Sir William Chambers and His Perceptions of Traditional Chinese Gardens

Sir William Chambers, a famous Scottish architect and landscape architect, visited China twice. Deeply impressed by traditional Chinese gardens and architecture, he wrote two well-known works: Designs of Chinese Buildings, Furniture, Dresses, Machines, and Utensils and A Dissertation on Oriental Gardening. In his books, Chambers described his original understanding and analysis of China's traditional gardening art. Meanwhile Chambers also did some practical explorations, which allowed him to play an important role in the landscape art revolution of chinoiserie trend during the 18th century, and stimulated the emergence of jardin anglo-chinois. By sorting out Chambers's experiences related to China's traditional gardens, analyzing and summarizing his perceptions of traditional Chinese garden in his theoretical works, and introducing his practice of garden design using Chinese style gardening as references, this paper explores the real influence of his theories and practices in western countries. Finally, the great significance of Chambers'achievements to today's landscape design is discussed.