Abstract

Taking the Grand View Garden (Daguanyuan) in Dream of the Red Chamber as its case study, this paper examines how private gardens of the Ming and Qing dynasties functioned as gendered spatial structures that shaped women’s living conditions and subject consciousness through the combined effects of physical layout, institutional regulation, and psychological discipline. Drawing on theories of spatial sociology and feminist scholarship, the study argues that the garden should not be understood as a neutral aesthetic medium; rather, it constituted a concrete spatial manifestation of patriarchal order. Its enclosed configuration, hierarchical organization, and design strategy of “concealment and revelation” enacted subtle yet pervasive forms of discipline over women’s bodies, behaviors, and mental worlds in everyday life. At the same time, women appropriated this relatively enclosed environment to negotiate limited forms of discursive power and spiritual autonomy through poetry clubs, artistic creation, and social interaction. The garden space thus embodied a dual character, serving simultaneously as a mechanism of discipline and a site of resistance. By introducing a gender-based perspective into the study of traditional Chinese gardens, this paper seeks to provide a historical reflection on contemporary issues concerning gender and space.

Keywords

garden space, female consciousness, gender discipline, dream of the red chamber