Britain's Chinese Eye: Literature, Empire, and Aesthetics in Nineteenth-Century Britain
Contents
-
-
-
-
-
Sir William Chambers and the Dissertation on Oriental Gardening Sir William Chambers and the Dissertation on Oriental Gardening
-
The Macartney Mission of 1793 and the Qing Imperial Gardens The Macartney Mission of 1793 and the Qing Imperial Gardens
-
Robert Fortune as Horticultural Spy in Racial Disguise Robert Fortune as Horticultural Spy in Racial Disguise
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Cite
Abstract
This chapter argues for the integration of Chinese ways of seeing nature into conceptions of the British natural world, and charts the ways that improved conditions of plant exchange changed the British conception of the native and natural more generally. This increased ability to transplant Chinese specimens to the British landscape paralleled a shift in the theoretical conception of the British garden. During the eighteenth century, British gardening style depended on Chinese influence enough to be termed jardin anglo-chinois by European observers. But by the mid-nineteenth century, despite the greatly increased presence of Chinese plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas in the British landscape, British garden designers insisted on the native inspiration of their forms. The chapter links a deepening British mistrust of the visual effects used by the Chinese in creating their gardens to a broader British disavowal of the influence of Chinese landscape design. In rejecting the obfuscations of Chinese designs, however, British writers affirmed those designs' grounding logic: that stylized landscape systems relayed real information about a country's political liberties.
Sign in
Personal account
- Sign in with email/username & password
- Get email alerts
- Save searches
- Purchase content
- Activate your purchase/trial code
- Add your ORCID iD
Purchase
| Month: | Total Views: |
|---|---|
| November 2022 | 1 |
| December 2022 | 3 |
| January 2023 | 2 |
| February 2023 | 2 |
| March 2023 | 2 |
| May 2023 | 4 |
| September 2023 | 1 |
| October 2023 | 2 |
| December 2023 | 2 |
| August 2024 | 1 |
| January 2025 | 4 |
| February 2025 | 2 |
| May 2025 | 1 |
| August 2025 | 5 |
Get help with access
Institutional access
Access to content on Oxford Academic is often provided through institutional subscriptions and purchases. If you are a member of an institution with an active account, you may be able to access content in one of the following ways:
IP based access
Typically, access is provided across an institutional network to a range of IP addresses. This authentication occurs automatically, and it is not possible to sign out of an IP authenticated account.
Sign in through your institution
Choose this option to get remote access when outside your institution. Shibboleth/Open Athens technology is used to provide single sign-on between your institution's website and Oxford Academic.
If your institution is not listed or you cannot sign in to your institution's website, please contact your librarian or administrator.
Sign in with a library card
Enter your library card number to sign in. If you cannot sign in, please contact your librarian.
Society Members
Society member access to a journal is achieved in one of the following ways:
Sign in through society site
Many societies offer single sign-on between the society website and Oxford Academic. If you see "Sign in through society site" in the sign in pane within a journal:
If you do not have a society account or have forgotten your username or password, please contact your society.
Sign in using a personal account
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members. See below.
Personal account
A personal account can be used to get email alerts, save searches, purchase content, and activate subscriptions.
Some societies use Oxford Academic personal accounts to provide access to their members.
Viewing your signed in accounts
Click the account icon in the top right to:
Signed in but can't access content
Oxford Academic is home to a wide variety of products. The institutional subscription may not cover the content that you are trying to access. If you believe you should have access to that content, please contact your librarian.
Institutional account management
For librarians and administrators, your personal account also provides access to institutional account management. Here you will find options to view and activate subscriptions, manage institutional settings and access options, access usage statistics, and more.