Abstract: The study tends to find several fundamental ideas of Literati’s garden revealed in Chapter 17 of the famous novel Dream of the Red Chamber by Cao Xueqin by close reading. First, the nomination of the scenes plays a key role in clarifying the meaning of the garden, rather than a decorative literary symbol. Second, the elegance of the scenic name indicates the revelation of the truth and existence of the viewer in garden. Third, a winding path leading to a secluded spot does not only means the serpentine curve in garden, but the secluded and then fascinated scenes as a consisting whole. Last, the idea “natural picture” disclosed the internal experience in time, rather than the simple imitation of the natural landscape or rural scene. Those ideas, which could be concluded by “gardening by meaning, and establish the meaning by gardening” from Qi Biaojia’s Notes on Yushan, rooted in the works and comments on gardens by intellectuals in the late Ming Dynasty. By the description of the bodily experience and intellectual comments on the meaning, those literary works tell a process of continuous feeling and thinking which shaped the significance of Chinese garden.