Religious and Spiritual Concepts in the Gardens of China

A one-day symposium at The Huntington Library, Art Collections, and Botanical Gardens.

Religious and spiritual concepts have been significant influences in the creation of gardens in China, both private and imperial. In particular, Buddhism has had an extended and profound connection to gardens and their owners. Four speakers will present their findings on Buddhist and other spiritual ideas in the gardens of Chinese emperors, monks and scholars.
 
8:30 Registration & Coffee

9:15 Welcome

James P. Folsom, Marge and Sherm Telleen / Marion and Earle Jorgensen Director of the Botanical Gardens, The Huntington
June Li, Curator of Liu Fang Yuan, the Chinese Garden at The Huntington

9:30 Introductory Remarks

Richard Strassberg, University of California, Los Angeles

Session I

Moderator - Richard Strassberg, University of California, Los Angeles
Miho Fukuda, National Taiwan Normal University “Mongolian Imperial Gardens in the Forbidden City during the Yuan Dynasty”
Natasha Heller, University of California, Los Angeles “Monks in Landscapes, Monks in Gardens”

12:30 Lunch

2:00 pm Session II

Moderator - Ina Asim, University of Oregon
Kevin Greenwood, Willamette University “The Imperial Self and the Eastern Academy: a Lost Garden of the Qianlong Era (1736-95)”
Stephen Whiteman, Middlebury College “A Religious Program at Bishu Shanzhuang, the Summer Palace of the Qing Emperors”

Registration is required. Please click here for registration materials.