For Lin, the Chinese word for "garden" conjured up an expansive scene of pavilions, waterfront buildings, crooked bridges and artificial hills that blended in with nature. There were no straight tree-lined avenues and topiary trees, the kind of clumsy forms to be found at Versailles that the Chinese would not even glance at.
他認為中國的「園」字所給人的印象，是一片遼闊的風景，其中有與自然融為一體的亭台樓榭、曲橋假山，而沒有筆直的林蔭大道、圓錐形的樹木，「沒有一切把凡爾賽弄得如此笨拙，叫中國人看不上眼的形式」，他寫道。