shakkei　借景

KEY WORD :　architecture / gardens

Lit. borrowed scenery. The method of incorporating a distant vista into the composition of a garden. A river, the ocean, fields, forests, large trees, or even a building may all serve as shakkei, but the most frequently borrowed scene is a distant mountain. In gardens with shakkei, typically the arrangement of stones *shokusai 植栽 serve to draw the viewer's eyes to the borrowed scene. The origin of the method is unclear, but the concept is probably Chinese, as the term is found in the Chinese garden manual Yuanye (Jp; *EN'YA 園冶). The manual classifies four types of shakkei: distant borrowing enshaku 遠借, adjacent borrowing rinshaku 隣借, upward borrowing gyoushaku 仰借 and downward borrowing fushaku 俯借. The earliest Japanese uses of shakkei may be the view of Arashiyama 嵐山 from Tenryuuji 天竜寺 and the view of Mt. Kinugasa 衣笠 from Rokuonji 鹿苑寺. Shakkei are a key part of many 17c gardens. Some of the best-known shakkei gardens and their borrowed scenes include Entsuuji 円通寺 and Mt. Hiei 比叡 in Kyoto, Jikouin 慈光院 and the Tomio 富雄 River in Nara.

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