Houraisan　 蓬莱山

KEY WORD :　architecture / general terms

Lit. Mt. Penglai. The legendary island-mountain of the immortals, frequently represented in Japanese gardens. Ancient Chinese Daoism held that three eastern sea islands--Penglai 蓬莱 (Jp; Hourai), Fangchang 方丈 (Jp; Houjou), and Yingzhou 瀛州 (Jp; Eishuu)-- were inhabited by immortals who possessed rare treasures as well as the elixir of immortality. Where earlier emperors sent expeditions in search of the three spirit mountains, Emperor Wu 武 (?56-87 BCE) of the Han dynasty had three islands with pavilions build in a pond within his massive garden. The idea of recreating the aupicious Mt. Penglai by building an artificial pond island within a garden was probably adopted in Japanese gardens of the Heian period although no examples remain. Mt. Penglai was associated with cranes, who supposedly lived there, and a tortoise, on the back of which the island was carried. Because the 11c garden treatise *SAKUTEIKI 作庭記 mentions crane islands *tsurujima 鶴島, and tortoise islands *kamejima 亀島, in pond gardens, this may well indicate an elaboration on the Mt. Penglai island design. Because the evergreen pine is a symbol of longevity, garden recreations of Penglai often include pines. Penglai appears frequently in Japanese gardens beginning in the Kamakura period, usually represented by a pyramidal stone *houraiseki 蓬莱石, by a group of stones hourai iwagumi 蓬莱石組, or an island *hourai gantou 蓬莱岩島. These elements appear both in pond style　chisenshiki 池泉式 and dry landscape *karesansui 枯山水 gardens. A related motif is the *houraibune 蓬莱舟, a treasure boat that travels to and from the island. Gardens in which Penglai is the thematic focus are called *hourai teien 蓬莱庭園, while gardens in which Penglai is a motif are *hourai youshiki 蓬莱様式).

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