Asian Gardens Design and History

The term Asian Gardens includes West Asia (Middle East), South Asia (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka), East Asia (China and Japan) and South East Asia.

Religion, Temple Gardens and Palace Gardens in Eurasia

Historically, Asian gardens have often been temple gardens or temple-palace gardens. The famous gardens of Europe have typically been palace gardens. This is because there was a greater separation between religious and secular affairs in the west than in the east of Eurasia. The separation probably took place following the development of monotheism (associated with Akhenaten and with the Abrahamic faiths - Judaism, Christianity and Islam). The study of Asian Gadens therefore involves study of Asian beliefs and religions, including Polytheism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism, Daoism and Shinto.

Eurasia's oldest gardens

The world's oldest gardens were made in the Fertile Crescent, in West Asia, which runs in an arc between the countries which are now Iraq and Egypt. As a crossroad for peoples and cultures, this region, now called the Middle East, both exported and imported garden design ideas. Islamic gardens drew from the ancient culture of Mesopotamia, from Iran and from Byzantine (Graeco-Roman) civilization of the west.

The influence of Africa and Central Asia on garden design

The influence of Africa and Central Asia on the development of garden design can be assumed but, because their societies had no need of literature, there are few records of their ancient cultures and technologies. Unless and until further information comes to light, it seems reasonable to base our theories about how garden design developed in the ancient world on the following hypotheses:

• Homo sapiens sapiens brought beliefs, language and techniques 'out of Africa' and they had a profound influence on the rest of the world, including animist beliefs and the use of tools
• The culture of Central Asia influenced cultural and technical developments in West, East and South Asia, including the Indo-European cultures of Europe, Iran, Turkey and the Indian Sub-Continent

Gardenvisit content on Asian gardens:

• West Asian Gardens
• Blog posts on Asian Gardens and Urban Design in Asia
• Companion to Tom Turner's book on Asian gardens, history, beliefs and design
• South Asian Gardens
• Chinese Garden Design
• Classification of Chinese garden types
• Timeline of Japanese Garden Design
• Hindu Gardens
• C.M Villiers Stuart book on  Gardens of the Great Mughals
• Conder's book on Landscape Gardening in Japan, 1912
• Sacred Trees
• Babylonian Gardens
• Egyptian Sanctuaries
• Taoism, Nature and the Isles of the Immortals
• Shinto and Nature
• Confucian Planning
• Zoroastrian Gardens
• Minoan and Greek Sanctuaries
• Sacred Groves and Roman Gardens
• Jewish Gardens
• Christian Gardens
• Islamic Gardens
• Buddhist Gardens