The Art of the Japanese Garden. David Young

spirits believed to have descended from the heavens or to have come from across the sea. These special places may have included areas around sacred objects such as trees, rocks, waterfalls, naturally pebbled beaches or plots in the forest that were covered with gravel. After the development of agriculture, the term niwa was used to refer to the bare clay-packed area in front of a farmhouse for conducting activities such as daily chores and ceremoniously seeing off guests.

      With the spread of agriculture around 300 BCE, the word sono was employed to describe plots that were shaped into paddies and flooded for the planting of rice. Wet rice agriculture involved extensive modification of the surroundings. In addition to clearing trees, fields had to be leveled; in some cases terraces were constructed; retaining walls were built around each field to retain the water; and irrigation systems were constructed to distribute water among the numerous fields. The importance of water is also seen in the sacred ponds and purification rites of early Shinto.

      In brief, niwa were areas that were graveled or covered with clay in preparation for activities such as ceremonies, whereas sono were areas in which things were planted and watered. Both of these early roots were retained in the term teien.

      China had a major influence on Japanese gardens at various times in its history. Shown here is the Yoen (Jp.) pond garden in Shanghai, constructed in the Ming Period (1368–1644).

      Sacred Versus Secular

      To help clarify the relationship between graveling and planting, it is useful to make a distinction between “sacred” and “secular”—terms that form two ends of a continuum. At the sacred end are compounds dedicated to spiritual entities and activities, including individuals with “divine” origins, such as the emperor. In the ancient tradition, these compounds are austere graveled areas adjacent to or surrounding buildings such as important shrines and temples, or the imperial palace. A good example is provided by the graveled courtyards of the shrines at Ise Jingū, long associated with the imperial family. Though graveled courtyards often are not included in books on Japanese gardens, they are the heirs to an indigenous tradition that has had a considerable impact upon the concept of teien.

      At the secular end of the continuum are spaces dedicated to entertainment and aesthetic enjoyment, such as gardens constructed for mansions and villas. Such gardens are generally larger, have a pond and are planted with trees, shrubs and flowers. This complexity is further enriched with a variety of visual stimuli such as rocks, lanterns and pavilions. A good example is the Naritasan Shinshōji garden in the town of Narita near Tokyo.

      In the middle of the continuum are gardens that combine aesthetic pleasure with a feeling of philosophical or religious profundity, as in the Katsura Rikyū Detached Palace garden in Kyoto (pages 130–3), said by some to be the high point of garden and palace architecture in Japan. A little more towards the sacred end from this mid-point is the austere Zen meditation garden, Ryōanji, in Kyoto (pages 104–7), composed entirely of white gravel and rocks; and a little more towards the secular end is the Saihōji Temple garden in Kyoto, popularly known as Kokedera (Moss Temple) (pages 90–2), which is famous for its lush green mosses and stately trees. Many would consider the gardens in this middle portion of the continuum to be Japan’s finest.

      Entrance to Kōtōin, a subtemple of Daitokuji Zen Monastery, Kyoto.

      Continental Influences

      Japanese gardens did not develop in isolation. Though rooted in ancient prehistoric traditions, they were influenced by new cultural waves coming from the continent, beginning in the third century BCE and culminating in the sixth and seventh centuries CE when the advanced civilization of the Tang Dynasty was at its height. In 607, Ono-no-Imoko, the leader of the first Japanese diplomatic mission to China, returned to Japan with detailed observations on Chinese gardening methods. In 612, Michiko-no-Takumi arrived from Korea to construct for Empress Suiko a garden inspired by mythical Mount Sumeru, mentioned in Buddhist scriptures. Complete with an artificial lake and an island, this continental model was quite different from the earlier graveled courtyard model indigenous to Japan. Both models were destined to play an important role in the development of Japanese gardens.

      Organization of the Book

      The sacred/secular continuum described above could be used to organize the book as a whole. To do so, however, would require making subjective judgments about the position on the continuum occupied by each garden discussed in the book. This is simply not practical. Traditionally, Japanese gardens have been organized into three types: natural scenery gardens (shizen fūkeishiki) that represent nature with artificial ponds and hills, stones and vegetation; dry landscape gardens (karesansui) that suggest natural scenes with stones, gravel and sand; and tea ceremony gardens (chaniwa) that consist of landscaped paths (roji) leading to a teahouse. This classification scheme also could be used to organize the book. It is, however, overly simplified. Instead, Japanese gardens will be described in this book in terms of their historical development. The value of this approach is that it provides a basis for understanding how Japanese gardens were influenced by broader cultural forces and how early gardens evolved into, or influenced, later types, including gardens in other countries.

      Austere and simpleVisually rich and complex

       SacredSecular

      Cleared and graveledContoured and planted

      Though there are exceptions, gardens that evoke religious feelings and philosophical insights tend to be towards the austere end of the continuum, whereas gardens that stimulate a sensual aesthetic response are towards the secular end. Many of Japan’s finest gardens lie in the middle of the continuum.

      Karesansui (dry landscape) garden at Zuihōin, the smallest of the Daitokuji subtemples open to the public.

      BASIC ELEMENTS AND PRINCIPLES

      Japanese gardening, like other art forms, is a skill in which the artist, to use a linguistic analogy, employs a grammar to express an idea in tangible form. The basic building blocks (or “words”) of this gardening grammar are elements such as rocks, vegetation, water and stone lanterns; and the syntax (rules for combining basic units into a meaningful expression) are principles governing the use of different shapes, sizes and colors to create a balanced and pleasing composition.

      Just as languages have dialects, Japanese gardening is not a uniform body of techniques and practices. The grammar employed depends upon the style of gardening. For example, the designer of a stroll garden has access to the full range of basic elements whereas the designer of a dry landscape garden is much more limited in the vocabulary used. This does not mean that the stroll garden is any more highly developed than the dry landscape garden but it is different in terms of the resulting “feeling tone.” Moreover, like languages, gardening grammars and styles change over time depending partly upon internal trends, such as a trend towards increasing complexity, and partly upon external cultural, social and political factors.

      This section explores the grammar of Japanese gardening in preparation for a description of specific gardens in the following section.

      Basic Elements

      The most important elements are structural features. Rocks are arranged into compositions that represent mountains, waterfalls and rugged seascapes. Contrasts between mountain slopes, meadows and valleys are indicated by different species of trees and shrubs that are pruned, clipped and trained into a variety of shapes. Trees and shrubs also are used to connect and provide transitions between the different scenes in a garden. Soil is piled up to create artificial hills and water is channeled to feed streams, ponds and waterfalls.

      Additional