Volume 9 Number 3 September 2008

Beijing, a garden of violence

Geremie R. BARM蟁

Abstract
This paper examines the history of Beijing in relation to gardens — imperial, princely, public and private — and the impetus of the 'gardener', in particular in the twentieth-century. Engaging with the theme of 'violence in the garden' as articulated by such scholars as Zygmunt Bauman and Martin Jay, I reflect on Beijing as a 'garden of violence', both before the rise of the socialist state in 1949, and during the years leading up to the 2008 Olympics.

Keywords: gardens; violence; party culture; Chinese history; Chinese politics; cultivation; revolution

Author’s biography
Geremie R. Barm眤 is professor of Chinese history in the Division of Pacific and Asian History, Research School of Pacific & Asian Studies, The Australian National University. His research work in Chinese culture and intellectual history has been interspersed with film, website and writing projects in the United States, China and Hong Kong. Professor Barm眤’s research interests include twentieth century Chinese intellectual and cultural history; contemporary Chinese cultural and intellectual debates; modern historiography; Ming-Qing literature and aesthetics; Cultural Revolution history (1950s–1970s) and Beijing, its history and reconstruction. His recent publications include: In the Red: On Contemporary Chinese Culture (1999); An Artistic Exile: A life of Feng Zikai (1898-1975) (2002); China Candid: The People on the People’s Republic (by Sang Ye, ed. with Miriam Lang), The Great Wall of China (2006, ed. with Claire Roberts) and The Forbidden City (2008). He also worked on the documentary Morning Sun (2003, co-directed and co-produced with Carma Hinton and Richard Gordon; co-written with Carma Hinton).

Contact address: Research School of Pacific & Asian Studies, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia 0200.

CAPTIONS:

Fig. 1: Mao Zedong in Yan’an, talking to peasants from Yangjia Ling (Mao Zedong zai Yan’an he Yangjialing nongmin jiaotan) (People’s Pictorial 1976).

Fig. 2: Liang Sicheng’s 1950s plan for the Beijing City Wall Garden (Liang Sichengde Beijing chengqiang gongyuan shexiang tu) (Liang Sicheng wenji 1986 [2003]).

Fig. 3: ‘Chairman Mao Zedong reading the news of the liberation of Nanjing’ at Shuangqing Villa, the Western Hills outside Beiping, 1949 (Mao zhuxi kan jiefang Nanjingde shengli jiebao) (Renmin huabao 1976b).

Fig. 4: The Sea Palaces (Zhongnan Hai) and Xinhua Men (Zhong Nan Hai, Beijing—Political Centre of a Country of One Billion 1981).

Fig. 5: The Garden of Abundant Nourishment (Fengze Yuan) at the Sea Palaces (Zhong Nan Hai, Beijing—Political Centre of a Country of One Billion 1981).

Fig.6: The Study of Fragrant Chrysanthemums (Juxiang Shuwu), Mao Zedong’s residence in the Sea Palaces from 1949 to 1966 (Zhong Nan Hai, Beijing—Political Centre of a Country of One Billion 1981).

Fig. 7: ‘Thoughts on Pruning’ (Jian dong lianxiang), by TK (Feng Zikai) (Feng 1996: n. 65).

Fig. 8: Mao Zedong during the Great Leap Forward (Boston: Long Bow Archive).

Fig. 9: Opening scene from The East is Red (Dongfang hong), 1964. (Film still, Boston: Long Bow Archive).

Fig. 10: The Parhelic Leader in Petit Point (Boston: Long Bow Archive).

Fig. 11: Entrance to the Altar of Soil and Grain, Zhongshan Park, during the late Cultural Revolution showing fruit trees (Architectural digest 1974: back cover).

Fig. 12: ‘Spring Comes to Qin Ridge’ (Qin Ling chunyi nong), a Huxian peasant painting (Renmin huabao 1976a).

Fig. 13: Dazhai People’s Commune (Renmin huabao 1977b).

Fig. 14: Jiang Qing’s ‘performative agricultural labour’ at Dazhai People’s Commune, 1975 (Boston: Long Bow Archive).

Fig. 15: Jiang Qing picking apples at Jingshan Park, central Beijing, on the night of her arrest, 6 October 1976 (Boston: Long Bow Archive).

Fig. 16: Paper floral tributes to Mao Zedong amassed around the Monument to the Peoples’ Heroes, Tiananmen Square, on the first anniversary of his death September 1977. Similar tributes had appeared as a sign of public mourning for Zhou Enlai in March-April 1976, and would appear again for the ousted Party General Secretary Hu Yaobang in April 1989 (Renmin huabao 1977c).

Fig. 17: Mao’s successor, the ‘wise leader’ Chairman Hua Guofeng, ‘performs agricultural activities’ (Renmin huabao 1977a).

Fig. 18: ‘Thoughts Inspired by a Bonsai’, by TK (Feng Zikai) (Feng 1996: n.64).

Fig.19: A villa at Yuanming Yuan Gardens Estate, north of Yuanming Yuan, November 1996 (Photograph by the author).

Fig. 20: Billboard advertisement for Yuanming Yuan Gardens Estate: ‘The classical meets the modern, a symbol of elegance and refinement’ (Gudian yu xiandaide jiehe Gaoya yu zunguide xiangzheng), November 1996 (Photograph by the author).

Fig. 21: ‘Brocade Garden’ (Jinxiu Yuan), by Lois Conner (Conner 2000, reproduced with permission).

Fig.22: ‘No Honking, Beijing’, by Lois Conner (Conner 2000, reproduced with permission).