© 2005-2008  Robert J. Baran
All Rights Reserved.

APPROX.	CHINA	JAPAN	OTHER
B.C.E.	* Pottery dating back to c.13,000 B.C.E.: Miaoyan in Guilin in Guangxi Province in southern China. (1) * Pottery dating back to 9,000 B.C.E.: the Immortal's Cave on Mount Huifeng, Lishui County, Jiangsu Province in northern China. (2) * A pottery cauldron containing boiled medicinal herbs (unearthed in 2001) at Kuahuqiao in Xiaoshan County, Zhejiang Province indicates that Neolithic people had realized some natural herbal medicine use as early as 6,000 B.C.E..   (3)	* World's earliest known fired pottery: northern tip of Honshu island, Japan, 14,500-14,000 B.C.E.  (4)	* c.24,000 B.C.E., 4½" tall female figurine, with exaggerated hips and breasts, the Dolni Vestonice Venus from Czechoslovakia, part of oldest known set of sculptures as an early attempt at fired ceramic (14,000 years older than first ceramic pots and jars).  (5) * Earliest Near Eastern sun-dried pottery: Iran, c.9,000 B.C.E.  (6) * Apples cultivated in southwestern Asia around 7,000 B.C.E. and oranges cultivated in India and Tigris River Valley within the next millenium.  (7) * Grapevines cultivated in Armenia no later than around 6,000 B.C.E.   (8)
3000 B.C.E.	* Earthenware shallow basins/flattened low-rimmed bowls were known as pen. * Earliest possibly domesticated silkworm cocoon from southern Shansi Province by this time. (9) * Some jade being worked and used by this time, probably brought in from trade with the Siberian region. (10) * Indo-Europeans from west of central Asian steppe brought new cultural components to Yellow River Valley c.2300 B.C.E., combining advanced technological techniques w/native-developed agricultural culture. The language of Huang Di, the Yellow Emperor, and his immigrating people -- known to us as being written in "ancient Chinese characters" -- rose to pass on their history here, and not the tales of earlier indigenous east Asian cultures. (Hence disparity between archaeological sites in Yellow and Yangtze River valleys and the traditional historical records w/regard to beginning of agriculture in that region.) (11a) * Oranges used in China from southeast Asia or India by 2200 B.C.E. (11b) XIA DYNASTY (legendary, c. 2200-1766 B.C.E.), equivalent? to Erlitou culture (2000-1500 B.C.E.) discovered in 1959 in Yanshi, Henan Province. (12)	* In the Middle Jomon Period (2500-1500 B.C.E.), the Jomon migrated from Kanto plain into surrounding mountainside and began to live in very large villages, developing very simple agriculture or proto-agriculture.  (13)	* Olives cultivated in Crete and Syria.  (14) * During Early Harappan period (Early Bronze Age in India, about 3200–2600 B.C.E.), similarities in pottery, seals, figurines, ornaments, etc. document intensive caravan trade with Central Asia and Iranian plateau. (Early Bronze Age in New East -- area of modern Middle East -- was c.3500-2000 B.C.E., while in Central Europe it was as late as 1800–1600 B.C.E..)  (15)
2000 B.C.E.	* Ginseng trade between China and pre-Babylonia Akkad. (16) SHANG DYNASTY (1766 B.C.E.-1122 B.C.E.) * (The term “Bronze Age” signifies elsewhere a period when bronze tools replaced stone tools, and were later replaced by iron ones. In China, bronze was in use pre-Shang and, although higher-temperature iron smelting technology would arrive by mid-Zhou, bronze vessels would make up the majority of metal vessels all the way through Later Han period.) (17)		* Ayurvedic medicine in India made use of hundreds of herbs, some kept readily at hand by being grown in containers. Many of those plants became naturally dwarfed after a few seasons. (18) * c.1550 B.C.E., a 65 ft. long Egyptian medical scroll listed about 800 medicinal drugs, including many herbs and spices. (Would be discovered in 1884 C.E. by Georg Ebers and named the Ebers Papyrus.) (19)
1500 B.C.E.	* Bronze pen as ritualistic serving dishes. * Practice of contemplating stones and rocks and using them as garden features ("stone arranging") in use. (20) * Large numbers of silk fragments show silkworm was being cultivated by this time for the Chinese silk industry. (21) * Chrysanthemum was first cultivated in China as a flowering herb and is described in writings as early as the 15th cent. B.C.E. (22) * Earliest known hunting-ground for imperial pleasure existed during late Shang and measured up to 200 km in length. Built on natural terrain and filled with exotic plants, animals, birds and fish, it held tall, square earthen man-made platform. On this the emperor was said to perform cosmic rituals, study constellations, observe weather, and enjoy other recreational activities. Some six centuries later, size of this earthen platform was dramatically increased and elaborate palace buildings were constructed to accommodate the merrymaking of emperors and their nobles. (23a) * "Mandate of Heaven" concept of cyclical authority begun. When members of a dynasty were deviant and otherwise no longer worthy, the protection or Mandate was transferred to the virtuous head of a new dynasty. (23b) * "Proto-porcelain" or "primitive porcelain" made of kaolin clay, of compact texture, and surprisingly lustrous, apparently was made by 11th cent.B.C.E.. (True porcelain -- high temperature fusion of a pure clay with feldspar and quartz -- would occur twelve hundred years later.) (24) ZHOU DYNASTY (1122 B.C.E.-221 B.C.E.) * A bronze spade closely resembling more modern ones was used as early as 1100 B.C.E. (25)		* c.1500 B.C.E., Sumerians of the Middle East had primitive single-tube seed drill (which never made its way to Europe). This device allowed farmers to sow seeds at specific depths at a specific seed rate, instead of simply casting seeds on the ground, by hand, for them to grow where they landed (broadcasting). Some of the broadcast seeds were cast on unprepared ground where they never germinated, germinated prematurely only to be killed by frost or died from lack of access to water and nutrients. (26) * In Egypt, 31 young myrrh trees were transported in soil-filled wicker baskets from Punt on Somali Coast and planted in stone pots that had drainage holes in their bases at memorial temple garden of Queen Hatshepsut (c.1502-1452 B.C.E.) . (About twenty-five years later the trees were uprooted and burned as Thutmose III sought to erase her name from history.) (27a) * Mid-14th cent. B.C.E., early representation of garden from tomb of pharaoh Akhnaton. Shows plants and trees growing thickly and without absolute order within an enclosure of the strictest symmetry, where outside walls are matched by square shape of pool in center. (Such formality would be continuing theme in Europe from Middle Ages up to current times.) From end of that century comes small painting of rectangular ornamental fish-pond, around which are symmetrically-set fruit trees and possibly vines. Also, plants were treated architecturally and trained on lattice structures to artificial shapes (referred to as arbors, bowers, or pergolas). (27b) * Late 12th cen. B.C.E. Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser I collected cedars and box trees for his botanical collections from countries he conquered. (28)
1000 B.C.E.	* Evidence of plant grafting as a propagation technique. (29) * Evidence of silk strands in an Egyptian mummy by this time suggests very early exchanges of goods between China and Egypt, probably from overland routes that included Persia. (Process remained carefully guarded secret, backed up by death penalty in China.) (30) * Chinese cut down some forests to create more farmland. (The deforestation would lead to soil erosion, floods, and drought in millennia to come.) (31)		* Palm trees clipped into columnar forms by Egyptians: possibly first instance of topiary-type work. (32) * Charaka Samhita (~ 900 B.C.E. ) was the first recorded treatise fully devoted to the concepts and practice of Ayurveda. The work listed 341 plants and plant products classified into 50 therapeutic groups. The Sushruta Samhita (~ 600 B.C.E. ), specially emphasizing surgery, described 395 medicinal plants, 57 drugs of animal origin, and 64 minerals and metals as therapeutic agents. (33) * By 7th cent. B.C.E., Phoenician colonists had planted olive trees on the opposite end of the Mediterranean Sea, on the Iberian Peninsula. (34) * Assyrian ruler Sennacherib (r.701-681 B.C.E.) gathered together in his gardens in Nineveh aromatic plants from Syria and fruit trees from many countries. In one place he cut a five-acre temple garden out of solid rock, by digging out planting holes and five-foot-deep water channels. (35) * By 650 B.C.E., Greek hillsides were bare of trees cut down to provide wood for houses, ships, and charcoal used by metalworkers. This lead to soil erosion and loss of fertility in many areas. By 594 B.C.E., Athenian statesman Solon forbade export of any agricultural produce. (This edict will result in more olive trees planted, but as their roots do not hold soil together, erosion of Greek hillsides would be hastened over the next two to three centuries. Rich silver mines also played a part in this.) (36) * Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562 B.C.E.) said to have built terraced Hanging Gardens of Babylon in imitation of Persian landscape for his homesick princess wife. Covered about one-quarter square mile and reached to about 70' high. Was thickly planted with trees of every kind. Some type of machine, possibly waterwheels, kept whole irrigated from Euphrates river. (37)
500 B.C.E.	* Legendary mystic Lao-zi (c.604?-? B.C.E. ) taught concept of Dao, the path or way natural events take w/spontaneous creativity, non-interference, and regular alternation between extremes which are not exclusive but mutually complementary. Wise ruler and sage give up all striving and ideally do not interfere in the people's lives but lead by example and subtle direction. (38a) * Ethical teacher Kongfu-zi (c.551-479 B.C.E. ) urged a system of morality and statecraft to bring about peace, justice, and universal order. Belived strongly in importance of ritual and ceremony, value of politeness and good manners, and importance of education and self-cultivation, especially for the ideal gentleman. His interpretation of dao was "the Way of running a state so that good order and harmony can prevail among men." Said to have once met Lao-zi. (38b) * Spring and Autumn (722 - 481 B.C.E. ) or Warring States period (481 - 221 B.C.E. ) Tripod Basin, earliest known high-fired stoneware pen, closely follows shape of contemporary bronze tripod water basins of Eastern Zhou. (39) * Sixth cent. B.C.E. saw mastery of cast iron technology which created cast-iron hoes and led to sharp axes that opened vast areas to forestry; mold-board plow and annealing (heating then cooling) techniques for making a malleable, nonshattering cast iron three centuries later; and swan-neck hoe capable of weeding around plants without damaging them two centuries after that. (Although blast furnace technology would exist in the West (Scandanavia) by late eighth cent. C.E. and cast iron would be widely available in Europe half a millenium later, it would not be until the seventeenth cent. C.E. that plow and seed drill technology from China would arrive in the Netherlands and England, instigating an agricultural revolution.) (40) * Mid-first millenium B.C.E. 'Yu Gong' ('Tribute of Yü') chapter of the book Shu Jing (Classic of History) mentioned the ancient northeastern province of Qingzhou, whose "articles of tribute were salt, fine cloth of dolichos fibre, productions of the sea of various kinds; with silk, hemp, lead, pine trees, and strange stones, from the valleys of Dai." Term kuai shih at the time referred more to ornamental semiprecious stones than to garden rocks of curious shapes a thousand years later. (41a) * Fifth cent. B.C.E. records of poets and scholars tell of trips into mountains for inspiration. Also, praises of chrysanthemums recorded from this time onward. (Yellow-flowered variety mentioned first.) (41b) * Third cent. B.C.E. treatise describes 300-year-old method of improved crop growth by planting in rows with multi-tube seed drill rather than simply broadcast-scattering of seed. (India soon adopted this also, but Europe would not try this method for two millenia.) Another text from this time describes connection between types of vegetation which grow in certain areas and minerals to be found underground at same localities. (First European example of geo-botanical prospecting would be about sixteen hundred C.E.) (41c) QIN DYNASTY (221 B.C.E.-207 B.C.E.) * Earliest mention of imperial garden began by emperor Qin Shi Huang Di: 120,000m in circumference, held 300 palaces and several lakes, largest being 300 hectares in area. Also, in 219 B.C.E. he sent expedition of 3,000 young men and maidens, led by a Daoist priest, to find the tree and the fruit which confer immortality. They did not return and legend suggests that they were the people who became [some of] ancestors of the Japanese. (42) WESTERN HAN DYNASTY (206 B.C.E.-8 B.C.E.) * Earliest conceptual model of garden design in China included "one lake, three hills" by first emperor Gaozu.  Lake had three mountains representing legendary islands in land of Immortals, an enduring theme for imperial and some private gardens ever since. (43) * c.140 B.C.E., new Emperor WuDi sent emissary Jang Qian halfway around world to Bactria and Sogdiana to seek an east-west alliance against the Hsiung Nu (Huns). News of Jang Qian and of Serica (land of silk) would reach Rome and caravans would begin to carry first apricots and peaches to Europe, while grapes, pomegranates, walnuts and other plants would be introduced to China. WuDi also built replicas of the islands of the Immortals in great lake in his park/gardens. (44) * 101 B.C.E., Chinese ships reached the east coast of India with help from navigational compass pioneered by the Chinese using orientating effect of lodestone (magnetite, an ore resulting from iron mining and working beginning eight centuries earlier). (First mention in Europe of magnetic compass would be in 1190 C.E.) (45)		* Siddhartha Gautama (c.563-477 B.C.E. ), historical Buddha ("Awakened One"), in India taught Middle Way and Four Noble Truths. (46) * As early as fifth cent. B.C.E., fame of Indian steel and iron had made its way to Persia and to Rome. (47) * 431 B.C.E., pepper from India fairly common in Greece as a medicine. (48) * Latter half of 4th cent. B.C.E., first described gardens in Athens, sacred grove of the Academy founded by Plato. Plane trees and olives (said to have been reared from cuttings taken from sacred olive in Erechtheum) grew there, watered by river Cephissus. (49) * Indian king Chandragupta Maurya (r.322-298 B.C.E.) had park surrounding his palace which included both indigenous and imported from abroad evergreen trees. * Indian king Asoka (269-232 B.C.E.) planted groves of trees for public recreation, and later rulers followed his example. Asoka also adopted Buddhism. He established India's first hospitals and herbal gardens and placed them under Buddhist control in opposition to the Hindu Brahmins. (50a) * By c.300 B.C.E., Indian Ayurvedic texts had been translated into Greek. (50b) * Theophrastus (c.370–c.287 B.C.E.), Greek philosopher known as the father of botany, and a favorite pupil of Aristotle. Thought to have written more than 200 books, of which only two survive, History of Plants and Causes of Plants, and these only in part. He also developed first known botanical garden. These two works, almost alone, carried Greek learning about plants and gardens for 16 centuries, to the Renaissance. Many of his observations are current down to our own time. (51)
100 B.C.E.	* First herbal here put in writing at least by 2nd cent. B.C.E.  Contained descriptions of some 365 drugs from 252 plants. (52) * Importations of new aromatics took place under Han Emperor Wu in consequence of far-reaching expansion politics of this monarch and newly opened commercial relations of China. New type of vessel was created: Boshanlu, incense burners in form of mountain peaks which rose over the waves and symbolized abode of the Immortals, the mythic Islands of the Blessed. Some burners rested on small pen dish to either catch hot embers or hold miniature symbolic ocean. * China sanctioned official trade in silk w/foreigners in 2nd cent. B.C.E .  (53)	* Yayoi culture (300 B.C.E. -300 C.E. ) resulted from introduction of wet cultivation of rice, iron and bronze metalworking, and potter's wheel from China and Chinese colonies in Korea. Shinto has kami (divine forces) in nature and virtues of loyalty and wisdom. (54) * Chinese magician/physician Xu Fu sent c.221 B.C.E. here w/600 youths in quest for Elixir of Life at magical island in Eastern Sea. (55)	* By 15 B.C.E., Roman-style propagation pots in use in Jericho. Shaped like upside-down bottles with holes perforated near the necks and packed w/soil, these would hold a young branch or shoot for two years until rooting occurred. Then separation would be made from parent plant and transplantation to a new site would be made. * Romans seem to have invented art of topiary around end of first cent. B.C.E.  Metal one-piece spring hand-shears, an essential tool for trimming bushes into geometric shapes, were used for topiary work since at least this time. (56)
0	* About 2 C.E. , Buddhist missionaries from Bactria court visited the Han court. (57) EASTERN HAN DYNASTY (25-220 C.E.) * Confucianism now became entirely divorced from ancient magical rites of wu sorcerer/psychic priests who had been assisting in rituals for over fifteen centuries. (58) * Daoism, with its doctrine of non-action, its mysticism -- including recreating magical sites in minature to focus these properties -- and its disregard of rites and ceremonies esteemed by Confucians, was deeply rooted along with wu in cultural life of ordinary people. (59) * Period of great creativity in imperial gardening and development and growth of private, residential gardens as smaller versions thereof. (60) * By 83 C.E., amber being imported from Burma.  Its "magical" property (static electricity) allowed amber to pick up mustard seeds. (61)	* In 57 C.E. first embassy from this Land of Wa reached Luoyang court and paid tribute to Han Emperor. (Wa was comprised of hundred or so separate tribal communities without writing or political cohesion.) (62)	* Romans saw trees in pots in Egypt, brought back idea and there was craze in Rome for growing trees in pots, especially lemons and oranges. * Although topiary art [would come] to mean plant sculpture by Renaissance period, the word topia/topiarius had other meanings in antiquity, one of which was "miniature gardens," such as those found in the peristyles (columned porch or open colonnade in building that surrounds a court that may contain an internal garden) of Roman houses. These miniature gardens were probably derived from landscapes in bas-relief on certain courtyard walls that date back to Hellenistic times... Some of the houses at Pompeii (dating no later than 79 C.E.) had mural paintings of gardens, illusionistic wall paintings that added false perspective to enclosed gardens; others had, in addition, three-dimensional miniature landscapes... Also found there was a little house having a wall with flues to allow heat from the stove in the house to warm the bricks and thus the air, and tiers of masonry on which plants plants would be displayed. There are also indications of the existence of a screen of rough glass or mica: this was an early version of a greenhouse. On Pliny's Tuscan estate dwarf trees and gardens were laid out in imitation of country scenes. The art was elaborate, highly stylized and sometimes over-the-top status symbol for sybaritic villa life, complex and labor-intensive, appealing to Roman sense of taste and achieved by Roman dependance on slavery. Clipped box, cypress, or dwarf plane trees could display name of gardener or owner of villa, or could represent animals, battles and heroic characters from history and mythology, obelisks, and all sorts of images. (63)
100 C.E.	* Parthian crown prince An Shi-gao fled to China c.148 and began systematic translation of Buddhist scriptures into Chinese, including material on dhyana (the use of various meditational exercises as a way to enlightenment). So-called Dhyana school of early Chinese Buddhism began, and translations sometimes used Daoist terminology to convey non-physical concepts. Also, floral altar decorations were introduced and floral designs started to become dominant force in Chinese art. (64)		* China was beginning to appear on Roman maps. (65a) * An embassy, sent by Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius in 166 C.E  returned from China w/gift of Chinese human dwarfs for Roman emperor and, perhaps, it is no coincidence that dwarf statuary long remained popular as garden art. Trade throughout Indian Ocean was extensive from 2nd cent., and many trading ports w/links to Roman communities have been identified in India and Sri Lanka along route used by Roman mission. (65b)
200	THREE KINGDOMS period (220-280) SIX DYNASTIES period (in south, 265-589), including JIN DYNASTY (265-420) * Legend of Fei Jiang-feng who had "power of shrinking and collecting in urn mountains and streams... trees and rivers." Would be retold through Tang and Song dynasties. * Pre-Tang literature also frequently mentioned aberrations of vital fluids of Nature, such as stones shaped naturally like living creatures: tortoise, horse, man, or the Buddha, and fossiliferous rocks containing "stone swallows" and other monsters. In addition, there was mass of folklore about haunted stones in wild rugged places, curiously shaped rocks associated w/dragons, devils, saints, and gods. (66)	* More than thirty states had been united by shamaness-queen Pimiko, who presided over complex culture and c.239 established diplomatic relations with Chinese Wei dynasty (220-264). (67)
300	* At beginning of century, royal family of Western Jin moved from Luoyang to Nanking on lower southern reaches of Yangtze, where very favorable climate and soils permitted making of spectacular gardens -- still using Han techniques. (68a) * 304, text describes earliest known use of biological pest control: carnivorous reddish-yellow ants to attack insects which damage mandarin oranges. (Seventeen centuries later would be subject of study in West.) (68b) SIXTEEN KINGDOMS period (in north, 316-589) * Buddhism and Daoism- wu directed their appeal to magical side of human nature which was neglected by Confucian orthodoxy. Former two faiths located their temple sites in forests or near mountains and were enhanced by traditional gardening arts. (69) * Indian Ayurvedic texts were translated into Tibetan and Chinese by this time. (70)		* Buddhism brought into Korea from China. (71)
400	* By 406, ginger was such a favorite spice that it was being grown in pots onboard ships so it could be eaten fresh. (72) * Private gardens first created now, grew from striving for spiritual freedom, as opposed to materialistic pleasure that motivated building of imperial gardens and parks. Scholars became hermits in opposition to the status quo, escaping society in order to preserve their integrity. Private garden based on Daoism -- 'simple, formless, desireless, without striving' -- was articulation of desire for graceful, happy, long life in retirement -- but also was expression of denial, self-protection, and seclusion in response to buffetings of unstable and chaotic society. Remote but scenic places were chosen for beautiful villas of high artistic quality, self-sustaining and made to imitate and complement nature, including creation of scenes using rocks, trees, and water. (73)	* A scholar familiar with Chinese religious writings, Wang-In (Wani), spent time here as early as 404 when he brought ten copies of Analects of Confucius. (74) * Around 400, the chrysanthemum was introduced from China. (75) * From 421 - 478, King of Wa sent tribute to Southern Court in China. (76) * Japan's most sacred spot, Ise shrine, dates from this century. Was consecrated to sun-goddess, supposed ancestress of emperor. Its open pebble enclosure is called yuniwa, "purified space of ground." Derived from this is niwa, a space of ground "set aside for special purposes," which could be religious or political. Some of these would become gardens, the current meaning of niwa. (77)
500	* Use of air-layering as method of propagation recorded by this time. (78) * Monk Bodhidarma (c. 470-543?) opposed Indian Buddhist practice, which had developed along more doctrinaire and ritualistic lines, turning away from meditation and concept of each person's ability to possess and know his/her own Buddha nature. Bodhidharma set out to discover how he might restore this essential component and travelled widely. Quest eventually took him to Shaolin temple in Henan, China, where after nine years of sitting meditation he conveyed his teachings to monk Huike (487-593). Chan-na (aka Chan ) school of Buddhism thus originated when Bodhidarma-brought Indian dhyana teachings merged with Chinese Daoism. Chan maintained its more active, vital spirit even as other Buddhist sects were becoming more rigidly formalized. (79) * Frequent communications and trade with India and Persia from this time. (80) SUI DYNASTY (581-618)	* By 552, Chinese Buddhism introduced imto Japan and first monastery established 35 years later. (81) * Incense stand similar to boshanlu was sent from China to Empress-Regent Suiko (b.554, r.592-628). (82)	* Also in 552, silkworms smuggled out of China in bamboo tubes, along w/secrets of industry to Byzantine emperor Justinian in Constantinople. (83)
600	TANG DYNASTY (618-906) * 621, Imperial bureau established for manufacture of porcelain. Technology would advance further during this dynasty. (84) * Mid-century, court painter Yan Liben's Tribute Offered by a Vassal depicted a scene of at least twenty-five foreigners presenting gifts to the emperor, including long columns of rock riddled with hollows and exquisitely shaped rocks apparently as miniature landscapes. Earliest known depiction of these from anywhere. Also, oldest written references to miniature landscapes date from this time, but these indicate such landscapes were already developed and in fashion. (85) * Shen-hsiu (605?-706) founded the so-called Northern School of Chan, which was strongly marked by traditional Indian Meditation Buddhism. At end of century received patronization of Empress Wu (who found it politically opportune to side with a school of Buddhism that deviated from posituion of established schools). The Northern School, however, declined and died out after a few generations. (86)	* Suiko's nephew, Prince Regent Shotoku (573-621), promulgated 17-article constitution, sent large embassy in 607 to China (start of two century tradition of scholarly missions and intercourse), and added house figure to incense stand: thought to be beginning of bonkei. (87) * A censer crowned with small rock representing a sacred Chinese/Buddhist mountain was received by way of Korea. * Craftsmen from Korea constructed several replicas of this sacred mountain for Court, some copies placed next to temples, others smaller sized. (From late 4th to mid-7th cent. Japan adventured into Korea through generations of sporadic fighting and intrigue. Much loot, tribute and presents gotten, along w/Korean and even Chinese craftsmen. Japanese Iron Age Yamato standard of living tremendously accelerated because of all of this.) (88) * Buddhism established as official religion in 624. * Government, literature, and culture based on Chinese model. (89) * An envoy sent by Shotoku to China for cultural guidance returned with also an appreciation of Buddhistic practice of floral altar worship. After Prince Regent died, this Ono-no-imoko retired from Court and started to formulate basic rules of arranging flowers with stylized designs at Rokkaku-do temple. First school of arrangement came into existence, Ikenobo. (90) YAMATO period (645-711)	* 679, creation by China of the protectorate general of An Nam (Vietnam). (The Au Lac kingdom had been vassal of China since 196 B.C.E. and was annexed in 111 B.C.E. ) (91) * 660, Silla Kingdom allied w/China to overthrow Baekje Kingdom; Goguryeo fell shortly afterwards in 668. Despite Chinese Tang influences and Buddhism, Korea peninsula-ruling Silla remained largely tribal in culture. Dwarf potted trees were introduced from China to Korea during this time. (92)
700	* Hui-neng (638-713) founded the so-called Southern School of Chinese Chan w/radical rejection of mere book learning and down-to-earth practicality combined with dry humor. Gave Chan, which had been traditional Indian Buddhism, a typical Chinese stamp, at least as strongly marked by Daoism as by Buddhism. (93) * c.706, Zhang Huai tomb paintings included depictions of two ladies-in-waiting offering penjing, miniature rockery landscapes in shallow dishes. * Relations with some 70 countries and regions; height of what one day would be called Silk Road trade along vast overland network of local trade connections stretching to Mediterranean Sea. Rebuilt capital of Chang'An was one of world's political, economic and cultural centers. (94) * Second greatest poet Du Fu (712-770) had description of rock landscape shrunk into the space of one cubic foot. (95) * Development of private gardens reached its maturity as scholar-hermits no longer felt compelled to venture into wilderness as their only means of "escaping" society. Instead, they built urban and suburban dwellings for themselves and led a secluded life of art and poetry writing. Luoyang at century's end had more than thousand private gardens scattered throughout city and its suburbs. Capital of Chang'an had even greater amount. (96)	* In 702, great University for promotion of Medicine, Astrology and other Chinese sciences established at seat of government. (97) NARA period (712-793) * 717, botanical garden added to University. (98) * Other gardens being built were called shima ("islands"), scaled down models of sea and island scenery -- and ancient Chinese Islands of the Blessed. (99) HEIAN period (794-1185)	* c.795, regulations for the administration of towns in Charlemagne's empire list seventy-three plants and fruit-trees which must be grown. (100)
800	* Pai-chang Huai-hai (720-814) founded Chan monastic tradition by establishing precise rules for life and daily routine. Chan masters and their students had hitherto been "guests" in monasteries of other Buddhist schools and had adhered to monastic rules of these schools. Independent Chan monasteries were now possible because of new rules which stressed importance of combining meditative practice w/daily work in the monastery and in the fields. Pai-chang is not known for his organizational talent alone, rather primarily for his Chan realization and his great wisdom. (101) * Bai Zu Yi (aka Po Chü-i, 772-846) wrote verse about miniature mountain landscape. (102)	* During early years, most of NW part of capital was a settlement of naturalized Koreans and Chinese who had come as craftsmen, architects, and garden makers to help build this new city. Centerpiece of Heian courtly life would be the palace and its garden. (103) * The art of arranging flowers spread from temples to courts of nobles and feudal lords. Evolved was more artistic system w/formal and elaborate designs, heavily vested in rituals and religious concepts. Structure was composed of three radical lines based on Confucian teachings that "Man identifies himself with Heaven and Earth." (104)
900	FIVE DYNASTIES period (907-960) NORTHERN SONG DYNASTY (960-1127) * By this time, China had lost control of ancient silk route to Uighur and Tangut states. To compensate for loss of tax revenue, the Song embarked on program of maritime trade, building ships and exporting products throughout south-east Asia. (105) * 965, Tao Gu's Qing-i-lu, collection of expressions from Tang and Five Dynasties, included story about malachite rock which resembled a mountain, was purchased for thousand pieces of gold, and was made into a boshanlu, and also about little model of Mount Li (the tomb of Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di, d.207 B.C.E. ) w/landscape, houses, people, animals, forests, bridges, and highways all represented in detail in Borneo camphor wood. (106)	* Because of political instability in China during this time, Japan suspended official missions to mainland, and divergence in Chinese and Japanese art occurred. This independence allowed artistic patronage to grow in Japan during next four centuries or so. (107)	* Following independence of Vietnam from China in 939, books were written which included descriptions of miniature landscapes with mountains and caves, Hon Non Bo. People placed rocks and plants in containers, while royalty built larger versions, usually including one or more in grounds of their palaces. (108)