karesansui　枯山水
KEY WORD :　architecture / gardens
　
Lit. dry landscape. A common type of garden which suggests mountains and water using only stones, sand or gravel and, occasionally, plants. Water is symbolized both by the arrangements of rock forms to create a dry waterfall *karetaki 枯滝 and by patterns raked into sand to create a dry stream *karenagare 枯流. The word karesansui is found in the 11c garden manual *SAKUTEIKI 作庭記 and garden historians have designated Heian period rock arrangemants as zenkishiki karesansui 前期枯山水. Karesansui usually refers to dry gardens of the Muromachi, Momoyama and Edo periods, although the term kouki karesansui 後期枯山水 has been created to distinguish this later type. Because of their similarity to ink monochrome landscape painting suiboku sansuiga 水墨山水画, particularly that of the Chinese Northern Song dynasty, karesansui gardens are also called *suiboku sansuigashiki teien 水墨山水画式庭園 or *hokusou sansuigashiki teien 北宋山水画式庭園. Like paintings, the gardens are meant to be viewed from a single, seated perspective. In addition to the aesthetic similarities to Chinese painting, the rocks in karesansui are often associated with Chinese mountains such as Mt. Penglai (Jp; *Houraisan 蓬莱山) or Mt. Lu (Jp; Rosan 盧山). Given the multiple Chinese associations of karesansui gardens, they are the preferred type of garden for Zen 禅 temples (Buddhism having arrived from China in the 7c) and the best examples are found in the front or rear gardens of Zen abbots' residences *houjou 方丈. Exemplary Muromachi period examples include the gardens at Daisen-in 大仙院 in Daitokuji 大徳寺 and at Ryouanji 龍安寺. While Muromachi karesansui tend to use plants sparingly, early Edo period gardens of this type often contrast an area of raked gravel with a section of moss and larger plants along the rear wall. The gardens at the Houjou and Konchi-in 金地院 at Nanzenji 南禅寺, and Shinjuan 真珠庵 and Oubai-in 黄梅院 at Daitokuji are good examples. The aesthetic consonance with abstract art largely accounts for the resurgence of karesansui gardens both in Japan and abroad in the 20c. A good example of a modern karesansui is Shigemori Mirei's 重森三鈴 (1896-1975) east garden at Toufukuji Houjou 東福寺方丈.
　
Ryouanji 龍安寺 (Kyoto)

Ryouanji 龍安寺 (Kyoto)

Toufukuji Houjou　東福寺方丈 (Kyoto)

　
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