Japanese garden history
Japanese Garden Design Principles PDF
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Japanese Gardens and The Art Of Placement ‘Feng Shui’
“The Ancient Art of Placement” called Feng Shui (pronounced phung schway) literally means ‘wind’ and ‘water.’ The Chinese believe this cosmic energy, called Chi or ‘the green dragon’s cosmic breath,’ is the life force energy that pervades human existence. The basic tenet of Feng Shui is to capture this vital energy creating balance and harmony in our environments. Feng Shui is predicated on the core belief that we, the earth, and every living thing on it are interconnected.
Feng Shui is the oldest form of gardening dating back several millennia to China. It is based on the philosophy that man and nature must live in harmony with one another and that all life is infused with the invisible energy called Chi. This force circulates throughout our environment and is essential to our well-being, health, and happiness. The Chinese sages believed that any man-made feature could affect the flow of Chi so established the rules of placement that are central to this philosophy.
In the Feng Shui garden, balance and harmony are the key factors.
Balance and harmony are achieved by careful attention to detail and the balance of Yin and Yang energy. Yin energy includes the earth, rocks, ponds, plants, flowers, and trees. Yang energy includes the home, brick, wood, nails, and other solid construction. The fundamental characteristics of Feng Shui gardening are:
- Curved lines rather than straight allow natural energy to flow more easily.
- Feng Shui gardens are never crowded.
- Feng Shui gardens are designed to look as natural as possible.
- Mixing shapes and sizes is a vital element in Feng Shui gardens.
The Chi, or cosmic energy, needs to flow freely and smoothly through its surroundings in order to create harmony and balance in the garden. Yin and Yang together constitute the two forms of energy central to the concept of Feng Shui principles and define the quality of the energies in any space.
Yin energy constitutes the feminine energy and its elements are shadows, darkness, winter, night-time, wet, soft, receptive, passive, negative, inner, north, creation, earth, and is symbolized by the moon. Yang energy constitutes the masculine energy and its elements are light, openness, vigour, growth, summer, daytime, spirit, dry, hard, active, positive, sky, heaven, south, outer, energetic, and is symbolized by the sun. Yin and Yang energies are complementary to each other.
The Feng Shui of your house influences your life from a personal point of view.
The Feng Shui of your garden influences the outer aspect of your house and influences the more public view of your life. The front garden is more Yang while the back garden is more Yin and the private side of your life. The best way to examine the Feng Shui of your garden is to treat your entire property as a single unit.
Plants that exhibit Yang energy include large-leafed plants that create a powerful presence and create good Feng Shui when placed beside water features such as a pond or fountain. These plants contrast nicely with feathery foliage plants such as ferns. Plants that exhibit Yin energy include ferns that help to dissolve any negative energy in the garden. Hanging plants will lift energy or allow energy to flow. It is a good idea to hang baskets around areas where you like to socialize. Window boxes encourage beneficial Chi toward the home.
The principles of Feng Shui can be seen in certain types of Japanese gardens but it is a personal decision whether you wish to follow the aspects of Feng Shui with yours.
2 Rules Of Thumb
1
Consider planting plants with symbolic meanings, such as peonies (Paeonia), which represent nobility, or pomegranates (Pomegranate), which represent fertility.
2
Japanese gardens are all about reflecting the seasons, try and use plants and trees that highlight different seasons or cast interesting shadows at different times of day. Feng shui should take into account the placements in your garden in relation to the different times of day.
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Japanese Gardens – What You Should Know About Them
This short video is from our YouTube channel and will interest you if you want to know a little bit more about stunning Japanese gardens.
There is so much to them and this short video will share some of their facets, types, ingredients and at the end of the video is something that you just may like!
Take a look…
Japanese Garden History – Zen Gardens
Whether you’re aware of what a Zen Garden is or not, you have most likely seen one – a tranquil harmonious place with rocks, sand or gravel and manicured plants and shrubs is probably the most renowned imagery of a Zen Garden.
These picturesque gardens, ideal for meditating or simply viewing, are seen enwreathing most religious edifices in Japan, like the famous Buddhist temples in Kyoto.
Zen Gardens are characterized as such because of the calmness they invoke, which is what makes them ideal for meditation, reflection and relaxation. Inspired initially by Buddhism and Chinese culture, the word ZEN would be written on soil and sand, which is the root and inspiration of Zen Gardens.
But a Zen Garden should have more than one meaning for the viewer.
As the Japanese say, “the mind is flexible if we practice flexibility”, thus each garden bears its own interpretation.
But before we elaborate on what a Zen Garden is, means and what comprises it, let’s first take a journey to the past and unearth the roots and derivation of these beautiful gardens.
Each period marks its own significant point in the rise, enhancement and adaptation of Zen Gardens in the Japanese culture. These periods are:
The Han Dynasty
The Asuka Era
The Nara Era
The Heian Era
The Kamakura Era
The Han Dynasty
Although the aspect of Zen Gardens is associated with Japan, it is historically accepted as being a tradition imported from China during what is known as the Han Dynasty (206 – 220 BCE).
This recreation, which was more of a philosophy, was adopted by the Japanese and enhanced to their culture. This is why Japanese gardens exemplify a “lighter” version of Chinese ones and generally follow fewer aesthetic rules and design guidelines in the creation process.
The first Zen Garden was created by Chinese Emperor Wu Di, who lived from 140-87 BCE.
This garden depicted three small islands and it eventually became a custom to use rocks and greenery in order to form island-like motifs and mimic nature. These particular islands were meant to represent the Isles of the Immortals or Taoist gods, a trend that would be replicated throughout the years.
However, the aspects represented in the gardens of the Han Dynasty period were based on imaginary places, godly realms and mythological landscapes.
This imitation of imaginary places went on until the early 600s AD, when the first nature-inspired hill and pond garden was created in Japan by Chinese Emperor Yang Di, who enjoyed good relations with the country.
The Emperor’s overtures were enticing enough for the Japanese to send their own envoy to China – a man called Ono no Imoko. Imoko who immersed himself in Chinese culture and upon his return to Japan brought all that he had learnt with him, including the art of gardening and Buddhism.
The Asuka Era
During the Asuka period (estimated at 538-710 AD) a new philosophy and religion began to emerge, known as Shinto.
Shinto, meaning “Way of the Gods” in Chinese, was a religion that looked upon nature as a god(s), which is what led to the open worship of certain types of rocks and trees.
When a certain “deity” rock was used, sealed by a rice straw rope, in order to indicate an area as being sacred, then that was basically a Zen Garden of the Asuka Era.
The Japanese word niwa was a term often used to determine the holy piece of land around a stone or tree, a dominant aspect of Shinto Zen gardening, particularly between 552-646 AD.
The Nara Era
The Nara Era (710-794 AD) accentuates the blend of Chinese and Japanese culture, Chinese-influenced garden architecture being one of many examples.
A strong characteristic of gardens during this period were the Shinden, which revolved around the element of walkways; paths that connected buildings to each other, with stones and shrubs complimenting the buildings themselves.
Shinden gardens would usually adorn royal edifices or temples and shrines.
With teachings like Buddhism and Shinto broadly introduced to the Japanese culture, the gardens fashioned in this period would be looked upon as depictions of the cosmos.
A large stone would be placed in the centre of them in order to indicate the home of the Buddha and the centre of the universe.
Encircling that stone, smaller ones would be placed in representation of the Buddha’s disciples.
The Heian Era
From 794 to 1185AD, otherwise known as the Heian Era, the Japanese culture was defined by elegance and luxury.
This period of opulence in Japan was in which gardens too developed a more luxurious feel to them and were thus usually the domains of wealthier people.
Zen Gardens suddenly became status symbols indicating wealth and reputation. These rich land-owners were expected to be connoisseurs of Zen Gardens according to the newly developed rules.
It is in the Heian period that we see boats floating upon garden ponds, another advantage that applied to the owners of these lavish gardens. These gardens were specifically known as Chisen Shuyu Teien, translating as “Pond-spring boating gardens” in English.
Ponds would essentially be the epicentre of such a garden as well as the spot from which one would view the garden as a whole.
Taking a tranquil boat-ride through the pond was the traditional way of viewing the garden and a method of entertaining guests.
What we refer to today as Modern Japanese Gardening actually stems from the Heian Era.
‘Sakuteiki’, the first book ever written on Japanese gardening and that dates back to the 11th century, was written by Tachibana Toshitsuna, whose father Fujiwara Yorimichi ruled Japan for nearly half a century and was also the renowned builder of the Byōdō-in in Kyoto.
The Sakuteiki, or “Book of Gardens”, indicated the starting point of Japanese gardening and was also the book that freed designers from the constraints of Chinese-influenced gardening in Japan, which was strictly based on Feng Shui principles and geometric rules.
What the Sakuteiki recommended was a breakthrough in this rule, suggesting that the garden designer should use the placement of stones as their number one priority.
The Kamakura Era
The Kamakura Era ran between 1185-1392 and was a period of great change in Japanese garden design due to the Zen influence.
The new Shogun and his Samurai had embraced the Zen religion, thus influencing the role and purpose of Japanese gardens, which evolved into meditational grounds.
This is where the label “Zen Gardens” firstly and officially applies.
Now that the gardens were enhanced for religious purposes, the designers behind them would largely be priests and sometimes even designers with religious affiliations.
The priests were known as Ishitateso (rock setting priests) and were younger, lesser-ranked priests; elders would consider such work as beneath them.
One of the leading garden designers during the Kamakura Era was Muso Soseki (1275-1351), also known as the forefather of “Borrowed Scenery”.
Soseki designed the gardens in such a way, that the visitor would actually walk around the garden to view it as opposed to sitting in a boat or looking from a building.
The idea was that the visitor would think about the changing views of the garden as they moved around it. Soseki’s design principle, also called “Hide and Reveal” in Japanese, is evident in some Japanese garden designs to this day.
The history of Japanese gardens is as ancient as it is fascinating and this of course is a big attraction for people who respect their simplicity and beauty.
If you are thinking about Or would like to know more about how to create a Japanese garden of your own then we have plenty of help for you take a look by CLICKING HERE
Japanese Gardens For Small and Larger Spaces 