Unsurpassed Surrender of the Mind at Nan Lian Garden
Tang dynasty-styled Nan Lian Garden
Buddhist themed Nan Lian Garden
In Diamond Hill, settled between busy roads, viaducts, a shopping mall and high-rise apartments, there is the 35,000-square-metre Nan Lian Garden.
This traditional Chinese garden. came into existence in 2006 through the efforts of Chi Lin Nunnery for a park that could strengthen local appreciation of traditional Chinese culture.
As a result, the Government of Hong Kong commissioned Chi Lin to design and build the Garden.
Chinese gardens & literature
Classical Chinese gardens are inseparably connected to Chinese literature, philosophy and art.
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Ancient poets wrote about rivers, mountains and heavenly places. Taoists, Confucianists and Buddhist philosophers taught an appreciation for harmony and beauty.
Chinese ink painters created scrolls depicting the ideals of poets and philosophers. Inevitably, garden designers inspired by these accounts re-created these mythical landscapes.
Nan Lian was modelled on Jiangshouju Garden in Shanxi Province (a surviving Tang dynasty garden).
Human-inspired Nan Lian Garden
The guiding principle then and now is the pursuit of aesthetic beauty by emphasising both human-inspired and naturally created art.
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This is done by creating naturally beautiful scenes in miniature with real, or potentially real, versions of mountains and lakes while symbolically representing the natural order of creation.
Tang dynasty gardening rules
Like any traditional art form, there are rules to abide by.
The rules include fully utilising the space, borrowing, concealing, employing sharawadgi (an English word meaning artful irregularity), blocking, extending and insulating noise.
First Golden Age of classical gardens
So, the garden designers went back to rules set during the First Golden Age of classical gardens, the Tang dynasty (618-907 CE).
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The park seems much larger than it is because there are no empty spaces. Something is interesting wherever one looks.
For instance, scene borrowing is employed to complement, rather than hide, the two viaducts aligned above the main path leading to the garden from Fung Tak Road.
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Distant borrowing is utilised to increase the perceived size of the Garden by incorporating the surrounding views into the overall design.
Nan Lian Garden sense of mystery
High-rise apartments to the south seem far in the distance because of their position relative to trees, and the mountains to the north appear as an extension of the Garden itself.
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A well-designed Chinese garden creates a sense of mystery that stimulates the imagination with every step, like a Chinese scroll painting unfurling in a continuous narrative.
Nan Lian is not designed to be seen all at once but is laid out to present a series of non-repeating views.
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This is achieved by concealment with views controlled by winding pathways, hillocks (small hills), trees, large rocks, plants and architectural structures.
The principle of sharawadgi, or beauty without order, enhances the sense of mystery and surprise.
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This apparent lack of organised design is a manufactured illusion that creates the appearance of natural beauty.
Designed illusion with natural elements
For example, the natural shape of a mountain range is mimicked using hillocks.Â
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 Blocking is used to create an illusion of depth and to define spaces.
Four large timber structures made in the Tang dynasty tradition form the main barriers to the outside world.
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Pruned Buddhist pines and shaped banyan trees obscure unpleasant views.
Scholars’ rocks are placed strategically to create natural barriers, help shape the garden and block anything considered unsightly.
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Leaf-coloured paint masks cement walls. Traditional unglazed grey terracotta roof tiles, wooden pillars and four smaller wooden pavilions help authenticate the experience.
Extending refers to designing ways to create the illusion of infinity.
This is done with perspective, and paths lead to the discovery of interesting vantage points.
Impressive grand space of Nan Lian Garden
For instance, the careful placement of rocks in the foreground against a pavilion in the distance creates the impression of a much grander and more immersive location.
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Trees are carefully pruned down to fit the whole environment.
Horned holly and Buddhist pines are planted on a small hill on the west side of the garden to ‘block out’ the viaduct noise.
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To the east, in addition to tall trees, a waterfall and the rotation of a water mill provide sound insulation.
The remainder of the park is insulated by similar well-hidden sound barriers. Calm instrumental music piped throughout the park compliments the tranquil experience.
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As with Chinese literature, philosophy and art, traditional gardens are rich in cultural connotations and symbolism.
Symbols provide meaning and create a more immersive and interpretive experience.
Remember that the guiding design principle for the garden is human-nature harmony; rocks and water represent the natural world, and pavilions and bridges represent the man-made world.
Rocks represent mountains, and mountain peaks are a symbol of virtue, stability, and endurance.
An artificial mountain peak on an island represents the legend of the Isles of the Immortals — a type of heaven where jewels grow on trees and palaces are built of gold and silver.
No one suffers pain, winter never comes, rice bowls are always full, and delicious fruit brings immortality. Knowing this brings new meaning to the rock island in Nan Lian’s Blue Pond.
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Nan Lian has been managed by Chi Lin Nunery for decades.
They maintain it as if it were a sacred sanctuary. Trees and plants are continually and meticulously pruned, scholars’ rocks are washed, and walls are regularly painted.
It is unlike any other park in Hong Kong.
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Although it can add to the experience, one does not need to know the history, tradition and symbolism behind the Garden’s design to appreciate the peaceful relaxing environment it provides.
Nan Lian’s poetic beauty encourages multiple visits, which vary with the weather, the time of day, and the seasons.
It offers an oasis for meditation and a destination to appreciate what is right with the world.
Text & Photos Martin Wray
