Exploration on Garden Rockery-Making Craftsmanship of “Less Exceeding More”: Taking Small Courtyard Garden for Example

The deep understanding of rockery-making craftsmanship for traditional Chinese gardens entails research from the perspectives of integrity and process. The rockery-making craftsmanship with “less exceeding more” as the core that is invented by Zhang Nanyuan (a gardening master in late Ming and early Qing dynasties in Jiangnan Region, China) and further summarized by Fang Hui (a contemporary rockery-making craftsman in Yangzhou, China) is an important achievement in traditional rockery-making craftsmanship. With small courtyard gardens as a case, this research discusses in detail the application of the aforesaid rockery-making craftsmanship from the three layers of scenery layout, scenery making and techniques respectively. In terms of scenery layout, the research finds that craftsmanship focuses on positioning the “major mountain”, the arrangement of main viewing points and main scenery, and the creation of growing, encircling and extending momentum. In terms of scenery making, the research discusses the priorities of the craftsmanship with a focus on such elements as cave and peak, mountain foot and rock face, and water scenery and mountain trail. In terms of techniques, the research figures out that rockery-making craftsmen are required to gradually develop such abilities as stone understanding and selection, piling and formation, and layering and echoing, which should run through the whole design and making process. This research can provide theoretical guidance for contemporary rockery-making and, through continuous development and extension, lay a solid foundation for the inheritance of traditional gardening craftsmanship in practice.