea”. Philip Street was once near

1344-481: A total floor area of 1440 square meters, the Yueh Hai Ching Temple was divided into two temples, each with its own entrance. The right temple is dedicated to Xuan Tian Shang Di, otherwise known as Duo Lau Yah. The left temple is dedicated to Tian Hou Sheng Mu, otherwise known as Ma Zu. The Xuan Tian Shang Di is a god worshipped by the Taoist. It is very much respected and worshipped by the secret societies in 19th Century. Mazu

1440-652: A view of the lake and the mountains. In 1271, Kublai Khan established the Mongol -led Yuan dynasty in China. By 1279, he annihilated the last resistance of the Song dynasty and unified China under Mongol rule. He established a new capital on the site of present-day Beijing , called Dadu , the Great Capital. The most famous garden of the Yuan dynasty was Kublai Khan's summer palace and garden at Xanadu . The Venetian traveler Marco Polo

1536-782: Is a model of Chinese aesthetics, reflecting the profound philosophical thinking and pursuit of life of the Chinese people. Among them, Chengde Mountain Resort and the Summer Palace , which belong to royal gardens, and several the Classical Gardens of Suzhou in Jiangsu Province , which belong to private gardens, are also included in the World Heritage List by UNESCO . Many essential elements are used in Chinese gardens, and Moon Gate

1632-617: Is admirable... Their construction and improvement consumed a large part of the imperial treasury. Empress Dowager Cixi famously diverted money intended for the modernization of the Beiyang Fleet and used it to restore the Summer Palace and the marble teahouse in the shape of boat on Lake Kunming . Both the Summer Palace and Old Summer Palace were destroyed during the Boxer Rebellion and by punitive expeditions of European armies during

1728-650: Is associated with prosperity and good fortune. It is also associated with the ‘yang’ principle of the sun. happiness and the south. In the temple, red is used on roof purlins, trusses and doors. Green, which signifies the officials of lower rank, is associated with the water element. In the temple, green is used on roof rafters, roof tiles of the boundary walls and background colour of the plaques. Yueh Hai Ching Temple contains 19 temple plaques, 11 sets of couplets, 2 stone inscriptions, 1 bronze inscriptions, 2 bronze bells, 5 inscribed beams, 2 ceremonial placards and 1 “cloud coard” wooden chime. Four censers and one plaque are in

1824-606: Is believed to have visited Xanadu in about 1275, and described the garden this way: "Round this Palace a wall is built, inclosing a compass of 16 miles, and inside the Park there are fountains and rivers and brooks, and beautiful meadows, with all kinds of wild animals (excluding such as are of ferocious nature), which the Emperor has procured and placed there to supply food for his gerfalcons and hawks, which he keeps there in mew. Of these there are more than 200 gerfalcons alone, without reckoning

1920-768: Is built around a pond, with the Longevity Pavilion on the north side, the Fry Pavilion on the east side, a dramatic rock garden on the south, and the creator's study, the Humble House, to the west. The Qing dynasty was the last dynasty of China. The most famous gardens in China during this period were the Summer Palace and the Old Summer Palace in Beijing. Both gardens became symbols of luxury and refinement, and were widely described by European visitors. Father Attiret,

2016-517: Is fed to pigs during the dry season. This is said to impart a sweet flavour to the meat. The young leaves are dried, bleached and cut to wrap tobacco for smoking, this practice is also found in Sumatra . In Cambodia, this palm is called ចាក cha:k ; its leaves are used to cover roofs. Roof thatching with the leaves occurs in many places in Papua New Guinea. In some coastal areas, the rachis

SECTION 20

#1732848572551

2112-441: Is globular made of many seed segments, each seed has a fibrous husk covering the endosperm that allows it to float. The stalk droops as the fruits mature. When they reach that stage, the ripe seeds separate from the ball and float away on the tide, occasionally germinating while still water-borne. While only one species of Nypa now exists, N. fruticans , with a natural distribution extending from Northern Australia through

2208-437: Is one of them. A typical Chinese garden is enclosed by walls and includes one or more ponds, rock works, trees and flowers, and an assortment of halls and pavilions within the garden, connected by winding paths and zig-zag galleries. By moving from structure to structure, visitors can view a series of carefully composed scenes, unrolling like a scroll of landscape paintings. The earliest recorded Chinese gardens were created in

2304-465: Is orientated to the southeast (Figure 6), which allows it to take advantage of the southeasterly winds and sunshine to provide the people living in the halls and courtyards with a pleasant micro-climate. One of the characteristics of classical Chinese architecture is the symmetrical structuring of the plan and elevation. Yue Hai Ching Temple has asymmetrical layout. Courtyards and gardens as visual components of Chinese architecture. Upon passing through

2400-511: Is ready to be tapped when the unripe fruits are at their peak sweetness. The cluster is cut from the stalk about six inches down, and mud is rubbed on the stalk to induce sap flow. Sap begins flowing immediately if the fruit maturity was correctly gauged. A bamboo tube or a bottle is fitted over the cut stalk and the sap is collected twice daily, cutting a half centimeter slice off the end of the stalk after each collection to prevent it from gumming over. Sap flow will continue for 30 days per stalk, and

2496-534: Is still visible today. Despite the Mongol invasion, the classical Chinese scholar's garden continued to flourish in other parts of China. An excellent example was the Lion Grove Garden in Suzhou. It was built in 1342, and took its name from the collection of fantastic and grotesque assemblies of rocks, taken from Lake Tai. Some of them were said to look like the heads of lions. The Kangxi and Qianlong emperors of

2592-468: Is the symbol of earth, the property of the Emperor. As such, it is often regarded as a symbol of grandeur, power and state. In the temple, gold (instead of yellow) is used on roof trusses, brackets, eaveboards, Door Gods and he Chinese characteristics of plaques. Blue, the colour of sky, is also an Imperial colour which signifies the colour of the east. In the temple, blue is used for decorative painted patterns on beams and background colours of plaques. Red

2688-467: Is used for walls in houses, and the leaflets are used for ornaments. The epidermises of the leaves are used as cigarette papers . The young flower stalk and hard seeds are edible and provide hydration. In the Philippines and Malaysia, the inflorescence can be "tapped" to yield a sweet, edible sap collected to produce a local alcoholic beverage called tuba , bahal , or tuak . A fruit cluster

2784-405: Is worshipped as she guides ships to safety in times of peril. The Yueh Hai Ching Temple is an expression of a Taoist temple of Chinese architecture. An important feature of classical Chinese architecture is its attention to the concept of orientation, which is developed into a special branch of art called Feng Shui . Buildings invariably face south or a little to the east. Yueh Hai Ching Temple

2880-798: The Andaman and Nicobar Islands , Vietnam , Laos , Malay Peninsula , north of Singapore , all of Borneo , Java , Maluku , the Philippines, Sulawesi , Sumatra , the Bismarck Archipelago , New Guinea, the Solomon Islands , the Caroline Islands , and Australia ( Queensland and the Northern Territory ). It is reportedly naturalized in Nigeria, the Society Islands of French Polynesia ,

2976-504: The Couple's Retreat Garden (1723–1736) and the Retreat & Reflection Garden (1885), both in Suzhou. A Chinese garden was not meant to be seen all at once; the plan of a classical Chinese garden presented the visitor with a series of perfectly composed and framed glimpses of scenery; a view of a pond, or of a rock, or a grove of bamboo, a blossoming tree, or a view of a distant mountain peak or

Yueh Hai Ching Temple - Misplaced Pages Continue

3072-501: The Cretaceous through the Eocene, making its last appearance in the fossil record of North and South America in the late Eocene. Assuming the habitat of extinct Nypa is similar to that of the extant species N. fruticans , the presence of Nypa fossils may indicate monsoonal or at least seasonal rainfall regimes, and likely tropical climates. The worldwide distribution of Nypa in

3168-552: The Garden of the North ( Beiyuan ) and the Garden of the South ( Nanyuan ), both belonged to Shen Dehe , Grand Minister to Emperor Gaozong (1131–1162). The Garden of the South was a classic mountain-and-lake (shanshui) garden; it had a lake with an Island of Immortality ( Penglai dao ), on which were three great boulders from Taihu. The Garden of the South was a water garden, with five large lakes connected to Lake Tai. A terrace gave visitors

3264-527: The Humble Administrator's Garden , was a little over ten hectares in area, with one fifth of the garden occupied by the pond. But they did not have to be large. Ji Cheng built a garden for Wu Youyu, the Treasurer of Jinling , that was just under one hectare in size, and the tour of the garden was only four hundred steps long from the entrance to the last viewing point, but Wu Youyu said it contained all

3360-762: The Indonesian Archipelago and the Philippine Islands up to China, the genus Nypa once had a nearly global distribution in the Eocene (56–33.4 million years ago). Fossil mangrove palm pollen from India has been dated to 70 million years ago. Fossil fruits and seeds of Nypa have been described from the Maastrichtian and Danian sediments of the Dakhla Formation of Bir Abu Minqar, South Western Desert, Egypt . Fossilized nuts of Nypa dating to

3456-608: The Mariana Islands , Panama , and Trinidad . Japan 's Iriomote Island and its neighboring Uchibanari Island are the most northern limit of the distribution. Long-tailed macaques ( Macaca fascicularis ) are known to eat the fruits of the nipa palm. Proboscis monkeys in the Padas Damit Forest Reserve have been observed eating the inflorescences. Bornean orangutans eat nipa palm hearts and shoots. Fungal species Tirisporella beccariana has been found on

3552-663: The Qing dynasty each visited the garden several times, and used it as model for their own summer garden, the Garden of Perfect Splendor , at the Chengde Mountain Resort . In 1368, forces of the Ming dynasty , led by Zhu Yuanzhang , captured Dadu from the Mongols and overthrew the Yuan dynasty. Zhu Yuanzhang ordered the Yuan palaces in Dadu to be burned down. The most famous existing garden from

3648-556: The Spring and Autumn period (722–481 BC), in 535 BC, the Terrace of Shanghua , with lavishly decorated palaces, was built by King Jing of the Zhou dynasty . In 505 BC, an even more elaborate garden, the Terrace of Gusu , was begun. It was located on the side of a mountain, and included a series of terraces connected by galleries, along with a lake where boats in the form of blue dragons navigated. From

3744-480: The nipa palm (or simply nipa , from Malay : nipah ) or mangrove palm , is a species of palm native to the coastlines and estuarine habitats of the Indian and Pacific Oceans . It is the only palm considered adapted to the mangrove biome . The genus Nypa and the subfamily Nypoideae are monotypic taxa because this species is their only member. Unlike most palms, the nipa palm's trunk grows beneath

3840-556: The Chinese garden. There were two periods of the Song dynasty , northern and southern, and both were known for the construction of famous gardens. Emperor Huizong (1082–1135) was an accomplished painter of birds and flowers. A scholar himself, he integrated elements of the scholar garden into his grand imperial garden. His first garden, called The Basin of the Clarity of Gold , was an artificial lake surrounded by terraces and pavilions. The public

3936-580: The English romantic poet, Samuel Taylor Coleridge . When he established his new capital at Dadu, Kublai Khan enlarged the artificial lakes that had been created a century earlier by the Jurchen-led Jin dynasty, and built up the island of Oinghua, creating a striking contrast between curving banks of the lake and garden and the strict geometry of what later became the Forbidden City of Beijing. This contrast

Yueh Hai Ching Temple - Misplaced Pages Continue

4032-620: The Eocene occur in the sandbeds of Branksome, Dorset , and in London Clay on the Isle of Sheppey , Kent, England. A fossil species, N. australis , has been described from Early Eocene sediments at Macquarie Harbour on the western coast of Tasmania . Fossils of Nypa have also been recovered from throughout the New World , in North and South America , dating from at least the Maastrichtian period of

4128-418: The Eocene, especially in deposits from polar latitudes, is supporting evidence that the Eocene was a time of global warmth, prior to the formation of modern polar icecaps at the end of the Eocene. Nipa palms grow in soft mud and slow-moving tidal and river waters that bring in nutrients. They can be found as far inland as the tide can deposit the floating nuts. They are common on coasts and rivers flowing into

4224-580: The Han Dynasty is the first known garden built with the complete set of the three remaining Bohai Shenshan mountains. Since then, the Yichi Sanshan (Chinese: 一池三山 ) system of one pond with three mountains has been a main model of royal gardens. Another notable garden of the Han period was the Garden of General Liang Ji built under Emperor Shun (125–144 AD). Using a fortune amassed during his twenty years in

4320-613: The Indian and Pacific Oceans, from India to the Pacific Islands . The palm will survive occasional short-term drying of its environment. Despite the name "mangrove palm" and its prevalence in coastal areas, it is only moderately salt tolerant and suffers if exposed to pure seawater; it prefers the brackish waters of estuaries . It is considered native to China ( Hainan ), the Ryukyu Islands , Bangladesh, Indian subcontinent , Sri Lanka,

4416-549: The Ming dynasty is the Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou. It was built during the reign of the Zhengde Emperor (1506–1521) by Wang Xianchen, a minor government administrator who retired from government service and devoted himself to his garden. The garden has been much altered since it was built, but the central part has survived; a large pond full of lotus blossoms, surrounded by structures and pavilions designed as viewpoints of

4512-438: The Qing dynasty, twelve tall limestone rocks were added to the garden, symbolizing mountains. The most famous was a picturesque rock called the Auspicious Cloud-Capped Peak, which became a centerpiece of the garden. A third renowned Ming era garden in Suzhou is the Garden of Cultivation , built during the reign of the Tianqi Emperor (1621–27) by the grandson of Wen Zhengming , a famous Ming painter and calligrapher. The garden

4608-470: The Southern Song government. It had his library, the Hall of Ten Thousand Volumes, and an adjacent garden called the Fisherman's Retreat. It was extensively remodeled between 1736 and 1796, but it remains one of the best example of a Song Dynasty Scholars Garden. In the city of Wuxi , on the edge of Lake Tai and at the foot of two mountains, there were thirty four gardens recorded by the Song dynasty historian Zhou Mi (1232–1308). The two most famous gardens,

4704-415: The center of a large square park. It was described in one of the early classics of Chinese literature, the Records of the Grand Historian ( Shiji ). According to the Shiji , one of the most famous features of this garden was the Wine Pool and Meat Forest (酒池肉林). A large pool, big enough for several small boats, was constructed on the palace grounds, with inner linings of polished oval shaped stones from

4800-454: The center of his garden he had constructed an artificial mountain a hundred meters high, with cliffs and ravines, which he named Genyue , or "The Mountain of Stability." The garden was finished in 1122. In 1127, Emperor Huizong was forced to flee from the Song capital, Kaifeng , when it came under attack by the armies of the Jurchen -led Jin dynasty . When he returned (as a captive of the Jurchens), he found his garden completely destroyed, all

4896-572: The city of Luoyang , capital of the Northern Wei dynasty, had over 1,300 temples, mostly in the former residences of believers. Each of the temples had its own small garden. During this period, many former government officials left the court and built gardens where they could escape the outside world and concentrate on nature and literature. One example was the Jingu Yuan , or Garden of the Golden Valley , built in 296 by Shi Chong (249–300 AD), an aristocrat and former court official, ten kilometers northeast of Luoyang. He invited thirty famous poets to

SECTION 50

#1732848572551

4992-446: The city of Luoyang by Li Deyu , Grand Minister of the Tang Empire. The garden was vast, with over a hundred pavilions and structures, but it was most famous for its collection of exotically shaped rocks and plants, which its creator collected all over China. Rocks of unusual shapes, known as Chinese Scholars' Rocks, often selected to portray the part of a mountain or mountain range in a garden scene, gradually became an essential feature of

5088-529: The collection of Ngee Ann Kongsi. One of the stone censor may date to 1819. The temple was presented with an imperial plaque from Emperor Guangxu in 1899. Yueh Hai Ching Temple is one of the only two temples in Singapore being given this honour. The signboard which reads “Auspicious Clouds above the Sea at Dawn”, is now hung at the Mazu temple. 1°17′04.2″N 103°50′57.6″E  /  1.284500°N 103.849333°E  / 1.284500; 103.849333 Attap Nypa fruticans , commonly known as

5184-419: The cost and expenses of opening gambier plantations at Mount Stamford (now Pearl’s Hill) prior to British arrival. He had also “in some instances” advanced money to the Teochew cultivators on the understanding he would be repaid in the form of gambier or other produce. Farquhar had the impressions that the Temenggong’s interests in these plantations were represented by a brother-in-law of his named Baba Ketchil and

5280-449: The courageous and meritorious deeds of the gods and ancient heroes of Chinese legend. These figures were created using a traditional technique known as cut-and paste porcelain shard work (嵌瓷 or 剪瓷雕). Wires and rods are used to form armatures around which a cement-like lime base is formed of either limestone powder or seashell powder. The limp is mixed with sand and help wool to form the substance onto which porcelain shards are set, providing

5376-522: The features of botanical and zoological gardens, as well as the traditional hunting grounds. Inspired by another version of Chinese classic about the Isles of the Immortals, called Liezi , he created a large artificial lake, the Lake of the Supreme Essence , with three artificial islands in the center representing the three isles of the Immortals - Penglai , Fanghu , and Yingzhou. The park was later destroyed, but its memory would continue to inspire Chinese garden design for centuries. The Jianzhang Palace in

5472-447: The first Captain China of Singapore, a Teochew merchant named Tan Heng Kim (陈亨钦), was “one of the principal persons concerned”. The first Teochews in Singapore were led by Tan Heng Kim, who was from Siam, and a second merchant named Heng Hong Sung (王丰顺) from Ampou town in Chaozhou, China. Together, they founded the Yueh Hai Ching Temple on the south bank of the Singapore River. In 1826, pioneer of Man Say Soon Company, Lim Poon erected

5568-437: The flower petals can be infused to make an aromatic tisane . Attap chee ( Chinese : 亞答子 ; pinyin : yà dá zǐ ) ( chee meaning "seed" in several Chinese dialects) is a name for the immature fruits —sweet, translucent, gelatinous balls used as a dessert ingredient in Thailand, Malaysia, the Philippines, and Singapore, that are a byproduct of the sap harvesting process. In Indonesia, especially in Java and Bali ,

5664-423: The front entrance gate, the large forecourt gives visitors a panoramic view of the entire temple. The courtyard of Yueh Hai Ching Temple are enclosed by the walls and buildings around it, takes on a special introverted quality. The seclusion of the courtyard, separated from the outside world, forms a world by itself. The stone-paved courtyard provides abundant supplies of air and light for interior space. The roof of

5760-483: The ground; only the leaves and flower stalk grow upwards above the surface. The leaves extend up to 9 metres (30 feet) in height. The flowers are a globular inflorescence of female flowers at the tip with catkin -like red or yellow male flowers on the lower branches. The flower produces woody nuts arranged in a globular cluster up to 25 centimetres (10 inches) across on a single stalk. The infructescence can weigh as much as sixty-six pounds (thirty kg). The fruit

5856-467: The highest terrace, a view extended as far as Lake Tai , the Great Lake. An ancient Chinese legend played an important part in early garden design. In the 4th century BC, a tale in the Classic of Mountains and Seas described a peak called Mount Penglai located on one of three islands at the eastern end of the Bohai Sea , between China and Korea, which was the home of the Eight Immortals . On this island were palaces of gold and silver, with jewels on

SECTION 60

#1732848572551

5952-436: The imperial court, Liang Ji built an immense landscape garden with artificial mountains, ravines and forests, filled with rare birds and domesticated wild animals. This was one of the first gardens that tried to create an idealized copy of nature. After the fall of the Han dynasty, a long period of political instability began in China. Buddhism was introduced into China by Emperor Ming (57–75 AD), and spread rapidly. By 495,

6048-423: The island of the Eight Immortals. Other gardens have gardens featuring three Boshan Mountains - Penglai , Yingzhou, and Fanghu or Fangzhang. The Yichi Sanshan (Chinese: 一池三山 ) system of one pond with three mountains has been a main model of royal gardens. Under the Han dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD), a new imperial capital was built at Chang'an , and Emperor Wu built a new imperial garden, which combined

6144-410: The lake and gardens. The park has an island, the Fragrant Isle, shaped like a boat. It also makes good use of the principle of the "borrowed view," ( jiejing ) carefully framing views of the surrounding mountains and a famous view of a distant pagoda. Another existing garden from the Ming dynasty is the Lingering Garden , also in Suzhou, built during the reign of the Wanli Emperor (1573–1620). During

6240-434: The late Shang dynasty was the Terrace, Pond and Park of the Spirit ( Lingtai, Lingzhao Lingyou ) built by King Wenwang west of his capital city, Yin . The park was described in the Classic of Poetry this way: Another early royal garden was Shaqui , or the Dunes of Sand , built by the last Shang ruler, King Zhou (1075–1046 BC). It was composed of an earth terrace, or tai , which served as an observation platform in

6336-408: The mangrove palm, as well as Phomatospora nypae on palms in Malaysia. The long, feathery leaves of the nipa palm are used by local populations as roof material for thatched houses or dwellings . The leaves are also used in many types of basketry and thatching. Because they are buoyant , large stems are used to train swimmers in Burma. On the islands of Roti and Savu , nipa palm sap

6432-421: The marvels of the province in a single place. The classical garden was surrounded by a wall, usually painted white, which served as a pure backdrop for the flowers and trees. A pond of water was usually located in the center. Many structures, large and small, were arranged around the pond. In the garden described by Ji Cheng above, the structures occupied two-thirds of the hectare, while the garden itself occupied

6528-431: The more intimate gardens created by scholars, poets, former government officials, soldiers and merchants, made for reflection and escape from the outside world. They create an idealized miniature landscape, which is meant to express the harmony that should exist between man and nature . The art of Chinese garden integrates architecture , calligraphy and painting , sculpture, literature , gardening and other arts . It

6624-516: The most unusual ornaments of complicated layouts of one- and two-storey mini-structures and human figurines. They are laid in such a way as to depict clusters of buildings within a Chinese town. In this temple, not only is the ridge extremely crowded with dragons and miniature models of dwellings, the copings, gable ends and hips are also adorned with all kinds of structures of pagodas, sheds, dwellings and niches. Human figurines area displayed everywhere, depicting scenes from Chinese operas which illustrate

6720-403: The mountains. The most famous garden in Luoyang was The Garden of Solitary Joy ( Dule Yuan ), built by the poet and historian Sima Guang (1021–1086). His garden had an area of eight mu , or about 1.5 hectares. In the center was the Pavilion of Study, his library, with five thousand volumes. To the north was an artificial lake, with a small island, with a picturesque fisherman's hut. To the east

6816-612: The nineteenth century, but are now gradually being restored. In addition to the Old Summer Palace and Summer Palace, between 1703 and 1792 the Qing emperors built a new complex of gardens and palaces in the mountains 200 kilometers northeast of Beijing, to escape the summer heat of the capital. It was called the Chengde Mountain Resort , and it occupied 560 hectares, with seventy-two separate landscape views, recreating landscapes in miniature from many different parts of China. This enormous garden has survived relatively intact. Renowned scholar gardens which still exist from this period include

6912-601: The nipa flowers continuously throughout the year, providing a continuous supply of sap. Tuba can be stored in tapayan (earthenware balloon vases) for several weeks to make a kind of vinegar known as sukang paombong in the Philippines and cuka nipah in Malaysia. Tuba can also be distilled to make arrack , locally known as lambanog in Filipino and arak or arak nipah in Indonesian . Young shoots are also edible;

7008-491: The nipa palm does not detract from food production to make fuel. In fact, since nipa fruit is an inevitable byproduct of sap production, it produces both food and fuel simultaneously. Chinese garden The Chinese garden is a landscape garden style which has evolved over three thousand years. It includes both the vast gardens of the Chinese emperors and members of the imperial family, built for pleasure and to impress, and

7104-410: The other hawks. The Khan himself goes every week to see his birds sitting in mew, and sometimes he rides through the park with a leopard behind him on his horse's croup; and then if he sees any animal that takes his fancy, he slips his leopard at it, and the game when taken is made over to feed the hawks in mew. This he does for diversion." This brief description later inspired the poem Kubla Khan by

7200-448: The other third. In a scholar garden the central building was usually a library or study, connected by galleries with other pavilions which served as observation points of the garden features. These structures also helped divide the garden into individual scenes or landscapes. The other essential elements of a scholar garden were plants, trees, and rocks, all carefully composed into small perfect landscapes. Scholar gardens also often used what

7296-493: The park for theatrical events; he launched small boats on his stream with animated figures illustrating the history of China. The Tang dynasty (618–907 AD) was considered the first golden age of the classical Chinese garden. Emperor Xuanzong built a magnificent imperial garden, the Garden of the Majestic Clear Lake, near Xi′an , and lived there with his famous concubine, Consort Yang . Painting and poetry reached

7392-574: The pavilions burned and the art works looted. Only the mountain remained. While the imperial gardens were the best known, many smaller but equally picturesque gardens were built in cities such as Luoyang . The Garden of the Monastery of the Celestial Rulers in Luoyang was famous for its peonies; the entire city came when they were in bloom. The Garden of Multiple Springtimes was famous for its view of

7488-476: The province famous for its gardens was Suzhou , where many scholars, government officials and merchants built residences with gardens. Some of these gardens still exist today, though most have been greatly altered over the centuries. The oldest Suzhou garden that can be seen today is the Blue Wave Pavilion , built in 1044 by the Song dynasty poet Su Shunqing. (1008–1048). In the Song dynasty, it consisted of

7584-401: The sap can be used to make a variant of Jaggery called gula nipah . In Sarawak , it is called gula apong . In Thailand, leaf is used for dessert. In Cambodia, its leaves are used for wrapping cakes (such as num katâm ), and the flowers are sometimes used to make sugar, vinegar, and alcohol. The nipa palm produces a very high yield of sugar-rich sap. Fermented into ethanol or butanol,

7680-617: The sap may allow the production of 6480–20,000 liters per hectare per year of fuel. By contrast, sugarcane yields roughly 5200 liters of ethanol per hectare per year, and an equivalent area planted in corn (maize) would produce only roughly 4000 liters per hectare per year, before accounting for the energy costs of the cultivation and alcohol extraction. Unlike corn and sugarcane, nipa palm sap requires little if any fossil fuel energy to produce from an established grove, does not require arable land , and can make use of brackish water instead of freshwater resources. Also unlike most energy crops ,

7776-543: The sea, so that sailors could head to the temple immediately after docking. Due to land reclamation, the temple was effectively distanced from the shore. When the Ngee Ann Kongsi was formed in 1845, it took over the management of the temple from Ban See Soon Kongsi. Between 1852 and 1855, the present temple was constructed. In 1895, the Ngee Ann Kongsi submitted a building plan which called for substantial rebuilding of

7872-452: The seashore. The pool was then filled with wine. A small island was constructed in the middle of the pool, where trees were planted, which had skewers of roasted meat hanging from their branches. King Zhou and his friends and concubines drifted in their boats, drinking the wine with their hands and eating the roasted meat from the trees. Later Chinese philosophers and historians cited this garden as an example of decadence and bad taste. During

7968-496: The temple of Xuan Tian Shang Di has ridge ornaments over the nave in the form of two dragons flanking a blazing pearl, which is lifted on a metal rod. To the ancient Chinese, the dragon is the emblem of guardianship and vigilance and the symbol of strength, authority and justice. The roof of the temple of Mazu has a ridge design composed of dragons guarding the city against evil influences and were emblematic of geomantic power to revert evil forces into beneficial energy. Both roofs have

8064-476: The temple's important role in the everyday life of the Teochew community. It was where people socialized and exchanged news. It served as a place of congregation for immigrants from the same province to provide mutual support for each other. Further restoration was carried out between 1995 and 1997 (URA, 1997). On 28 June 1996, the temple as gazetted as a national monument of Singapore. The latest round of restoration

8160-519: The temple. By the late 19th century, the Teochews were the second largest and most influential of the Chinese dialect groups after the Hokkiens. Besides being a place of worship, Yueh Hai Ching Temple also acted as a community centre and a meeting place. According to historian Pan Xing Nong, the then president of Ngee Ann Association had called for prayers at the temple for the impending World War I , reflecting

8256-565: The trees. There was no pain, no winter, wine glasses and rice bowls were always full, and fruits, when eaten, granted eternal life. In 221 BC, Ying Zheng, the King of Qin conquered other rival states and unified China under the Qin Empire , which he ruled until 210 BC. He heard the legend of the islands and sent emissaries to find the islands and bring back the elixir of immortal life, without success. At his palace near his capital, Xianyang , he created

8352-499: The valley of the Yellow River , during the Shang dynasty (1600–1046 BC). These gardens were large enclosed parks where the kings and nobles hunted game, or where fruit and vegetables were grown. Early inscriptions from this period, carved on tortoise shells, have three Chinese characters for garden, you , pu and yuan . You was a royal garden where birds and animals were kept, while pu

8448-625: The writings of Stamford Raffles and William Farquhar indicate that the British found Temenggong Abdul Rahman with 400 to 500 residents in Singapore in January 1819. Another member of the 1819 expedition party, Captain John Crawford, recalled in his diary an encounter with “upwards of 100” of Chinese. British colonial documentations revealed that Temenggong Abdul Rahman had provided these Chinese who were Teochews

8544-438: Was a court painter for the Qianlong Emperor , observed there was a "beautiful disorder, an anti-symmetry" in the Chinese garden. "One admires the art with which this irregularity is carried out. Everything is in good taste, and so well arranged, that there is not a single view from which all the beauty can be seen; you have to see it piece by piece." Chinese classical gardens varied greatly in size. The largest garden in Suzhou,

8640-457: Was a garden for plants. During the Qin dynasty (221–206 BC), yuan became the character for all gardens. The old character for yuan is a small picture of a garden; it is enclosed in a square which can represent a wall, and has symbols which can represent the plan of a structure, a small square which can represent a pond, and a symbol for a plantation or a pomegranate tree. A famous royal garden of

8736-488: Was a garden of medicinal herbs, and to the west was an artificial mountain, with a belevedere at the summit to view the surrounding neighborhoods. Any passer-by could visit the garden by paying a small fee. After fall of Kaifeng, the capital of the Song dynasty was moved to Lin'an (present-day Hangzhou , Zhejiang ). The city of Lin'an soon had more than fifty gardens built on the shore of the Western Lake. The other city in

8832-561: Was a very cosmopolitan city, filled with diplomats, merchants, pilgrims, monks and students, who carried descriptions of the gardens all over Asia. The economic prosperity of the Tang dynasty led to the increasing construction of classical gardens across all of China. The last great garden of the Tang dynasty was the Hamlet of the Mountain of the Serene Spring ( Pingquan Shanzhuang ), built east of

8928-415: Was called "borrowed" scenery (借景 jiejing ) ; where unexpected views of scenery outside the garden, such as mountain peaks, seemed to be an extension of the garden itself. Chinese gardens are filled with architecture; halls, pavilions, temples, galleries, bridges, kiosks, and towers, occupying a large part of the space. The Humble Administrator's Garden in Suzhou has forty-eight structures, including

9024-435: Was invited into the garden in the spring for boat races and spectacles on the lake. In 1117 he personally supervised the building of a new garden. He had exotic plants and picturesque rocks brought from around China for his garden, particularly the prized rocks from Lake Tai . Some of the rocks were so large that, in order to move them by water on the grand canal, he had to destroy all the bridges between Hangzhou and Beijing. In

9120-572: Was officially carried out from 2011 to 2014. However, study of the temple structure for restoration purposes commenced a few years before 2011 (Personal interview with Dr. Yeo Kang Shua). This restoration is highly acclaimed. The restoration and conservation earned the temple various awards, the Award of Merit at the 2014 UNESCO Asia Pacific Heritage Awards , 2014 Urban Redevelopment Authority's Architectural Heritage Awards and 2013 National Architecture Institute of China's Vernacular Architecture Award Covering

9216-885: Was the Jante Valley Garden of the poet-painter and civil servant Wang Wei (701–761). He bought the ruined villa of a poet, located near the mouth of a river and a lake. He created twenty small landscape scenes within his garden, with names such as the Garden of Magnolias, the Waving Willows, the Kiosk in the Heart of the Bamboos, the Spring of the Golden Powder, and the View-House beside the Lake. He wrote

#550449