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Origins
Except for a few archaeological sites in the
region of Asuka, Nara, and Kyoto—many of them difficult
to date—little remains of the gardens of early Japan,
although certain texts like the eighth-century Nihon Shoki
(Chronicle of Japan) provide some notion of their significance.
Many of these texts mention gardens associated with the ruling
class, and some authorities assume that they may have anticipated
the gardens constructed on the shinden estates of the Heian
Period. There must have been important religious influences
on early garden design as well, given the significance of natural
objects in Shinto beliefs.
Although its original meaning is
somewhat obscure, one of the Japanese words for garden—niwa—came
to mean a place that had been cleansed and purified in anticipation
of the arrival
of kami, the deified spirits of Shinto, and the Shinto reverance
for great rocks, lakes, ancient trees, and other "dignitaries
of nature" would exert an enduring influence on Japanese
garden design. With the coming of Buddhism, Japanese gardens
also began to incorporate references to the mythical mountains,
islands, and seas of Hindu-Buddhist tradition, to which the
gardeners of the Nara Period added evocations of the Daoist
Isles of the
Immortals.
These references, often in the form of stones
or stone groupings, would continue to play a role in Japanese
garden design for
the rest of its history, although it is not always possible
to know
whether such references are intentional on the part of the
designer or simply the product of later interpretations.
It
is also clear
that a pond or lake was commonly included in early garden
designs, and this element would also endure through most of
the history
of Japanese garden design.
Since both Buddhism and Daoism
were imports from Korea and China, as were many other elements
of early Japanese culture,
it would
stand to reason that early garden designs in Japan might
have emulated Korean or Chinese prototypes (historical
records of
the Asuka Period suggest that a garden designed for Soga
no Umako probably had Korean antecedents).
Recent archaeological
excavations in the ancient capital of Nara have brought to
light the remains of two eighth-century
gardens
associated with the Imperial Court, a pond-and-stream
garden—To-in—located
within the precinct of the Imperial Palace and a stream
garden—Kyuseki—found
within the modern city. They may be modeled after Korean
or Chinese gardens, but the rock formations found in
the To-in would appear
to have more in common with prehistoric Japanese stone
monuments than with Chinese antecedents, and the natural,
serpentine course
of the Kyuseki stream garden may be far less formal than
what existed in China and Japan.
Whatever their origins,
both the To-in and Kyuseki clearly anticipate certain
developments in later Japanese gardens.
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