Details of Japanese gardens

In the early history of Japan, although there were records of digging ponds to build islands and building palaces on the islands, it was mainly to resist foreign enemies and prevent fires. Later, due to the influence of China culture, sightseeing and appreciation appeared in the gardens. In the first year of Tang Xianzong (485), there was a Qushui banquet in Houyuan in March. In the eighth year (505 years), Tiberius lived "crossing the pond, opening gardens and raising livestock" are all examples of sightseeing. Qushui Banquet was once a popular spring outing in China during the Han and Jin Dynasties. Putting animals in gardens for people to watch is also the traditional content of royal gardens in China since the Han Dynasty.

In the 13th year of Qin Ming (552), Buddhism spread to the east, and the influence of China gardens on Japanese increased. In Japanese palaces, Mount Sumi and Wuqiao were built. Courtiers and nobles built houses in succession. According to "Japanese Calligraphy", in the thirty-fourth year of Tuigu (625), Minister Suwo Mazi "lived by the Bird River, but opened a small pond in the courtyard, and it was still in the pond to revive the island, so people called it the island minister". There are also works describing the garden scenery of famous families in the poem "Wan Ye Ji". In the 1960s, the archaeological excavation of Pingchengjing showed that there were tortuous ponds in the gardens of Nara era, with rocky islands in the ponds, stones piled up beside the ponds, stones on the shore and bottom of the ponds, and houses scattered around the ponds.

The gardens in the early stage of Ping 'an period require natural expression, and aristocratic villas often adopt the "water stone pavilion" with the theme of the equator. By the end of heian period, the aristocratic mansion had developed from the symmetrical style of China in the Tang Dynasty to the "sleeping in a temple" style in line with Japanese customs. There is a pool in front of the house, and there is an island in the pool. There are pavilions and rockeries around the pool, which are arranged according to the concept of China Penglai Island (one pool with three mountains) (see Zhang Jian Palace). For example, in the Daoshi Old Garden of Kyoto Palace, there is a pool to the south of the Bedroom (which no longer exists). There are three small islands in the pool, and there is a long stone array in the west of the pool (that is, cascade flow, similar to a small waterfall). During this period, more and more garden stones appeared, such as Longshi Formation, Shi Shui Formation (paving stones by the water) and Xiaodaoshi Formation in the pool (so-called Guishan, Duima and Penglai Island). Some Buddhist temples also build pools in front of the main hall, set islands in the pools, or build towers on the islands. Maoyue Temple in Iwate Prefecture and Fasheng Temple in Kyoto are examples. , is the earliest gardening work in Japan.

After the samurai class seized power in Kamakura era, the nobles in Kyoto still built Penglai Island Garden according to tradition, and rokuonji Garden is an example. On the other hand, Zen Buddhism introduced from China flourished. Zen monks' attitude towards life and the tea and ink landscape paintings they brought had a great influence on the upper class in Japan, and also caused changes in Japanese houses and garden buildings. The ideological interest bred by the combination of Zen, tea and painting makes Japanese gardens have a refined, elegant and quiet style. At that time, the most famous gardener was Shu Shi, a monk in the last years of Kamakura. He designed and built gardens such as Xihe Temple in Kyoto, Tianlong Temple, Quanduan Temple in Kamakura and Huilin Temple in History. He is also a pioneer of dry landscape gardens and has a great influence on the development of Japanese gardens.

The samurai garden in Muromachi era is still dominated by Penglai Island Garden. Because Zen is still very prosperous, under the further influence of Zen and painting, the dry landscape garden has developed. This kind of garden is generally small in scale, with stone as the main ornamental object, white sand as the symbol of water surface and pool, or with simple trees. Typical examples are Daxian Courtyard and Long 'an Courtyard of Dade Temple in Kyoto (both abbot courtyards). Daxianyuan was built in 15 13. The garden is located in front of the abbot's house, with a width of only 5-6 meters. With a group of waterfalls as the main body, it symbolizes the ups and downs of mountain scenery, and there is a "stream" under the mountain. Ripples are raked with white sand instead of streams. This kind of gardening technique, like freehand brushwork landscape painting, is a kind of artistic generalization with high imagination. The dry landscape of the abbot garden of Long 'an Temple is all paved with white sand, and no trees are planted. There are five stone formations in Baisha, *** 15, which are divided into five, two, three, two and three. The abbot garden is arranged in an arc from east to west, with refined and subtle style, and is regarded as a masterpiece of dry landscape garden.

After Meiji Restoration, with the introduction of western culture and the influence of gardening art in Europe and America, Japanese gardens began a new turning point. On the one hand, the garden has changed from the private use of the privileged class to the open public use, and the country has opened a number of private parks and built a large number of parks; On the other hand, western garden roads, fountains, flower beds and lawns have also begun to appear in gardens, which has added new gardening techniques to Japanese gardens in addition to the original traditional techniques.

The types of Japanese gardens were influenced by China in the early days, but in the long-term development process, they formed their own characteristics and produced various styles of gardens, including:

Nymphs or pools. The park is centered on the pool, with islands, waterfalls, heaped mountains, streams, small bridges and pavilions. In large gardens, there are "back-swimming" roads or "back-swimming and boat-swimming" roads around the pool, which can also be used for water sightseeing.

Zhushan Pavilion piles up soil in the garden to make fake mountains, decorated with stone groups, trees, flying stones and stone lanterns. By the end of Edo, the so-called "truth, behavior and grass" three bodies appeared, mainly the difference of refinement. Truly built mountains: the pattern is regular, the project is complex, and the most stones are placed, including guard stones, please build stones, control stones, palace cave stones, snail stones, moonstone stones and jade stones; Mountain building: simpler, less stones; Grass makes mountains: simple layout, few stones and soft style.

Pingting, a garden with flat terrain, does not build earth mountains. According to the different materials in the court, there are Zhiting, Taiting, Sha Ting and Shi Ting. Generally, the low stone formation is used, including trees such as garden road and "mowing grass", and its forms are also divided into three types according to the complexity of the landscape: truth, walking and grass.

There are three kinds of gardens that match the tea room, namely, Zen Garden Tea Room, Academy Tea Room and Cao An Tea Room (usually called clearing the way and opening the ground), among which Cao An Tea Room is the most distinctive. There is a wall around the Cao 'an teahouse, and a garden road is set up from the courtyard gate to the teahouse. Plant vegetation or white sand on both sides of the ground, plant trees and arrange stones, and there are delivery (waiting room at the door), middle gate, waiting room (waiting room), Yin Xue (toilet), lanterns (for lighting), washing bowls (for washing hands) and flying stones (that is, stepping stones) along the road. There are one, two or three kinds of opening because of the different division of tea fields. Triple exposure has three gardens: outer, middle and inner.

The dried-up landscape is covered with white sand and decorated with stone groups or appropriate trees, hence the name "no mountains and no water". This is a unique gardening technique in Japan.

The garden layout is described as follows in terms of plant arrangement, rocks and architecture:

In the early days of Japanese gardens, evergreen trees were more important than flowers, but they were improved after Edo. The ground in the garden is usually covered with fine grass, small bamboo, vines, ferns, moss and other plants, and is rarely covered with bricks and stones. Manual pruning is a major function.

Rocks are rarely launched together with stone piles, but they are usually launched together with earth mountains and rock formations. The style of stone carving has changed greatly. Stones have many other uses, such as stone lanterns, flying stones, Zefei (stepping stones in water), Galand stones (paved with stone pillars), sailor bowls, well doors, stone bridges and so on.

Garden buildings are patchwork, without winding corridors. Whether it is a college building or a number of houses, the plane is very free and the layout is open. The paper window grilles on the periphery can be pulled open, which makes the internal and external spaces connected, which is conducive to ventilation and easy to appreciate the landscape. The architectural style is simple and elegant, the roof is covered with grass, bark and boards, and only a few large college-style courtyards use tile roofs. Wood frames, floors, and decorations generally do not need painting, but the workmanship is fine, and the surface is polished to reveal wood texture, or natural materials such as skinned trunks, bamboo, and reeds are used. This wall is painted with plain soil and has no coating. Therefore, the overall architectural style of Japanese gardens is exquisite and elegant.