The Role of Rock in the Chinese Landscape Garden

Seven draft chapters from a presentation of the role played by rock in the classical Chinese landscape garden. 'Landscape' in Chinese is 'shanshui', literally 'mountains and waters', but the focus here is on the rocks rather than the ponds and streams. The viewer is introduced to the relevant notions in Chinese aesthetics and the philosophy behind the development of the landscape garden in China -- and especially the idea that stone is a concentrated (and very slow moving) form of the 'qi' energies of which the whole world consists. (2008)