1 Inheritance and Abandonment of Traditional Materials
The traditional materials mentioned in the article refer to those materials that have been commonly used in ancient gardens, such as stone, water, soil, plants, etc. These common and ordinary materials not only continue to thrive with vitality in modern gardens but also are applied in increasingly broader areas within garden design.
The use of stone in Chinese gardens has a long history, ranging from stacking mountains (duoshan) and placing stones (zhishi) to the construction of garden architecture where stone application was quite extensive. Beyond inheriting and retaining the functions of stacking mountains and placing stones, the development of modern engineering technology has enabled stone to be widely used in surface decoration of various buildings, roads, and small architectural features, as well as in crafting various landscape elements according to need. The use of processed granite slabs with different colors and textures for paving and flower bed surfaces creates an environment that appears neat and elegant. By using locally sourced stones and processing them appropriately, various garden landscape features can be formed. At the same time, with the emergence of modern engineering materials like reinforced concrete, the use of stone as a structural material in gardens has gradually decreased.