is the oldest published
Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
ese text on garden-making. It was most likely the work of
Tachibana Toshitsuna.
''Sakuteiki'' is most likely the oldest garden planning text in the world. It was written in the mid-to-late 11th century. Later during the Kamakura period, it was referred to as the ''Senzai Hisshō'', or the ''Secret Selection on Gardens'' before it acquired the title ''Sakuteiki'' in the Edo period.
Overview
The unillustrated ''Sakuteiki'' is the first systematic record of the styles of gardening in the
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...
, which had been the product of oral tradition for many years. It precisely defines the art of landscape gardening as an aesthetic endeavor based on poetic feeling of the designer and the site.
[Kuitert, Wybe. (2002)]
''Themes in the History of Japanese Garden Art,'' p. 30-52
Online as PDF
It enumerates five styles of gardening, including
* 大海の様, the "Ocean Style" (''taikai no yō'')
[Takei]
p. 162
* 山河の様, the "Mountain Torrent Style" (''yama kawa no yō'')
* 大河の様, the "Broad River Style" (''taiga no yō'')
* 沼池の様, the "Wetland Style" (''numa ike no yō'')
* 蘆手の様, the "Reed Style" (''ashide no yō'')
The ''Sakuteiki'' was written in a time during which the placing of stones was the most important part of gardening, and it literally defined the art of garden making, using the expression ''ishi wo tateru koto'' (石を立てること, literally, "the act of standing up stones") to mean not only stone placement but garden making itself. It advises the reader not only how to place the stones but also how to follow the "desire" of the stones.
See also
*
Japanese garden
are traditional gardens whose designs are accompanied by Japanese aesthetics and philosophical ideas, avoid artificial ornamentation, and highlight the natural landscape. Plants and worn, aged materials are generally used by Japanese garden desig ...
*
Japanese rock garden
The or Japanese rock garden, often called a Zen garden, is a distinctive style of Japanese garden. It creates a miniature stylized landscape through carefully composed arrangements of rocks, water features, moss, pruned trees and bushes, and u ...
Notes
References
* Takei, Jiro and
Marc P. Keane. (2001). ''Sakuteiki Visions of the Japanese Garden: A Modern Translation of Japan's Gardening Classic.'' Boston, Massachusetts: Tuttle Publishing.
* Kuitert, Wybe, (2002) ''Themes in the History of Japanese Garden Art'', Hawaii University Press, Honolulu,
Online as PDF ()
Gardening in Japan
Books about gardening
Heian-period books
{{garden-book-stub