QuoteA garden is a poor substitute for wilderness
The garden is called Eden in western Art, before that it had other names but was just the same. Its functionally the same in classical Chinese art. Idealization is always connected to the Devine in classicism regardless of east vs west. Its just the stories are different and the implementation of ideals is different. Regardless of what words or names are used to say divine.
So whether the stone is found to be "perfect" in nature, naturally (whatever we mean by nature or natural), or if it was made so by human hands, it is a pursuit of the divine world. But like in the west, in modernity, art in all of its forms is now almost entirely consumed by the pursuit of aesthetics alone. Which is what you just described, in my opinion, when you said a garden is a poor substitute for wilderness. That is, aesthetics, or the appearance of a thing but lacking its purpose or meaning. A thing for its own sake (art for arts sake). So the wilderness is a garden that has lost its meaning and purpose, but so has the garden. Penjing is one way some people a long time ago tried to address that. What it means today, is whatever people say it means.
In classic art, the wilderness is the ruin of the garden. The garden represents the *perfection* of all nature as it was *created* (no one in the ancient world believed in evolution). Everything else you said is a conversation about communism (A thing for its own sake regardless of what was intended on paper) as far as I am concerned.
And certainly I would argue, all of chinas problems are the fault of communism and the uphevles that lead to communism there. Really, everything you just wrote about china describes the nature of communisim perfectly. Of course the people will reflect that in how they inhabit their space.. Communism consumes everything for its own sake. Some people say the same of capitalism. Some say the same of all religion for that mater, but in that case they have just made the state into god, and thus will do the same for them selves. Just look at environmentalism, the arguments for it are all inherently selfish. Georg Carlin had a very funny but insightful rant on this that someone posted in these forums a while ago.
Anyway, ideals are difficult things. No one to my knowledge has ever lived up to the greater ones. Which is kinda the point too. I like learning about them
I believe its worth thinking about them.
Now Im sure everyone is as tired of me as I am, so I'll quit now.