houraiseki　 蓬莱石

KEY WORD :　architecture / gardens

Lit. Penglai stone. A garden stone representing Mt. Penglai *Houraisan 蓬莱山, the island-mountain of immortals. The houraiseki is usually the key element in *hourai teien 蓬莱庭園, in which Penglai is the central theme. However, most Japanese gardens utilize a hourai stone somewhere in their composition and thus can be considered hourai style gardens *hourai youshiki 蓬莱様式. Houraiseki are frequently placed on a central island nakajima 中島 or Penglai rock island *hourai gantou 蓬莱岩島, in a garden pond or on an artificial hill *tsukiyama 築山, but they also may be placed so as to rise out of dry streams *karenagare 枯流 of dry landscape *karesansui 枯山水 gardens. When Mt. Penglai is represented by a stone emerging from a pond, the houraiseki is called houraitou 蓬莱島 or Penglai island。 The houraiseki may be part of a group of stones; for example, it may be used as the wing rock hane-ishi 羽石, in crane island *tsurujima 鶴島, compositions, the chuusonseki 中尊石 of the *sanzon iwagumi 三尊石組, or it may double as a distant mountain stone enzanseki 遠山石. Houraiseki is not mentioned in the 11c *SAKUTEIKI 作庭記, but it is generally thought that such stones were placed in Heian period gardens as Japanese had been interested in Mt. Penglai since the 7c. The Penglai stone is mentioned in Muromachi period texts such as Sansui narabini nogata-no-zu 山水并野形図 where it is called the Never-Ageing-Stone furouseki 不老石; Of the many Muromachi and early Edo periods houraiseki most have a distinctly aged appearance and are pyramidal in shape, suggesting Mt. Penglai as it is often depicted in painting.

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