Three-Part Program, (Bundle) The Emperor’s Western Maze and the Making of a Global Garden in China

BUNDLE OFFER: Purchase all three webinars in the series for 30% off. To take advantage of this offer, register below.

In a special three-part virtual series for the Garden Conservancy this winter, Professor Andrew Hui explores the fascinating yet overlooked history of the Western Gardens at the Chinese Emperor’s Summer Palace in the eighteenth century. Over the course of three episodes, he will explore the unexpected story of how these vast gardens came to be designed by Jesuit priests and how they influence the development of Europe’s own gardens.

Part I: The Summer Palace: Beijing and its Creators (Recording Only)

January 29, 2026 I 12 noon Eastern - THIS EVENT HAS PASSED.

Part II: The Maze: Jesuits, Emperors, and the Invention of the Western Style Gardens in China (Recording Only)

February 26, 2026 I 12 noon Eastern - THIS EVENT HAS PASSED

Part III: From Beijing to Europe: Chinese Gardens and the Rise of Chinoiserie

March 19, 2026 I 12 noon Eastern

While Jesuits introduced European designs to the Qing court, Chinese gardens themselves profoundly shaped Europe. Jesuit letters back to Europe described landscapes of winding paths, asymmetry, and surprise, a sharp contrast to Versailles’ rigid geometry. These ideas—captured in the English neologism “sharawadgi”—helped spark the English landscape movement and a wave of chinoiserie across Europe. This final lecture traces the paradox: the Summer Palace absorbed European mazes and fountains, even as Europe reimagined itself through the Chinese garden. Together, these exchanges reveal gardens as a global art form in the early modern world.

About the Speaker

Andrew Hui teaches at National University of Singapore and is the author of three books: The Study: The Inner Life of Renaissance Libraries (2025), A Theory of the Aphorism from Confucius to Twitter (2019, translated into 4 languages), and The Poetics of Ruins in Renaissance Literature (2017). His newest project is The Emperor’s Maze: The Jesuits in China and the Making of a Global Age (under contract, Penguin Press).

Andrew is an experienced public speaker who has lectured widely, including recent talks at Yale, Oxford, and Brown universities, as well as online for the Medici Archive Project, the Smithsonian, and the 92nd Street Y.

You will receive the webinar link directly from Zoom. A recording of this webinar will be sent to all registrants a few days after the event. We encourage you to register, even if you cannot attend the live webinar. 

***By purchasing the below bundle ticket, you are registering for all three parts of "The Emperor’s Western Maze and the Making of a Global Garden" webinar series for a 30% discount (Members $12 / Non-Members $32). Since the live webinar of Part 1, 2 has passed, you'll receive the recording only for Part 1, 2--click 'view ticket' in the confirmation email for the link--and the live link and recording for Part 3. If you'd like to pay with credits or register for individual parts, please navigate here.