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Journal of Chinese
Architecture and Urbanism Ting or Chinese pavilion

In contrast, Getty defines “gazebos” as “small structures,
usually roofed and open-sided, located in gardens or
parks from which one may gaze out over the surrounding
grounds” (Getty, n.d.). Based on these definitions, the
term “kiosk” overly emphasizes the function of selling
merchandise and information, making it an unsuitable
translation for ting in the context of late imperial China,
given its close association with gardens, viewing scenery,
and open-sided architectural design.
Another common translation of ting is “pavilion.”
Alison Hardie’s 1988 translation of The Craft of Gardens – a
seminal work published by Yale University Press – provided
a pivotal interpretation of Yuanye, Ji Cheng’s guideline for
constructing private gardens in the Ming dynasty. In her
translation, Hardie grappled with the ambiguity of the term
Figure 10. William Chambers. Designs for four types of ting. Source: in its original cultural context. In chapter three, Ji discusses
Chambers (1757) and contrasts several closely related building types – tai (
台), ge (阁), xie (榭), xuan (轩), ting (亭), etc. To address
classifications illustrate a recurring issue inherent in the this, Hardie assigned distinct single-world translations
use of Romanized terms, even in modern scholarship. to each type. She used “terrace” for tai, “gazebos” for xie,
“belvedere” for ge, and “galleries” for xuan, while reserving
In Western literature from the 20 century, “kiosks” the most general term, “pavilion,” for ting (Ji, 1988, p. 69).
th
and “gazebos” were frequently used to translate ting. For “Pavilion” appeared most frequently in Hardie’s translation.
instance, the December 1894 issue of the American art Excluding footnotes, it was indexed 32 times, compared to
magazine The Decorator and Furnisher, published by the six instances of “belvedere” and four of “gazebo” (Ji, 1988,
Art Trades Publishing and Printing Co. in New York, p. 141 – 143). Moreover, Hardie’s use of “pavilion” was
described ting as “kiosks” accompanying rockeries in flexible; she applied it not only to translate the single-word
Chinese gardens (Haywood, 1894). Similarly, Von Erdberg ting but also in phrases such as tingxie (Ji, 1988, p. 61, 69).
referred to “gazebos” in her 1933 article on Chinese gardens
built in Europe during the 18 century. Using the phrase This flexibility arguably reflects the versatility of ting in
th
“gazebos on hills for enjoying the view,” Von Erdberg both function and forms, as described by Ji Cheng.
appears to equate ting with “gazebos” (Von Erdberg, The translation of ting as “pavilion” is also prominent
1933, p. 171). In another example, Hargett, in his 1988 in other English-language scholarship on Chinese gardens.
work Huizong’s Magic Marchmount, translated Emperor For example, in the spring of 1981, accompanying the
Huizong’s Chaoyun ting as “Nesting-in-the-Clouds Kiosk” construction of a Chinese-style garden in the Astor Court in
(Hargett, 1988, p. 21). the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, United States,

Similarly, Paolillo, in his 2003 article on Yuanye – a an article on Chinese garden history and theory appeared
critical commentary on the construction of Ming-dynasty in the 1980/81 The Met’s Bulletin. In the article, ting was
gardens discussed in Section 6 – translated ting as “kiosk,” defined as “an open structure with a roof supported by
highlighting that “ting” is a homophone of “停,” meaning pillars” and translated as “pavilion” (Murck & Fong, 1980,
to stop (Paolillo, 2003, p. 229). According to Getty’s Art p. 42). Similarly, Morris’s 1983 work Gardens of China
and Architecture Thesaurus, kiosks are defined as “small, frequently used the term “pavilion” as a translation for
freestanding structures either open or partially enclosed, ting, employing the term at least 8 times. He used “kiosk”
where merchandise is displayed, advertised, or sold” (Getty, only once, to describe an ambiguous structure depicted in
n.d.). Paolillo’s remark aligns with a quote from Shiming an architectural drawing by modern scholar Liu Dunzhen
st
(释名) collected in Yingzao Fashi, implying that the Chinese (Morris, 1983, p. 232, 273). In the 21 century, “pavilion”
character for ting not only shares its pronunciation with the continued to dominate as the preferred translation for ting
character for “stopping” but also conveys a similar meaning, in Chinese garden scholarship (Fang, 2010, p. 153; Valder,
as people usually pause near a kiosk. Thus, the translation 2002, p. 58). In Fu’s 2017 Traditional Chinese Architecture:
“kiosk” hints at interplay between the literary connotation Twelve Essays, while ting does not appear as a standalone
of the Chinese character ting and the functional similarity entry in the glossary, several phrases incorporate “pavilion”
between a ting and a kiosk. as part of their translation: “small pavilion” for tingxie (亭

Volume 7 Issue 2 (2025) 9 https://doi.org/10.36922/jcau.4107