{"id":5347,"date":"2020-05-25T12:11:27","date_gmt":"2020-05-25T19:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/?post_type=book&p=5347"},"modified":"2022-10-19T12:21:27","modified_gmt":"2022-10-19T19:21:27","slug":"japanese-zen-gardens","status":"publish","type":"book","link":"https:\/\/depts.washington.edu\/hortlib\/book\/japanese-zen-gardens\/","title":{"rendered":"Japanese Zen Gardens"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"Yoko Kawaguchi\u2019s book \u201cJapanese Zen Gardens\u201d is excellent source of Japanese gardening history, but with a focus on the dry landscape (kare-sansui<\/em>) traditions associated with Zen Buddhist temples.\u00a0 These sites bring the history alive with gorgeous photographs by Alex Ramsay and interpretive diagrams.\u00a0 While the dry landscape style may seem static to those outside Japan, Kawaguchi clearly shows an ongoing evolution, including its use for gardens not associated with temples.<\/p>\n

This book would be excellent reading for planning or recalling a trip to Japan, especially if centered on Kyoto.\u00a0 While too large for a traveling guide, it is written in an instructive style for a visitor.\u00a0 Kawaguchi was born in Japan, but has lived much of her life in either North America or the UK, and has an ability to interpret and correlate both western and eastern aesthetics.<\/p>\n

Kawaguchi focuses the latter half of her book on symbolism.\u00a0 This includes plant selection and, in some cases, removal.\u00a0 At the temple of T\u014dfuku-ji in Kyoto, all the ornamental cherry trees were chopped down around 1400.\u00a0 All the maples suffered the same fate in 1869, although these have mostly grown back.\u00a0 In both cases, the trees were considered a diversion.\u00a0 \u201cAre they not perhaps too showy for a temple setting, making people think about temporal pleasures rather than reflect on the state of their souls?\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Excerpted from the Summer 2020 issue of the Arboretum Bulletin<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Yoko Kawaguchi\u2019s book \u201cJapanese Zen Gardens\u201d is excellent source of Japanese gardening history, but with a focus on the dry landscape (kare-sansui) traditions associated with Zen Buddhist temples.\u00a0 These sites bring the history alive with gorgeous photographs by Alex Ramsay and interpretive diagrams.\u00a0 While the dry landscape style may seem static to those outside Japan, Kawaguchi clearly shows an ongoing evolution, including its use for gardens not associated with temples. This book would be excellent reading for planning or recalling…<\/p>\n

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