  Life
in the Heian Period • The first chapter is a description of the
ancient capital and the lives of its inhabitants.
(Excerpt)
Ishi wo taten koto - "The Art of Setting Stones." With these
words opens the oldest garden-making treatise in Japan - most likely the
oldest in the world - best known by the name Sakuteiki, or Records of
Garden Making. Immediately upon reading this first line, we realize that
the Sakuteiki will present us with a radically new view of gardening.
The expression ishi wo taten koto was used by the author of the Sakuteiki
to define not only the placement of stones within the garden, but also
the act of garden making itself. Although today there are many other words
in Japanese to mean "gardening," such as zoen or niwa zukuri,
both of which literally mean "build gardens," there was no such
expression at the time the Sakuteiki was written. How fascinating to see
that the simple act of standing a stone upright was so spiritually and
aesthetically powerful (as with the dolmens of Stonehenge or Carnac),
and so clearly central to the process of making a garden, that the act
of setting stones became an appellation for gardening itself.
 Nature
• The second chapter describes the condition of the natural world
that surrounded the Heian capital and the Heian-period perception of 'nature'
as revealed through the Sakuteiki.
(Excerpt)
Heian-period gardens were naturalistic in their overall design, and that
to some degree direct observations of nature were made by garden designers
on trips through the countryside. Undoubtedly some nature imagery was
also drawn from the large body of existing nature poetry, rather than
from direct observation, although the Sakuteiki makes no direct reference
to this process of understanding. No matter the source, it can be said
that the palette used for garden design comprised elements of the natural
world: mountains and hill forms, rivers, ponds, islands, and meadow scenes.
On one level this can be seen as an aesthetic, a particular taste of the
Heian-period aristocrats, but there is a hint in the last passage quoted
above that implies that the use of nature as a motif for garden design
(and perhaps a reason why nature imagery was such a fundamental theme
of the Heian period in general as well) was based on the widespread belief
that there was something inherent about the natural world that was wholesome
and correct. Things as they appear in the natural world were believed
to express an innate balance, a propriety, a kind of healthfulness. It
followed that to use those elements in the garden in the same way they
were found in nature was a means to bring nature's innate balance into
one's household; conversely, to use elements of nature in a way that was
contradictory to the way they were found naturally, for instance to use
stones upside down or run water in the wrong direction, was tantamount
to disrupting the balance of nature. Observing nature as a basis for garden
design, therefore, was not just a point of aesthetics, it was an attempt
to harmonize one's household with the life forces of the surrounding environment
through the design of the garden.
 Geomancy
• The third chapter delves into ancient Chinese geophysical theories
which were applied to everything from the construction of cities to garden
design.
(Excerpt)
Heian aristocrats believed that there was an inherent balance in nature.
Likewise, they were also convinced that there was a balance of life energies
that was described by the tenets of geomancy. A garden that followed those
tenets would accordingly provide a safe haven for those who lived within
it, while one that ignored the principles of geomancy, or mistakenly violated
them, was believed to cause havoc with the mortal lives of those who lived
within the field of effects of the garden. When Heian-period aristocrats
viewed their gardens, they did not do so with an eye only to aesthetics,
seeking pleasure in a painterly scene, but rather were to some degree
also able to read the garden for its geomantic messages.
 Buddhism
• The fourth chapter focuses on the esoteric Buddhist religion that
informed the lives of the Heian-period aristocrats and also influenced
the design of the gardens.
(Excerpt)
The Sakuteiki was not intended by the author to be an encyclopedic text.
He wrote about those aspects of gardening in which he was interested and
with which he happened to have experience. We realize that there was much
more to the relationship between Buddhism and Heian-period gardens than
the author chose to include. Still, thinking back over the things the
author did present, we can clearly see three aspects of Buddhism reflected
in the garden.
First, Buddhism
was a constant presence in the daily lives of the aristocrats and because
of that familiarity, aristocrats were able to couch their phrases in Buddhist
terms to express certain ideas, assured that those listening (or in the
case of the Sakuteiki, those reading) would understand the reference.
This ability even extended to the point where they could use Buddhist
imagery to make comments on garden design. The references in the Sakuteiki
to making the garden look as it does in the story of Gion Shoja, or to
the Eastern Flow of Buddhism, are examples of the way Buddhist imagery
could be casually referred to in relation to gardens.
The second
relationship between Buddhism and gardens that we find in the Sakuteiki
relates not to design but rather to a fundamental reason for building
gardens. Even as the elaborate rituals associated with Heian-period esoteric
Buddhism were performed to delight the aristocrat's aesthetic sensibilities,
so too the development of the garden with grand trees and mountains fashioned
after images appearing in Buddhist texts was done to lend an air of nobility
to a residence. Not unlike the rich clothes worn by priests or the gilded
utensils they used in their practices, the garden was a means to evoke
the kind of august and stately atmosphere associated with the Buddhist
religion at that time.
The third
relationship relates to the aspect of Buddhism by which the religion (or
at least some of the deities within the pantheon) is seen as a protector
of the individual. This was especially true of Fudo Myoo. We saw how waterfalls
were thought to evoke the image of that deity, and we can imagine that
residents who built those waterfalls were comforted by the knowledge that
Fudo was close at hand, standing ready to chase evil from the premises.
Inserting Buddhist elements in the garden, therefore, was done for reasons
similar to those for introducing elements that had geomantic influence.
Both the Buddhist elements, Fudo Myoo in the waterfall being the prime
example, and the geomantic elements, for instance the flow of water or
placement of certain stones or trees, were perceived as protecting the
household.
 Taboos
• The fifth chapter details the various taboos which governed the
daily lives of the aristocrats and also are revealed in the Sakuteiki
as having been integrated into garden design.
(Excerpt)
"Regarding the placement of stones there are many taboos. If so much
as one of these taboos is violated, the master of the household will fall
ill and eventually die, his land will fall into desolation and become
the abode of devils."
With these harsh words the author of the Sakuteiki begins his instructions
on taboos, which are referred to as kinki in the text. Taboos played a
large part in the lives of Heian-period aristocrats, who commonly referred
to them as imi or mono imi. They determined much of the aristocrat's daily
life - their schedule, when and where they would travel, even minutia
such as when to take a bath - according to an aggregation of superstitious
beliefs that were related to a variety of things, among them Buddhism,
geomancy, Shinto religion, and other local beliefs. By the time of the
writing of the Sakuteiki, the original sources for these beliefs were
not always clearly defined, and we find that taboos were often based on
a mixture of some or all of the aforementioned influences.
 Translation
• The English translation of the treatise is extensively footnoted,
allowing the reader insights into the meaning of the ancient text.
(Excerpt)
CHAPTER I - THE BASICS
When creating a garden,(1) first be aware of the basic concepts.
Select several places within the property according to the shape of the
land and the ponds, and create a subtle atmosphere (2), reflecting again
and again on one's memories of wild nature. (3)
When creating a garden, let the exceptional work of past master gardeners
be your guide. Heed the desires of the master of the house yet heed as
well one's own taste. (4)
Visualize the famous landscapes (5) of our country and come to understand
their most interesting points. Re-create the essence of those scenes in
the garden, but do so interpretatively, not strictly.
In order to create the appropriate solemnity in a noble's residence, build
mountains in the garden such as those seen in the Gion Illustrated Text.
(6) At the place where the garden will be built, first study the land
and devise a general plan. Based on that, dig out the shape of the pond,
make some islands, and determine from what direction the water will enter
the pond as well as from where it will exit.
Footnotes:
(1)1 "Creating a garden" is expressed as "setting stones,"
ishi wo taten koto; literally, the "act of setting stones upright."
At the time the Sakuteiki was written, the placement of stones was perceived
as the primary act of gardening. Similar expressions are also used in the
text, however, to mean literally "setting garden stones" rather
than "creating gardens," as in chapter four: "It is unusual
to set large stones..." "...takaki
ishi wo tatsuru koto mare naru beshi".
(2)1 "Create a subtle atmosphere" is fuzei wo megurashite. Fuzei,
written with the characters for "wind" and "emotion",
is a term that appears often in the text, with various meanings such as
"atmosphere" and "taste."
(3)1 While in modern Japanese the word for "nature" is shizen,
in the Sakuteiki the expression used is senzui, "mountain-water,"
or more accurately shotoku no senzui, in which shotoku means "natural
constitution" or "innate disposition." Senzui is also used
in the Sakuteiki to mean "garden," a usage that becomes more prevalent
in Japan by the middle ages. It is interesting to note that during the early
Heian period senzui maintained the older, perhaps original, meaning of "nature."
(4)1 Here again the word fuzei appears, in this case meaning "taste."
(5)1 Famous landscapes, meisho, were often used as models for garden design.
For instance the maple-covered hills that line the Oi river in Arashiyama
are mentioned as a model for gardening in The Tale of Genji ("Otome"
"The Maiden"). The pine islands of Oshu
Shiogama, part of Matsushima Bay, Miyagi Prefecture, were used by the
Minister of the Left, Minimoto no Toru, as a model for his garden at the
Rokujo Kawaranoin palace. Amasaki and Takei, Teienshi wo Aruku, 61.
(6)1 The Gion Illustrated Text, Qiyuan tujing (Jp. Gion
zukyo) is a Buddhist text describing Jetavana, an ancient Indian monastery,
written by the Tang-dynasty priest, Daoxuan (Jp. Dosen 596–667). |
