The Landscape of Fact and Fantasy

Eighteenth-century European accounts, including those by Henri Bertin, depicted Chinese gardens—particularly the Yuanming yuan (Garden of Perfect Brightness)—as artful simulacra of nature, contrasting sharply with the formal, wasteful European ideal epitomized by Versailles. This study synthesizes European translations and Chinese texts from the period to reveal how the Yuanming yuan was portrayed as a pinnacle of imperial Qing garden design, challenging Western perceptions of excess. By analyzing Mémoires concerning les Chinois (1777) and later volumes, the research reconstructs the cultural exchange between Europe and China, highlighting the Yuanming yuan's significance in both historical and comparative garden studies.

Finlay, J. (2020). The Landscape of Fact and Fantasy. Henri Bertin and the Representation of China in Eighteenth-Century France, 40–66. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315467368-3