Abstract

With the advancement of human civilization, gardens have been blessed with pursuits for beauty and art by people for a long time. Chinese and western gardens have formed different styles during their disparate developments. In this thesis, the author attempts to discuss the cultural differences between Chinese and western classical gardens from the perspectives of the different choices and managements of natural elements in gardens. Then, the author elaborates the influential factors like geography, history, aesthetic value and mythology to analyse those different phenomena. The author wrote this thesis with the aim to research gardens’ construction and usher a better living environment for modern people.

Keywords: cultural differences; classical garden; plant; water; stone; mountain

Contents

Abstract

摘要

1. Introduction-１

2. Literature Review-１

3. Choices of elements-２

3.1 Plant-２

3.2 Management of water-３

3.3 Management of stone-３

3.4 Management of mountain-４

3.5. Arrangement among the elements-５

4. Influential factors of the differences-６

4.1 Geography-６

4.2 History-７

4.3 Religion and mythology-８

4.4 Living values-９

5. Conclusion-１１

Works Cited-１２