Japanese Gardens
Japanese gardens originated from attempts to incorporate natural scenes into man-made settings. The first gardens in Japan were creaed in the Asuka period. There are two basic types of gardens: the artificial hill type, tsukiyama, and the dry garden type, karesansui.
The first gardens originated in China through Taoist belief. Natural settings were needed to seek the "Dao" for spiritual communion. Taoist gardens emphasized irregular designs, broken edges, wandering streams, and patches of plants.
The Japanese adopted the Chinese garden readily, since Shintoism emphasized the worship of natural objects. The uniquely Japanese garden did not develop until the Heian period, when the garden became a refined art for worship and meditation. The Japanese word for garden, niwa, means "pure place", or a place of worship.
The basics of a Japanese garden are: composition and balance, contrast and change, enclosure, and borrowed landscapes and viewpoints. A lack of symmetry is desired. Stones are usually grouped in 3, 5, or 7. There are five Japanese garden types: the hill type, the dry garden, the coutyard, the teahouse garden, and the stroll garden. Rocks represent masculinity while water represents femininity. Carp are kept in ponds because they live long and symbolize courage, strength, and wisdom. A bamboo pipe that fills with water and knocks on a rock is common in many gardens. It was simply there to scare deer or boars away.
Bonsai first appeared in China over a thousand years ago. They were introduced to Japan in the Kamakura period through Zen Buddhism. Bonsai represents the harmony between man, soul, and nature. Bonsai became an important part of life. Specially designed shelves are set up in every household to hold bonsai. Artists began putting culturally important objects into their work. This is known as bon-kei. The art of making miniature landscapes is called sai-kei. Bonsai are very important on New Year's, when in the tokonoma, the special niche in every household for special possessions, is placed a folwering apricot or plum tree. Most bonsai are made from native trees, such as pines, azaleas, and maples.
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