Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden
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The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden () is the first Chinese or "scholars"
garden A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the cultivation, display, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The single feature identifying even the wildest wild garden is ''control''. The garden can incorporate both ...
built outside of
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, and is located in
Chinatown A Chinatown () is an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, North America, South America, Asia, Africa and Austra ...
in
Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...
,
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
, Canada. It is located at 578 Carrall Street and consists of a freely accessible public
park A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
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."


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 Landscape architecture is the design of outdoor areas, landmarks, and structures to achieve environmental, social-behavioural, or aesthetic outcomes. It involves the systematic design and general engineering of various structures for constructio ...
Company of
Suzhou Suzhou (; ; Suzhounese: ''sou¹ tseu¹'' , Mandarin: ), alternately romanized as Soochow, is a major city in southern Jiangsu province, East China. Suzhou is the largest city in Jiangsu, and a major economic center and focal point of trade ...
, 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 The 1986 World Exposition on Transportation and Communication, or simply Expo 86, was a World's Fair held in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from May 2 until October 13, 1986. The fair, the theme of which was "Transportation and Communicatio ...
. Because the winter 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. Classical Chinese gardens employ
philosophical Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
principles of Feng shui and
Taoism Taoism (, ) or Daoism () refers to either a school of Philosophy, philosophical thought (道家; ''daojia'') or to a religion (道教; ''daojiao''), both of which share ideas and concepts of China, Chinese origin and emphasize living in harmo ...
, 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.
Bat Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
s,
dragon A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
s, and phoenixes are represented in objects throughout the garden. Numerous large rocks are strategically placed and are intended to represent
mountain A mountain is an elevated portion of the Earth's crust, generally with steep sides that show significant exposed bedrock. Although definitions vary, a mountain may differ from a plateau in having a limited Summit (topography), summit area, and ...
s concealing and revealing park elements. The garden is named in honour of Dr.
Sun Yat-Sen Sun Yat-sen (; also known by several other names; 12 November 1866 – 12 March 1925)Singtao daily. Saturday edition. 23 October 2010. section A18. Sun Yat-sen Xinhai revolution 100th anniversary edition . was a Chinese politician who serve ...
, a
nationalist Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: The ...
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 occasions for extended periods. At the time, there was a significant presence of Chinese nationalists in British Columbia, who helped finance the
Xinhai Revolution The 1911 Revolution, also known as the Xinhai Revolution or Hsinhai Revolution, ended China's last imperial dynasty, the Manchu-led Qing dynasty, and led to the establishment of the Republic of China. The revolution was the culmination of a d ...
that overthrew the
Qing dynasty The Qing dynasty ( ), officially the Great Qing,, was a Manchu-led imperial dynasty of China and the last orthodox dynasty in Chinese history. It emerged from the Later Jin dynasty founded by the Jianzhou Jurchens, a Tungusic-speak ...
in 1911. Sun Yat Sen subsequently became the first president of the Republic of China. 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.Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Park has been closed since 2020. Only the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is open that is not free.


In popular culture

The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden was used as the backdrop for many episodes of Season 4 of ''
Falling Skies ''Falling Skies'' is an American science fiction television series set in a Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, post-apocalyptic era, created by Robert Rodat and Executive producer#Motion pictures and television, executive produced by Steve ...
''. The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden also appears in Season 5 Episode 1 of ''
Psych ''Psych'' is an American detective comedy-drama television series created by Steve Franks for USA Network. The series stars James Roday as Shawn Spencer, a young crime consultant for the Santa Barbara Police Department whose "heightened observ ...
'', titled "Romeo and Juliet and Juliet". The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden was also the site of a calligraphy task during the second episode of ''
The Amazing Race Canada 1 ''The Amazing Race Canada 1'' is the first season of '' The Amazing Race Canada'', a reality game show based on the American series ''The Amazing Race''. It features nine teams of two with pre-existing relationships who raced around Canada and is ...
''.


See also

*
List of botanical gardens in Canada Alberta * Alberta Horticultural Research Center, Brooks * Calgary Zoological Gardens, Calgary * Devonian Gardens (Calgary), Calgary * Cascades of Time Garden (Banff), Banff * Lee Pavilion located within the Citadel Theatre, Edmonton * Lethbri ...
*
List of Chinese gardens This is a list of Chinese-style gardens both within China and elsewhere in the world. Greater China This list is organized by region within the Greater China region, roughly following the structure laid out by Maggie Keswick in ''The Chinese Gar ...
*
Queen Elizabeth Park, British Columbia Bloedel Floral Conservatory Plaza Cherry Blossoms in spring Park in autumn Duck Pond Queen Elizabeth Park is a 130-acre municipal park located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. It is located on top of Little Mountain approximately abo ...
*
Urban parks in Canada Urban parks in Canada are areas for public recreation and enjoyment or natural preservation in cities in Canada. They are often owned and operated by municipal governments and so are usually called 'municipal parks', and sometimes 'regional parks ...


References


External links

* {{Official website, http://vancouverchinesegarden.com/ Chinese-Canadian culture in Vancouver Parks in Vancouver Monuments and memorials to Sun Yat-sen Tourist attractions in Vancouver Gardens in Canada Chinese gardens