The Yuanye was written by a Ming Dynasty Chinese garden designer: Ji Cheng (c1582 - c. 1642) He was born in Tong Li, Wujiang County. Wujiang is south of Suzhou and was known as 'the Land of Fish and Rice', and 'the Capital of Silk' (before it became 'the land of electronics). Ji Cheng was a calligrapher, a landscape painter and a garden designer. Towards the end of his life he published the Yuanye: The Craft of Gardens (1631). Ji Cheng might have been familiar with the Japanese garden design book, the Sakuteiki, written in the eleventh century but this is not known. The Yuanye is a key text in the history of Chinese garden design. The sections available on the website include:
Yuanye Chinese garden design - homepage
Yuanye Discourse on Chinese Gardens
Suitable Sites for Chinese gardens
City gardens in China
Trees and Mountains for Chinese gardens
Country Village gardens in China
Country gardens in China
Chinese house and garden
Chinese gardens by Rivers and Lakes
Selection of Stones for Chinese garden design
