A Transcultural Reflection on Anglo-Chinese Gardens in the 18th Century

18세기 '중국풍 정원(Anglo-Chinese garden)'의 문화전이에 관하여

The tradition of the representative art style in the Sinosphere, Shanshui hua, expresses the traditional representation of the harmony and principle of the universe. This tradition is reflected in the Chinese garden. These Chinese gardens were precisely the three-dimension representations of Shanshui hua, a visual form of abstract expression of the oriental philosophical thinking. This research determines and draws attention to the vestiges of the reflection of Shanshui hua in the European gardens through visual art and culture. It will also approach the two subjects, Shanshui hua and garden, from a transcultural view to integrally analyze visual art. The appearance of Anglo-Chinese gardens, reflecting Shanshui hua, foreshowed a big change in traditional European gardens. This is a concrete example of the transcultural phenomenon. This has formed the typical naturally curved English gardens in the gardening history. This also divided these English gardens completely from the symmetrical, geometrical French gardens. This study considers the influence and the reverberation of Shanshui hua reflected on European gardens in the European culture. The cultural exchange of European and Chinese styles in the 18th century left an impact on the European gardening style history. Finally, this study analyzes the origin of these Anglo-Chinese gardens and its content to approach it with a transcultural view as a research methodology.