Pond in the Yi Ho Garden, 18th cent.
The mirror principle is also present in landscape design. The gardens had ponds, or much smaller basin
pond. A basin pond was a clay utensil that could hold water whose surface served as a mirror on ground,
between rocks, sand, or moss. "Whether it was the mirror basins of the T'ang, or the natural water ponds of the
Sung, the aesthetic directions of these garden elements were the same. They were generally directed inwards,
towards the cultivation of the spirit...Chinese landscape designing could be considered as a reflection of the
mind. In fact, all gardens were the result of human action upon nature, and as such, were a mirror of the human
spirit in a general sense."
