During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, the dynasties in China changed frequently and the territory was divided, which led to the long-term chaos in China society. During this period, thoughts were active, and Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism and metaphysics contended and expounded each other. The liberation and freedom of thought promoted people's exploration and thinking in the field of culture and art, promoted the change of people's aesthetic concept, influenced the development of classical gardens in China, and promoted the transformation of classical gardens from the generation period to the peak period. This change is mainly explained from the following three aspects:
First, the transformation of garden types has formed a slightly embryonic garden system.
At the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty, social unrest and negative pessimism prevailed everywhere. Once scholars and intellectuals are involved in political struggles, there is no guarantee for life and death. Negative emotions and the idea of eating, drinking and having fun lead to two extreme tendencies in action: greed, luxury and cynicism.
The imperial court amassed wealth, indulged in extravagance, planted gardens and trees, and built large-scale buildings, which enabled the royal gardens to be built and developed on a large scale. At the same time, officials and dignitaries went up and down, scrambling to collect money and build private gardens and houses; On the other hand, intellectuals are cynical, cynical and hate politics. Under the influence of metaphysics, they care about mountains and rivers and advocate seclusion. Nature has become the carrier of their feelings and thoughts, and private gardens have naturally become a kind of natural emotion, which makes gardening activities widely carried out. At the same time, due to social instability and the lack of people's sense of security, Buddhism and Taoism prevailed, and a large number of temples and temples appeared, thus a new garden type of temple garden appeared.
At this stage, royal gardens continued to develop, and with the popularization of gardening activities, private gardens appeared like mushrooms after rain. At the same time, temple gardens appeared and developed, and China classical gardens began to form a parallel development of royal, private and temple gardens and a slightly embryonic garden system.
The second is the transformation of gardening methods, and gardening activities have become an artistic creation.
During the emergence of classical gardens, no matter natural landscape gardens or artificial landscape gardens, buildings are always scattered, laid out and listed in the natural environment. As a gardening element, architecture has no connection with other natural elements and lacks order. There was no detailed overall planning for gardens in this period, let alone design and management.
During the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, due to the influence of freedom and seclusion, people's thinking and exploration of art were promoted, and the aesthetic trend of the times with natural beauty as the core appeared. This trend of thought guides the transformation of China classical gardens from "reappearing nature" to "expressing nature", and from simply imitating nature to summarizing nature. At this time, the building, as a gardening element, has been able to form a reasonable sense of order and harmony with other elements, and the planning of the garden has become more detailed. As a theoretical guide, the six methods put forward by the painter Sheikh at that time, that is, vivid charm, brushwork and bone technique, pictographic characters with objects, colors with categories, business position and imitation with movements, had a great influence on the layout, composition and techniques of China gardens. At this point, the gardening activities of China classical gardens have been completely sublimated to the realm of artistic creation.
Third, the transformation of garden function, from the material level to the spiritual level.
The rudiment of the garden is used as an enclosure for hunting, sacrifice, production and life. By the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, this material demand basically disappeared and was replaced by spiritual recreation and appreciation.
Due to social unrest, literati and celebrities are cynical and actively pursue seclusion, but their inner thoughts and feelings need a carrier to pin them on. At this time, the garden as a place of thought and spirit began to appear. This change is the most essential, the inevitable result of the change of types and techniques, and the greatest contribution to the development of China gardens during the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties, because it is from now on that the landscape aesthetics and lyrical intention of China classical gardens can be revealed and developed!
To sum up, due to its special historical background, social background and ideological background, the Wei, Jin, Southern and Northern Dynasties contributed to the transformation of China classical gardens in three aspects: types, techniques and functions, and initially presented four major style characteristics of China classical gardens: 1, nature and nature, higher than nature; 2. The combination of architectural beauty and natural beauty; 3. The interest of poetry and painting; 4. The implication of artistic conception. This turning point became the pulse of the prosperity of China classical gardens, and China gardens entered the heyday of Sui and Tang Dynasties.