Discover an Ancient Portal Design Full of Meaning
The moon gate is an ancient Chinese landscape element that acts as a portal between gardens as well as between inside and outside. The shape of these gates, a circle rising up out of the land, has many meanings.
One interpretation of the moon gate is that it is complete, representing and celebrating the cohesiveness of the family. This complete circle provides entry to a pathway for the family members to return home to celebrate one another.
Another interpretation is that the moon gate, as it lifts itself out of the landscape, is symbolic of birth and renewal. The birth of a new moon becomes the way in which time is marked and the new comes about.
Yet another interpretation is that the moon gate is, like the moon, a connection to other planets and other worlds. The moon gate, traditionally designed as an opening in a wall, connects garden to garden, inside to outside, public to private.
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In its traditional form, the moon gate is a round opening in a wall. Even when the wall is transparent, more virtual than real, the moon gate provides an opening in the barrier and a connection between two worlds. And this traveling between the two worlds becomes even more pronounced as you step up and over the threshold.
Made of stone blocks cut and fitted together to form a perfect circle, this moon gate remains even through the wall itself has disappeared. And as the gate rises out of the earth, like the moon rises in the sky, it celebrates the continuous cycle of life.
Moon gates can be used indoors as well. As a portal between rooms, especially in a thick wall, a moon gate makes all the more real the transition from one place to another.
A quintessentially American version of the moon gate relies on the iconic picket fence and arbor for its design. With a classical arch made into a circle by a picketed gate, the traditionally styled American moon gate is thinner, more two dimensional and fresher than its Far Eastern antecedent.
More: 12 Inspiring Garden Gates
Photos: Browse thousands of gate designs
