Currently in China, the translation of Landscape Architecture has two extremely different meanings “Jing Guan” (Modern Landscape Architecture) and “Yuan Lin” (Chinese Classical Garden Planning and design).

    Chinese Landscape Architects when dealing with their western peers need to differentiate between Jing Guan and Yuan Lin to ensure proper understanding that they are two unique and separate philosophies. When translated as LA, Yuan Lin is assumed to be the same as western styled LA and loses its true meaning.

    Gu Qin in finds LA as an unsuitable translation for Yuan Lin. He argues that Yuan Lin has over three thousand years of history, while LA has existed for only about one hundred years. It is ridiculous to try to retrofit such an important and long standing Chinese unique concept into a new word that causes the loss of its inherent meaning.

    Translating Yuan Lin this way will allow the original idea to become watered down a loss that would be tragic for Chinese culture as a whole.

    If Yuan Lin continues to be translated as LA, It is easy to imagine that in the future the concept will be lost entirely. The world will never know that Yuan Lin ever existed, even in China young landscape architects will lose touch with an important part of their culture as it is absorbed into the general concept of LA. Continuing down this path could lead to the death of Yuan Lin and cause irrevocable damage to Chinese culture.

    It is certain that no Chinese person wants to see Yuan Lin to be forgotten by the world.

    Gu Qin thinks if you want to interact on an international level you cannot only use a popular word. to describe such an important philosophy. By translating Yuan Lin as LA, Chinese landscape architects are subjugating part of their culture to fit the international mold, a practice that will ruin Yuan Lin’s potential for development to an international level and taint a treasured piece of Chinese culture.

    Gu Qin also stressed that Shanghai Society of Landscape Architects（established in 2006） as representatives of modern LA concepts in China hold an important position in this debate. They must assist in protecting the cultural heritage of Yuan Lin as well as interacting with international LA community, both learning from western techniques and philosophies as well as forwarding Chinese achievements in the field. By establishing and standardizing CLA (Certified Landscape Architect) as a nationally recognized qualification with the Chinese Ministry of human resources and Social Security China cements its place as one of the countries at the forefront of this emerging industry on an international level.