Garden designers and scholars are interested in the differences and similarities between traditional design and modern designs. This investigation examines the similarities and differences of classical Chinese gardens and modern Chinese gardens. The comparison is accomplished by ordinating the design elements and basic principles for each garden. Three classical Chinese gardens in Suzhou, Jiangsu, China and five modern gardens in Xiamen, Fujian, China were selected to study. A mathematical method called Cluster Analysis was applied in this research. The objective of this method is to group selected gardens based on the Principal Component Analysis and determine the relationships among these three classical Chinese gardens and five modern Chinese gardens. Seventy-five variables were selected from literature review and site photos. According to the result of Principal Component Analysis, the eigenvalues represent seven meaningful dimensions can be used for analysis. Since the plot of the scores on the first two principal components can reveal a clear pattern of clusters already, this research will focus on studying the first two principal components for the garden comparison. The results indicate that the first principal component can be a way to identify the difference between classical Chinese gardens and modern Chinese gardens. The second principal component indicates the modern gardens can be grouped into two different categories.
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