New Exhibition to Examine How Gardening Inspired Ethical Science in Historical China

SAN MARINO, Calif.—A new exhibition at The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens will explore the potential of gardens as spaces that not only delight the senses and nourish the body but also inspire the mind—both intellectually and spiritually. The literati during China’s Ming (1368–1644) and Qing (1644–1912) dynasties believed gardening encouraged more ethical connections to all living things. On view in the Chinese Garden’s Studio for Lodging the Mind from Sept. 14, 2024, to Jan. 6, 2025, “奪天工 Growing and Knowing in the Gardens of China” will exhibit 24 objects, including hanging scrolls, hand scrolls, albums, and books from The Huntington’s collections and other institutions throughout the United States. The exhibition will also feature a participatory artwork by contemporary Chinese artist Zheng Bo that was commissioned by The Huntington.

“Growing and Knowing” and the Huntington exhibition “Storm Cloud: Picturing the Origins of Our Climate Crisis” will run concurrently as part of PST ART: Art & Science Collide, a regional event presented by Getty featuring more than 70 exhibitions and programs that explore the intersections of art and science, both past and present.

“Growing and Knowing” will present three key themes: “Growing,” “Knowing,” and “Being.”

Growing

The introductory section to the exhibition, “Growing,” will focus on historical horticultural practices in China, many of which are still in use today. Chinese scholars and gardeners experimented with domestication, grafting, and hybridization to create unusual cultivars (new varieties of plants developed through human intervention). Throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties, these techniques were well documented in horticultural manuals. Some of these books—such as The Secretly Transmitted Mirror of Flowers, completed by Chen Hao 陳淏 (1615–1703) in 1688—remained popular instructional guides in China into the 20th century. The common garden flower chrysanthemum exists as a result of hybridization experiments conducted by scholars and gardeners. Visitors will have the opportunity to view chrysanthemums in full bloom just outside of the exhibition walls in The Huntington’s Chinese Garden.

Reproductions of gardening tools from the period will also be displayed.

Knowing

The second section, “Knowing,” will present a diverse selection of books and paintings from the Ming and Qing dynasties, showcasing the multiple ways that scholars thought about the plants they cultivated. “The works selected for ‘Knowing’ specifically highlight scholars’ understanding of plants as food, sources of emergency sustenance and pharmaceuticals, and keys to classical literature,” said exhibition curator Phillip E. Bloom, The Huntington’s June and Simon K.C. Li Curator of the Chinese Garden and Director of the Center for East Asian Garden Studies. A subtheme of the section will touch on the era’s hierarchies of knowledge—specifically how scholars’ intellectual knowledge of plants was valued over gardeners’ direct, physical knowledge. Gardeners’ bodily insights were largely ignored in historical texts, but they were revealed in visual sources. For example, the Ming dynasty painting Garden for Solitary Pleasure (17th century) shows a scholar lying deep in thought among bamboo and other trees, as nearby laborers bend over plants and carry tools to cultivate his garden.

Being

Chinese scholars did not grow and learn about plants just for knowledge’s sake. Growing and knowing were means for them to better understand their place in the world and to learn to interact more ethically with other creatures. The last section of the exhibition, “Being,” will explore these practices of self-cultivation. “In order to truly understand how nature works, scholars not only contemplated plants but also engaged with and learned from them,” Bloom said. “Caring for plants, observing their habits, taking pleasure in their forms, and ultimately recognizing their commonalities with humans were, in essence, practices whereby scholars could perfect themselves.” Pursuits of a Scholar, an 18th-century Qing dynasty painting album, dedicates several leaves to the different ways that scholars interacted with plants. One leaf shows a scholar writing observations of a bamboo plant in his study, while another depicts a scholar caring for chrysanthemums.

Ecosensibility Exercise: Fragrant Eight-Section Brocade 生態感悟練習: 聞香八段錦 by Zheng Bo

To invite visitors to develop their own meaningful relationships with their natural surroundings, The Huntington has commissioned the participatory artwork Ecosensibility Exercise: Fragrant Eight-Section Brocade by Hong Kong–based artist Zheng Bo. Fragrant Eight-Section Brocade is inspired by the traditional Chinese mind-body practice qigong 氣功. Building on exercises that date back nearly 900 years and remain widely practiced today, Zheng’s work includes eight exercises that combine simple full-body movements and deep breathing to activate the mind and body. Each exercise is meant to be practiced alongside the various fragrances of the surrounding landscape, encouraging participants to develop a connection to the natural environment. Visitors to the exhibition can perform the exercises on their own throughout The Huntington’s gardens at marked stops chosen by the artist. A film documenting the eight exercises will be shown in the gallery. The Huntington is also planning a series of public programs in which the artist will guide visitors through their reinterpreted movements.

Public Programs

An array of public programs and a scholarly conference will complement the exhibition. Upcoming programs include:

Culinary Workshop: Cooking with Chrysanthemum
Sat., Oct. 19, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
Smith Board Room
Public: $95, Member: $80
Chrysanthemum is known as one of the “Four Noble Plants of China” and is a prominent ingredient in traditional Chinese medicine, prized for its “cooling” qualities. In this class, you’ll sample a variety of treats that feature the plant, from a chrysanthemum salad prepared by instructors Erika and Rachel to a “Double Ninth Cake” with a tea pairing. Then, you’ll learn how to make your own qingtuan—a mochi-like red bean treat whose wrapper gets its hue from chrysanthemum leaves.
Tickets will be available at huntington.org closer to the event date.

Meet a Gardener: Chinese Medicinal Garden
Wed., Oct. 23, 10 a.m.–1 p.m.
Free with general admission

Growing and Knowing in the Gardens of China: A Symposium
Sat., Nov. 9, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
Rothenberg Hall
Join scholars from throughout the United States and China to explore people’s relationships with plants in historical China. Topics will include medicinal gardens, famine foods, commercial nurseries, techniques of grafting, the ethics of gardening, and more. The presentations will all discuss the artworks featured in the exhibition.
Details and Tickets

Second Sundays: Growing and Knowing
Sun., Dec. 8, 11 a.m.–2 p.m.
Free with general admission

People, Plants, Pleasure: A Conversation with Zheng Bo
Thursday, Dec. 12, 2:30 p.m.
Rothenberg Hall
Zheng Bo (they/them), a contemporary artist based in Hong Kong who works with plants, will join Huntington curator Phillip E. Bloom for a conversation about their wide-ranging artistic practice. For the past decade, Zheng has created films, installations, drawings, and exercises that allow them to develop deeper, more meaningful, and more pleasurable relationships with plants. These practices ultimately question the ethics of human-centered modes of artmaking and being.
Details and Tickets

Exhibition Catalog

The Huntington will publish an open-access digital catalog edited by Phillip E. Bloom, Nicholas K. Menzies (research fellow in The Huntington’s Center for East Asian Garden Studies), and Michelle Bailey (assistant curator for the Center for East Asian Garden Studies). The book will include seven essays, 16 catalog entries by various scholars, and a conversation with artist Zheng Bo. A paperback version of the catalog will be available at the Huntington Store or online at thehuntingtonstore.org.

This exhibition is made possible with support from Getty through its PST ART: Art & Science Collide initiative.

Generous support is provided by an anonymous foundation and the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation.

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[EDITOR’S NOTE: High-resolution digital images available on request for publicity use. Request Images]

About The Huntington

The Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens is a collections-based research and educational institution that aspires to be a welcoming place of engagement and reflection for a diverse community. In 2008, The Huntington established its Chinese Garden, Liu Fang Yuan 流芳園, the Garden of Flowing Fragrance, which is one of the largest and most authentic classical-style gardens outside of China. Enthusiastically supported by the local community, the garden has quickly become a nexus for cross-cultural exchange. Through its Center for East Asian Garden Studies, The Huntington uses the Chinese Garden as the focal point for a wide variety of lectures, symposia, exhibitions, and performances that help promote a deeper understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture. More information about The Huntington can be found online at huntington.org.

About PST ART: Art & Science Collide

Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART, returns in September 2024 with more than 70 exhibitions from museums and other institutions across the region, all exploring the intersections of art and science, both past and present. Dozens of cultural, scientific, and community organizations will join the latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, with exhibitions on subjects ranging from ancient cosmologies to Indigenous sci-fi and from environmental justice to artificial intelligence. Art & Science Collide will share groundbreaking research, create indelible experiences for the public, and generate new ways of understanding our complex world. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit pst.art.

Contacts

Miranda Claxton, 626-405-3557, mclaxton@huntington.org
Thea M. Page, 626-405-2260, tpage@huntington.org