2017 Mid-Autumn Moon Festival: The Four Arts
Date: Friday, October 6, 2017
Time: 5:30–10:00 p.m.
Price: $10 General | $20 Family* (plus tax and processing fees). Free for Garden Member
*2 Adults & up to 3 children under the age of 14
**Tickets at the door are only available on the day of the event from 5:30 to 10 pm.
The History of Chinese Gardens can be traced back to the Zhou Dynasty (1122 – 256 B.C. E), where gardens originated as hunting grounds and agricultural places. From the Tang Dynasty, they evolved to private retreats and served as the setting of extraordinary rich artistic, intellectual as well as social interactions and exchange of thoughts for scholars.
In these gardens the scholars were poets, painters, and philosophers who found inspiration in nature. As retreats the gardens became fascinating symbols in the scholars’ paintings and poetry. For example, poems by scholars dating as far back as the 8th century show that the scholars would describe their buildings in detail in their writings.
During the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) the function of the gardens increasingly transformed into retreats for the scholars, who dwelled there with their families upon retirement. The gardens also served as places of extraordinary rich artistic, intellectual as well as social interactions and exchange of thoughts. Aside from the architecture, elements such as calligraphy, paintings and gardening are a statement in support of this mastery.
The structures within such gardens were tailored to meet the needs of their owners: the music hall in which the scholars would entertain their guests, or the scholar’s study for the owner to read his books. Such gatherings are also a reminder that the garden-based studio was the site, where a substantial portion of the Chinese scholars’ paintings, calligraphies, poems, musical compositions, and philosophical essays were produced over the centuries, inspired by the garden’s aesthetics and energized by the gathered yang and yin forces placed at the disposal of the painter-writer-musician.
It is here where the scholars would cultivate their art of calligraphy, board games (weiqi), painting and playing music, a collective known as The Four Arts.
On Friday, October 6th The Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Classical Chinese Garden is celebrating these Four Arts along with many other exciting activities, such as Tea Tasting and Moon Cake Making.
This is a family friendly event, everyone is welcome.
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For more information please visit: http://vancouverchinesegarden.com/2017-mid-autumn.html