Korean gardens have a history that go back a thousand years, but are little known in the west. The oldest records date to Three Kingdoms period (57 BC- 668 AD) when architecture and palace gardens showed development as was noted in Samguk Sagi. The Three Kingdoms period (Simplified Chinese: 三国; Traditional Chinese: 三國; Pinyin Sānguó) is a period in the history of China. ... Centuries: 2nd century BC - 1st century BC - 1st century Decades: 100s BC 90s BC 80s BC 70s BC 60s BC - 50s BC - 40s BC 30s BC 20s BC 10s BC 0s BC Years: 62 BC 61 BC 60 BC 59 BC 58 BC 57 BC 56 BC 55 BC 54... Events Childeric II succeeds Clotaire III as Frankish king Constantine IV becomes Byzantine Emperor, succeeding Constans II Theodore of Tarsus made archbishop of Canterbury. ... Architecture (in Greek αρχή = first and τέχνη = craftsmanship) is the art and science of designing buildings and structures. ... Part of a garden in Bristol, England A flower bed in the gardens of Bristol Zoo, England Checkered flower bed in Tours, France A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. ... Samguk Sagi (Chronicles of the Three Kingdoms) is a historical record of the Three Kingdoms of Korea: Goguryeo, Baekje and Silla. ...

Style of Korean Gardens

Influenced by Chinese gardens, and similar to English gardens, Korean gardens are natural, simple, and unforced. They involve both the people within them, and the buildings, in an unforced and at times irregular asymmetry, where the total landscape flows in a natural and progressive way without being forced, or ritualized. Western landscape designs by the likes of Capability Brown and the American Frederick Law Olmsted are comparable. Reflecting pool at Epcot Centers China Pavilion. ... Royal motto: Dieu et mon droit (French: God and my right) Englands location within the UK Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area - Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population - Total (mid-2004) - Density Ranked 1st UK 50. ... Lancelot Brown (1716 - 6 February 1783), more commonly known as Capability Brown, was an English landscape gardener, now remembered as the last of the great English eighteenth-century artists to be accorded his due, and Englands greatest gardener. He designed over 200 parks, many of which still endure. ... Frederick Law Olmsted (April 26, 1822–August 28, 1903) was a United States landscape architect, famous for designing many well known urban parks, including Central Park in New York, New York, the countrys oldest coordinated system of public parks and parkways in Buffalo, New York, the countrys oldest...

Gardens are generally classified into eight categories: palaces, private residence, country village or Byolso, pavilions, Buddhist temples, Confucian academies, royal funerary grounds and villages.

While each has unique features, generally they include: shaped trees, landscape elements from mountains through hills, various sizes of rivers or streams to scale, small circular ponds, larger ponds with islands within them, stands of bamboo, "rockeries" or multiple rock arrangements, waterfalls where possible, granite basins of square or round design, pear, apple, and other fruit trees. Harmony depended on no single feature or absolute form dominating the perspective. The coniferous Coast Redwood, the tallest tree species on earth A tree can be defined as a large, perennial, woody plant. ... The Murray River in Australia. ... Running Stream The primary meaning of stream is a body of water, confined within a bed and banks and having a detectable current. ... A pond is a body of water smaller than a lake. ... Genera Many, see text Bamboos are a group of woody perennial evergreen plants in the true grass family Poaceae, subfamily Bambusoideae, tribe Bambuseae. ... Waterfall - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia /**/ @import /skins-1. ... Species About 30 species, including: Pyrus amygdaliformis Pyrus austriaca Pyrus balansae Pyrus betulifolia Pyrus bourgaeana Pyrus bretschneideri Pyrus calleryana Pyrus caucasica Pyrus communis Pyrus cordata Pyrus cossonii Pyrus elaeagrifolia Pyrus fauriei Pyrus kawakamii Pyrus korshinskyi Pyrus lindleyi Pyrus nivalis Pyrus pashia Pyrus persica Pyrus phaeocarpa Pyrus pyraster Pyrus pyrifolia Pyrus... Binomial name Malus domestica Borkh. ...

Representative Korean Gardens

The most central and representative and relatively undisturbed classical Korean gardens are in three complexes.

• The Ihsong mountain fortress of Paekche near Seoul, where one finds numerous rockeries depicting turtles, dragons or phoenixes
• The Anhak Palace Garden of Koguryo near Pyongyang, where one finds the remains of three rock Garden complexes.
• The Anapji Garden of Silla in Gyeongju is perhaps the most splendid with three islands in the pond, man-made waterfalls in two tiers, granite basins of round and square design as well as hundreds of rock arrangement along its curbed shore. It was the most beautiful garden in Asia in theeighth century and still shows splendour all its own.

Further important gardens, often historical recreations, are found at these sites: Fortifications (Latin fortis, strong, and facere, to make) are military constructions designed for defensive warfare. ... Baekje was a kingdom in southwestern Korea. ... Seoul (서울,   listen?) is the capital of South Korea and is one of the most populous cities in the world, located in the northwestern part of the country on the Han River. ... Families See text Turtles are reptiles of the order Testudinata, most of whose body is shielded by a special bony shell developed from their ribs. ... Chinese dragon, colour engraving on wood, Japanese Chinese school, 19th Century A dragon is a mythological creature, typically depicted as a large and powerful serpent or other reptile, with magical or spiritual qualities. ... This article needs cleanup. ... Pyŏngyang (평양 / 平壤) is the capital city of North Korea, located in the northwest of the country, situated on the Taedong River. ... Anapji is an artificial pond in Gyeongju National Park, Gyeongju, South Korea. ... Silla (also denoted as Shilla) was one of the three kingdoms of ancient Korea. ... World map showing location of Asia Asia is the central and eastern part of Eurasia, defined by subtracting Europe from Eurasia. ... (7th century — 8th century — 9th century — other centuries) Events The Iberian peninsula is taken by Arab and Berber Muslims, thus ending the Visigothic rule, and starting almost 8 centuries of Muslim presence there. ...

• The rear garden of Changyeong palace in Seoul, especially the Buyong pond with the pavilion of cosmic union.
• The Chongpyong-sa (temple) near Choonchon.

Current Restoration Work

National scholars in the Republic of Korea are now attempting to build a database through drawings, photographs, and surveys of the landscape of traditional gardens, and attempt recreations.

Rumoured attempts at recreating classical Korean gardens are said to be occurring on small scales in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, but as yet there is no pictorial evidence.

Trees, plants and symbolic landscape of Korean Gardens

The vernacular of the Korean garden generally includes evergreen trees (various species of Korean pine) as a constant, flowering pear trees for spring; stands of straightest bamboo alongside the secondary entrance gates of temples and palaces to symbolize fidelity and honesty; and straight walks tend to be bordered by larger sized gravels of irregular shape. Binomial name Pinus koraiensis The Korean Pine (Pinus koraiensis; family Pinaceae) is a species of pine tree that occurs in eastern Asia, in Manchuria in northeast China, Primorsky Krai and Khabarovsk Krai in the far east of Russia, Korea and central Japan. ...

Terrain tends to follow natural courses, and unlike traditional Chinese gardens, the use of straight paths is not proscribed, but lessened. Significant or important elements tend to face east. And Korean readings of feng shui are regarded with great care, as geomancy was a strong influence in aligning the gardens with stelae, halls and buildings. Fēng Shuǐ (風水 – literally, wind and water pronounced fung shuway), which may be more than 3000 years old, is the ancient practice of placement to achieve harmony with the environment. ...

Unusual Features

Amongst interesting features of Korean gardens are elements which drew birds; as well as the notable secret gardens. Orders Many - see section below. ...

The famous secret gardens of Imperial Palaces in Seoul are often mentioned, and were used as a private area for the royal family for the exclusion of courtiers for times of meditation and rest. Meditation usually refers to a state in which the body is consciously relaxed and the mind is allowed to become calm and focused. ...

Korean Gardens Abroad

A traditional Korean garden is currently under construction in Nantes, France. "Suncheon Garden", a 5000 square metre site, is enclosed within Blottereau Park, and celebrates the 120th anniversary of diplomatic ties between Korea and France. For a place in Brazil, see Nantes, Brazil Nantes (Breton: Naoned) is a city in western France, near the Atlantic coast. ...

Korean Garden Society

The Traditional Korean Garden Society in Seoul, ROK, often sponsors lectures and tours of Korean gardens with Professor Sim Woo-kyung often acting as host and landscape interpreter.

External link

• Examples and simple outline of Korean gardens