A Very Specific Art
Significance and Symbols in Japanese Gardening
When the Romans came to Britain, gardening was already an advanced art in China and Korea where the Buddhist missionaries introduced it to Japan. In the two thousand years after being nurtured by the ancient traditions, Japanese gardening initially included religious symbolism. This symbolism became highlighted into years of aesthetic and cultural influence that evolved into a mystic cult. Every feature of the Japanese garden has a special significance, place, status and title. Even the trees are placed and chosen to suit a particular shape, size and direction representing a particular mood, figure, animal, ruin or shipwreck. They have characterized features of masculine and feminine. For instance, bold stones are considered masculine and are generally placed with the less dominant or feminine stones. George Bernard Shaw once said, “The first place to seek God is in a Garden” and this is very true with the basic spirit of the traditional Japanese designs. They regard the garden as a place where one can experience spiritual recreation that is translated into something reflective of the owner and his family.
These Japanese gardening fundamentals are guided by several conventional designs and symbols. More often than not, the gardens are modeled as miniature representations of a popular scene. However, in the reproduction of various scenes, the rules of the appropriate proportions in size and the arrangement of pathways have to be strictly observed. Japanese gardens have an exact reproduction of trees and shrubs that has made them unparalleled wonders of the modern world. There are different sizes of Japanese gardens, ranging from the small bonsai or dish gardens to the very large. However, they have the same guiding principles, conventions and proportions. Japanese gardens are very different from those seen in the West. Flowers, lawns and hedges are of no significance in a Japanese garden. Flowers are flaunted in rare cases and generally they are potted, placed carefully in an appropriate position. The reproduction of full-sized landscapes depends upon the perspective of the artist. The farther-most mountains are generally low, lightly drawn and displayed without trees or distinct vegetation. The distant line of a river or lakeshore is set at a higher level with narrow lines broadening as they approach the center. Coniferous trees are displayed on the slopes of hills in the center, creating a background for the flowering shrubs used in the foreground. The landscapes suggest greater depth and are detailed compared to the original.
Japanese gardeners take immense delight in planning the miniature gardens with the real beauty revealed only to the seeker. There is a story about a popular Japanese gardener who placed a water basin in such a position that visitors could not see the beautiful scenes until they raised their heads from the basin. It exemplifies the intense thought and meticulous attention to detail applied by the Japanese garden designer. Similar thought is applied in the true bonsai or dish gardens. There are three recognized degrees: Shin that is very elaborate, Gyo or the intermediate and So the simplest form.