Brief History of Xu-style Gardens in the Qin and Han Dynasties

This paper studied the gardening activities and characteristics of Xu-style gardens in the Qin and Han Dynasties by combining ancient literature with the study of Han Dynasty stone reliefs.The results showed that by Qin and Han Dynasties,the imperial(royal)gardens and private gardens in ancient Xuzhou had developed in parallel.Imperial(royal)gardens were built by or for vassal kings,First Emperor of Qin Dynasty,Emperor Gaozu of Han Dynasty Liu Bang,for example,Pei Palace,Yanqi Tai,Xima Tai,Hanzu Temple,Lingguang Palace of Lu and so on.As for private gardens,stone reliefs in medium or small tombs owned by the bigwigs or the rich were collected from ancient Xuzhou,and from which we can see clearly the development of private garden from the court,the yard to the garden,rich garden plants and animal species,garden architecture types such as hall,building,pavilion,platform,boat,corridor,gate,gatetower,ornamental column etc.,particularly,hanging waterside pavilion was a unique architectural form of Xu-style garden.These achievements showed that Xu-style garden architecture had been transformed from the pre-Qin incubation period to the generation period.

Xu-style Garden Architecture of the Han Dynasty: Hanging Waterside Pavilion

Based on the Han Dynasty stone reliefs unearthed in the ancient Xuzhou area,a kind of pavilion above the water—hanging waterside pavilion(Xuan Shui Xie,built above the water with stilts and brackets as the base and seeming hanging on the water)was systematically collected and classifi ed into 2 major categories:single-bracket column hanging waterside pavilion and multiple-bracket column hanging waterside pavilion.The research showed that hanging waterside pavilion got ride of traditional pavilion’s reliance on rammed earth foundation.In addition to working as a connection part,brackets,or bucket arches(Dougong)had also tremendous load-bearing capacity,straight and curved brackets co-formed a giant multiple bracket system,staircases and one-side hanging structure were used to support the upper construction,so that a new towering but light wooden structure hanging above the water was created,which was an innovation of bracket technique of the Han Dynasty,and also a creative design in the development of wooden architecture.