Page 85 - JCAU-5-2

Journal of Chinese

Architecture and Urbanism

ORIGINAL ARTICLE
Esthetic characteristics of Mount Jingfu’s

“Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands”
landscape based on the cultural and regional

disposition theory

Xin Wang, Xiaoxiang Tang*, and Huichun Xu
School of Architecture, South China University of Technology, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China
(This article belongs to the Special Issue: Cultural Characteristics and Application of Adaptive
Inheritance Technology to Traditional Chinese Rural Areas)

Abstract

To inherit the essential characteristics of regionality, diversity, and artistry of the
landscape “Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands,” this study takes Mount Jingfu, a model
of that in the Lingnan Region, as the research object. It is based on the Cultural and
Regional Disposition Theory under landscape architecture esthetics and summarizes
the esthetic features of Mount Jingfu from three dimensions: (i) regional and technical
characteristics of adaptation to local conditions, elaborately utilizing and arranging
the space, and drawing on local materials; (ii) social milieu of seeking inner pleasure
*Corresponding author: and integrating different cultures, worshipping numeral immortals and benefiting
Xiaoxiang Tang
(ssxxtang@scut.edu.cn) the folks, and embracing simplicity and bold innovation; (iii) artistic and human
qualities of clarity and quiescence, exquisiteness and elegance, and morality and
Citation: Wang, X., Tang, X.,
& Xu, H. (2023). Esthetic righteousness. The study is conducive to promoting the regional conservation and
characteristics of Mount Jingfu’s living inheritance of Lianzhou’s culture of blissful lands and presenting the esthetic
“Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands” characteristics of renowned mountain landscape resources.
landscape based on the cultural
and regional disposition theory.
Journal of Chinese Architecture and Keywords: Landscape architecture esthetics; Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands;
Urbanism, 5(2):407.
https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.407 Mount Jingfu; Cultural and Regional disposition theory
Received: March 7, 2023
Accepted: July 3, 2023
Published Online: July 25, 2023 1. Introduction
Copyright: © 2023 Author(s). The cultural landscape of Mount Jingfu’s “Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands” (Dongtian
This is an open-access article fudi, 洞天福地), built on Daoism, first appeared in the Palaces and Bureaus of the
distributed under the terms of the
Creative Commons Attribution- Grotto-Heavens and the Blissful Lands (Tiandi gongfu tu, 天地宫府图) painted by Sima
Non-Commercial 4.0 International Chengzhen (司马承祯 647 ‒ 735), an eminent Daoist during the Tang dynasty
(CC BY-NC 4.0), which permits all (618 ‒ 907). In the painting, Mount Jingfu’s “Grotto-Heavens and Blissful Lands” are
non-commercial use, distribution, th
and reproduction in any medium, ranked 49 among the 72 Blissful Lands. Developed over a millennium, it holds great
provided the original work is value and significance for research in cultural landscape heritage, esthetics, and culture
properly cited. not only in China but also globally (Roe, 2007; Lee, 2009; Suzuki, 2019; Wan, 2012). As
Publisher’s Note: AccScience shown in Figure 1, Mount Jingfu lies in Bao’an Town, Lianzhou City, Guangdong
Publishing remains neutral with Province, adjacent to the Bao’an River. During the Wei (220 ‒ 265), Jin (265 ‒ 420), and
regard to jurisdictional claims in
published maps and institutional Southern and Northern dynasties (420 ‒ 581), the Daoist Liao Chong sought a natural
affiliations. cave in a mountain to create elixirs, and later, Chong ascended in flight (a way to become

Volume 5 Issue 2 (2023) 1 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.407