The Art of the Japanese Garden. David Young
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rocks were classified according to shape: tall vertical, low vertical, arching, reclining and flat. There also are classifications for the number of rocks in a composition: two, three, five or seven. An arrangement of three rocks is the most common. There are two types of rock triads: one in which three rocks are arranged horizontally to form a triangle when viewed from above (hinbonseki), and one in which three rocks are arranged to form a triangle, with its base resting on the ground, when viewed from the side (sanzonseki). The latter, the vertical triad, probably dates back to the Nara Period when it was known as a Buddha triad, with the large rock in the center representing a Buddha and the two flanking rocks representing Bodhisattva attendants. An entire garden can often be analyzed in terms of the relationship between horizontal and vertical rock triads.
The use of three components, one large, one small and one medium, to create a dynamic balance of odd numbers is not limited to garden architecture but is a basic principle in other arts, such as flower arranging, where the tallest (vertical) element in the arrangement (such as a flower, wild grass or branch) represents heaven; the shortest (diagonal) element represents earth; and the medium-size (horizontal) element represents humanity—the bridge between heaven and earth.
Small rock garden at Ryōgenin, a subtemple of Daitokuji Zen Monastery, Kyoto, which features complementary rocks and raked gravel.
Other Design Considerations
Generally, a rock should be set into the ground far enough to provide a feeling of stability and a sense that the rock has been there for some time. The number and size of rocks included in a garden have a major impact upon the general impression created. As mentioned earlier, Warrior gardens tended to include numerous rocks of large size, suggesting power and authority. In contrast, Zen gardens generally employ few rocks to create a more austere and contemplative environment.
An important design consideration is to select rocks that vary in terms of color, shape and size. Within an individual rock, however, too much variation can be distracting. If strata or veining are evident, they should be oriented in the same direction. The same is true of color. A rock with too many strongly contrasting colors lacks subtlety.
The 2-meter (6.5 foot)-high gravel cone in the dry landscape garden of Ginkakuji (Temple of the Silver Pavilion), Kyoto, is remade every month in order to maintain its original shape.
An interesting design principle introduced at the end of the Edo Period was the seemingly random placement of one or more rocks to provide an element of spontaneity. Such rocks are referred to as suteishi—“discarded” or “nameless” rocks. This “artless” use of rocks nevertheless has to be done skill-fully if it is to achieve the desired effect.
Sand and Gravel
Sand (suna) and gravel (jari) have characterized sacred plots in the forest or on beaches since an-cient times (pages 50–1). Much later, sand from eroded granite was popular in dry landscape (karesansui) gardens because it can be raked into patterns that represent flowing water. By implying movement, sand patterns rely upon the power of suggestion to entice observers to participate in the creative process and to enter into the very fabric of the garden itself. The dynamism of sand patterns also complements the static nature of rocks. To use an organic analogy, if rocks provide the skeleton, sand patterns provide the soft tissue and blood.
Used together, rocks and sand patterns suggest various contrasts important in both continental and Japasnese cosmology, such as the contrast between yin and yang (in and yō in Japanese), or the contrast between the eternal principles of the universe and their constant manifestation in the ongoing processes of nature.
tall vertical and reclining
tall vertical, short vertical and reclining
short vertical and flat
tall vertical, flat and reclining (an example of the basic triad)
tall vertical, arching, short vertical, flat and reclining
SAND AND GRAVEL PATTERNS
In creating sand patterns in dry landscape gardens, the size of the grain is important. If the grain is too small, it is easily disturbed by wind and rain; if the grain is too large, it is difficult to rake. Color is also important. White sand carries connotations of purity and can be dazzling in the sunlight, whereas darker colors, such as gray or brown to bluish black, are said to convey feelings of tranquility. The best white sand comes from the Shirakawa area of Kyoto, where it has been used in gardening for centuries. The Tokyo area produces some of the best colored sands.
Sand is ideal for gardens that are meant only to be viewed but it is not suitable for courtyards in which activities take place, such as those of Buddhist temples or Shinden style mansions. Such courtyards employ larger grained gravel or small pebbles that are more likely to stay in place under the trampling of feet. Some courtyards, such as those at Ise Jingū, which are not normally walked upon, are covered with rounded, water-worn pebbles and small rocks, reminiscent of a river beach.
straight
paving stone
flower (or some other plant)
woven
whirlpool eddy in foreground; straight in back (note how the “straight” lines curve around the rocks)
piled sand
ocean waves
checkerboard (the main difference between the checkerboard and paving stone designs is in the size of the squares)
curves
WALLS, FENCES AND PATHS
Walls and fences are used to enclose a garden, thereby ensuring privacy and keeping out unwanted intruders. They also are frames that allow a garden to be viewed as a work of art, somewhat detached from its surroundings. The importance of paths is that they guide visitors through a garden in such a way that the composition unfolds as intended by the designer.
Walls and Fences
In addition to framing what is on the inside, walls and fences can be used, in conjunction with trees, shrubs and hedges, to frame distant scenes and incorporate them into the garden—an example of “borrowed scenery.” Fences are also