Ryoan-ji
Encyclopedia
Zen
Zen is a school of Mahāyāna Buddhism founded by the Buddhist monk Bodhidharma. The word Zen is from the Japanese pronunciation of the Chinese word Chán , which in turn is derived from the Sanskrit word dhyāna, which can be approximately translated as "meditation" or "meditative state."Zen...
temple
Temple
A temple is a structure reserved for religious or spiritual activities, such as prayer and sacrifice, or analogous rites. A templum constituted a sacred precinct as defined by a priest, or augur. It has the same root as the word "template," a plan in preparation of the building that was marked out...
located in northwest Kyoto
Kyoto
is a city in the central part of the island of Honshū, Japan. It has a population close to 1.5 million. Formerly the imperial capital of Japan, it is now the capital of Kyoto Prefecture, as well as a major part of the Osaka-Kobe-Kyoto metropolitan area.-History:...
, Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
. Belonging to the Myoshin-ji
Myoshin-ji
is a temple complex in Kyoto, Japan. The Myōshin-ji school of Rinzai Zen Buddhism is the largest school in Rinzai Zen. This particular school contains within it more than three thousand temples throughout Japan, along with nineteen monasteries. The head temple was founded in the year 1342 by the...
school of the Rinzai branch of Zen Buddhism
Buddhism
Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...
, the temple and karesansui garden is one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto
The UNESCO World Heritage Site Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto encompasses 17 locations in Japan. The locations are in three cities: Kyoto and Uji in Kyoto Prefecture; and Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. Of the monuments, 13 are Buddhist temples; 3 are Shinto shrines; and one is a castle...
, a UNESCO
UNESCO
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations...
World Heritage Site
World Heritage Site
A UNESCO World Heritage Site is a place that is listed by the UNESCO as of special cultural or physical significance...
.
The site of the temple was originally a Fujiwara family
Fujiwara family
The Fujiwara clan , descending from the Nakatomi clan, was a powerful family of regents in Japan.The clan originated when the founder, Nakatomi no Kamatari , was rewarded by Emperor Tenji with the honorific "Fujiwara", which evolved as a surname for Kamatari and his descendants...
estate. It eventually came into the hands of the Hosokawa clan
Hosokawa clan
The ' was a Japanese samurai clan, descended from Emperor Seiwa and a branch of the Minamoto clan, by the Ashikaga clan. It produced many prominent officials in the Ashikaga shogunate's administration. In the Edo period, the Hosokawa clan was one of the largest landholding daimyo families in Japan...
branch of the Fujiwaras. Hosokawa Katsumoto
Hosokawa Katsumoto
was one of the Kanrei, the Deputies to the Shogun, during Japan's Muromachi Period. He is famous for his involvement in the creation of Ryōan-ji, a temple famous for its rock garden, and for his involvement in the Ōnin War, which sparked the 130-year Sengoku period.His conflicts with his...
inherited the residence, and lived here before the Ōnin War
Onin War
The ' was a civil war that lasted 10 years during the Muromachi period in Japan. A dispute between Hosokawa Katsumoto and Yamana Sōzen escalated into a nationwide war involving the Ashikaga shogunate and a number of daimyo in many regions of Japan....
. Katsumoto willed the war-ravaged property to be converted into a Zen sect temple complex after his death. Later Hosokawa emperors are grouped together in what are today known as the "Seven Imperial Tombs" at Ryoan-ji. The burial places of these emperors -- Uda
Emperor Uda
was the 59th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Uda's reign spanned the years from 887 through 897.-Name and legacy:Before his ascension to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was or Chōjiin-tei....
, Kazan
Emperor Kazan
was the 65th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Kazan's reign spanned the years from 984 through 986.-Traditional narrative:...
, Ichijō
Emperor Ichijo
was the 66th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Ichijō's reign spanned the years from 986 to 1011.-Traditional narrative:Before he ascended to the Chrysanthemum Throne, his personal name was Kanehito-shinnō....
, Go-Suzaku
Emperor Go-Suzaku
was the 69th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Go-Suzaku's reign spanned the years from 1036 through 1045.This 11th-century sovereign was named after the 10th-century Emperor Suzaku and go- , translates literally as "later;" and thus, he is sometimes called the...
, Go-Reizei
Emperor Go-Reizei
was the 70th emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Go-Reizei's reign spanned the years 1045–1068.This 11th century sovereign was named after the 10th century Emperor Reizei and go- , translates literally as "later;" and thus, he is sometimes called the "Later Emperor...
, Go-Sanjō
Emperor Go-Sanjo
was the 71st emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Go-Sanjō's reign spanned the years from 1068 through 1073.This 11th century sovereign was named after Emperor Sanjō and go- , translates literally as "later;" and thus, he is sometimes called the "Later Emperor Sanjō"...
, and Horikawa
Emperor Horikawa
was the 73rd emperor of Japan, according to the traditional order of succession.Horikawa's reign spanned the years from 1087 through 1107.-Traditional narrative:...
-- would have been comparatively humble in the period after their deaths. These tombs reached their present state as a result of the 19th century restoration of imperial sepulchers (misasagi) which were ordered by Emperor Meiji
Emperor Meiji
The or was the 122nd emperor of Japan according to the traditional order of succession, reigning from 3 February 1867 until his death...
.
Kanji
Kanji are the adopted logographic Chinese characters hanzi that are used in the modern Japanese writing system along with hiragana , katakana , Indo Arabic numerals, and the occasional use of the Latin alphabet...
written on the surface of the stone are without significance when read alone. If each is read in combination with 口 (kuchi), which the central bowl is meant to represent, then the characters become 吾, 唯, 足, 知. This is read as "ware tada taru (wo) shiru" and translates literally as "I only know plenty" (吾 = ware = I, 唯 = tada = only, 足 = taru = plenty, 知 = shiru = know). The meaning of the phrase carved into the top of the tsukubai is simply that "what one has is all one needs" and is meant to reinforce the basic anti-materialistic teachings of Buddhism.
The absence of a dipper is intended to imply that the water is for the soul only and that it is necessary to bend the knee in humility in order to receive its blessing.
Dry landscape rock garden
Japanese rock garden
The or "dry landscape" gardens, often called "Zen gardens", are a type of garden that features extensive use of rocks or stones, along with plants native to rocky or alpine environments that were influenced mainly by Zen Buddhism and can be found at Zen temples of meditation.- Overview :Japanese...
, thought to have been built in the late 15th century. The garden consists of raked gravel and fifteen moss-covered boulders, which are placed so that, when looking at the garden from any angle (other than from above) only fourteen of the boulders are visible at one time. It is traditionally said that only through attaining enlightenment would one be able to view the fifteenth boulder.
Analysis
Nature (journal)
Nature, first published on 4 November 1869, is ranked the world's most cited interdisciplinary scientific journal by the Science Edition of the 2010 Journal Citation Reports...
, Gert van Tonder and Michael Lyons analyze the rock garden by generating a model of shape analysis
Shape analysis
This article describes shape analysis to analyze and process geometric shapes.The shape analysis described here is related to the statistical analysis of geometric shapes, to shape matching and shape recognition...
(medial axis
Medial axis
The medial axis of an object is the set of all points having more than one closest point on the object's boundary. Originally referred to as the topological skeleton, it was introduced by Blum as a tool for biological shape recognition....
) in early visual processing.
Using this model, they show that the empty space of the garden is implicitly structured, and is aligned with the temple's architecture
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
. According to the researchers, one critical axis of symmetry passes close to the centre of the main hall, which is the traditionally preferred viewing point. In essence, viewing the placement of the stones from a sightline along this point brings a shape from nature (a dichotomously branched tree with a mean branch length decreasing monotonically from the trunk to the tertiary level) in relief.
The researchers propose that the implicit structure of the garden is designed to appeal to the viewers unconscious visual sensitivity to axial-symmetry skeletons of stimulus shapes. In support of their findings, they found that imposing a random perturbation of the locations of individual rock features destroyed the special characteristics.
Centuries after its creation, the influences of the dry elements at Ryōan-ji continue to be reflected and re-examined in garden design — for example, in the Japangarten at the Art Museum at Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg is a town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is located on the River Aller northeast of Braunschweig , and is mainly notable as the headquarters of Volkswagen AG...
in Germany.
See also
- List of Special Places of Scenic Beauty, Special Historic Sites and Special Natural Monuments
- Higashiyama BunkaHigashiyama BunkaThe Higashiyama Period also known as the period of "Higashiyama Culture" or , is a segment of Japanese culture originated and promoted in the 15th century by Shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa, after he retired to his villa in the eastern hills of Kyoto.- Outline :Based largely on the ideals and...
in Muromachi periodMuromachi periodThe is a division of Japanese history running from approximately 1336 to 1573. The period marks the governance of the Muromachi or Ashikaga shogunate, which was officially established in 1338 by the first Muromachi shogun, Ashikaga Takauji, two years after the brief Kemmu restoration of imperial... - Japanese gardenJapanese garden, that is, gardens in traditional Japanese style, can be found at private homes, in neighborhood or city parks, and at historical landmarks such as Buddhist temples, Shinto shrines and old castles....
- Japanese rock gardenJapanese rock gardenThe or "dry landscape" gardens, often called "Zen gardens", are a type of garden that features extensive use of rocks or stones, along with plants native to rocky or alpine environments that were influenced mainly by Zen Buddhism and can be found at Zen temples of meditation.- Overview :Japanese...
- Zen garden
- For an explanation of terms concerning Japanese Buddhism, Japanese Buddhist art, and Japanese Buddhist temple architecture, see the Glossary of Japanese BuddhismGlossary of Japanese BuddhismThis is the glossary of Japanese Buddhism, including major terms the casual reader might find useful in understanding articles on the subject. Words followed by an asterisk are illustrated by an image in one of the photo galleries...
. - Tourism in JapanTourism in JapanTourism in Japan attracted 8.3 million foreign visitors in 2008, slightly more than Singapore and Ireland. Japan has 16 World Heritage Sites, including Himeji Castle and Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto . Kyoto receives over 30 million tourists annually...