Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden

Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden in winter
Type Non-profit charity
Location 578 Carrall Street
Vancouver, British Columbia
V6B 5K2
Area 0.3 acres (0.12 ha)
Created 1986

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden (simplified Chinese: 中山公园; traditional Chinese: 中山公園; pinyin: Zhōngshān Gōngyuán; Jyutping: Zung1saan1 Gung1jyun4) is the first Chinese or "scholars" garden built outside of China, and is located in Chinatown in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located at 578 Carrall Street and consists of a freely accessible public park and a garden with an admission fee. The mandate of the garden is to “maintain and enhance the bridge of understanding between Chinese and western cultures, promote Chinese culture generally and be an integral part of the local community.”[1]

History

The garden was built in 1985–1986. The outer park was designed by architects Joe Wai and Donald Vaughan, while the inner garden was conceived by Wang Zu-Xin as the chief architect, with the help of experts from the Landscape Architecture Company of Suzhou, China. Funding for the project came from the Chinese and Canadian governments, the local Chinese community, and other public and private sector sources, and it opened on April 24, 1986, in time for Expo 86.[1]

Because the climate in Vancouver is similar to that of Suzhou, many of the same plant varieties are found in the garden as in its Suzhou counterparts. The plants were chosen according to their blossom schedules in order to emphasize seasonal changes, especially the “awakening” in spring. They are also selected to invoke the symbolic, historical, and literary meaning of each plant and are used sparingly, in contrast to western gardens, and provide colour through all the seasons.[1]

The Dr. Sun Yat Sen Classical Chinese Garden in Vancouver’s Chinatown.

Classical Chinese gardens employ philosophical principles of Feng shui and Taoism, striving to achieve harmony and a balance of opposites. Craggy rocks, for example, are juxtaposed against delicate foliage. Water is also an important element of the garden, and the large pond offers stillness, sound, a reflection of the sky, and helps to unify the other elements. Fish and turtles live in the garden and also serve a symbolic purpose. Bats, dragons, and phoenixes are represented in objects throughout the garden. Numerous large rocks are strategically placed and are intended to represent mountains concealing and revealing park elements.[1]

The garden is named in honour of Dr. Sun Yat-Sen, a nationalist leader who is considered the “father of modern China.” The attribution is not arbitrary, as it emphasizes his connection with Vancouver. While traveling the world to raise awareness of, and funding for, the Chinese nationalist movement, Sun Yat-Sen stayed in Vancouver on three different occasions for extended periods. At the time, there was a significant presence of Chinese nationalists in British Columbia, who helped finance the Xinhai Revolution that overthrew the Qing Dynasty in 1911. Sun Yat Sen subsequently became the first president of the Republic of China.[2]

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park and Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden are two separate entities, linked by the artificial pond. While the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is all of the above, the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park is a public park built in a Chinese style, with mostly North American materials.

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden was used as the backdrop for many episodes of Season 4 of Falling Skies.[3]

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden appears in Season 5 Episode 1 of Psych "Romeo and Juliet and Juliet".[4]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden.

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 4 Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden. "About the Garden". Retrieved 2006-12-12.
  2. ↑ Allan Rowe (2000). "The Surveillance of the Chinese in Canada during the Great War" (PDF). MA thesis. Simon Fraser University. Retrieved 2006-12-12.
  3. ↑ "BEHIND THE SCENES: FALLING SKIES Films Scarlett Byrne & Connor Jessup in Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden". Retrieved 2014-08-04.
  4. ↑ "Movies Filmed At Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Chinese Garden". Retrieved 2015-03-01.

Coordinates: 49°16′46″N 123°06′12″W / 49.279551°N 123.103416°W / 49.279551; -123.103416

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