From Zen to Labyrinthine Ecstasy: Historical and Aesthetic Exchanges Between Two Gardens of Lion Grove

During the late 18th century, Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty had the Garden of Lion Grove and Xiyang Lou (Western Palaces) built to the north of the Garden of Eternal Spring in the Garden of Perfect Brightness (Yuanming Yuan) in Beijing. The Garden of Lion Grove replicated the Garden of Lion Grove in Suzhou which was well-known for its rockery labyrinth, and the Xiyang Lou contained a Baroque labyrinth and an illusory-perspective stage. This research carries out a phenomenological perceptual analysis and historical hermeneutic interpretation of the poems and garden records of the two Gardens of Lion Grove to disclose the embodied aesthetic changes from the Yuan Dynasty Zen space to the Ming Dynasty fantasy architecture and further to the Qing Dynasty ecstatic labyrinth, as well as the historical enlightenment and cultural significance to the shaping of the contemporary spiritual space.