A Study on NIJOIN Garden and Others Expressed in “GENJI MONOGATARI”

Studies on Garden Technique Expressed in the Japanese Classics Litereture (4)

Abstract

This study analyzes the landscape design, common-use and maintenace described in “GENJI MONOGATARI” to search a garden life in the middle of the Heian period. The number of gardens analyzed in this study is 30. These gardens are expressed in 135 places of the story. Gardens are made to be attached to the Imperial Palace, the nobility's houses and villas, monk's cells, and a lowly people house. The bigger garden is, the more important are the spaces for garden parties. The fact which is common in all descriptions on gardens is that aesthetic garden life in this period is influenced by the seasons. weather. animals and plants.
The main conclusions are as follows:
(1) Concerning landscape design; the descriptions of water landscape facilities are observed mostly. The features of YARIMIZU is the same as those described in “SAKUTEIKI”. As planting design, the various species of plants are described. The descriptions showed a tendency to attach importance to autumn flowers for SENZAI and flowering and fragrant trees for plantings.
(2) Concerning common-use; to enjoy a sense of the season, boating for comfortable life in summer, garden party for enjoying trees and flowers with a court dance and music, and playing with large snow balls in winter are mainly observed. In addition, planting of flowering and fragrant, trees and enjoying the sound of wind, the singing of insects and birds, and the moonlight are also observed.
(3) Concerning maintenance as the methods of maintaining the gardens, pruning and thinning out the plants in SENZAI to make them outstanding features, raking off waterweeds from YARIMIZU, raking snow from trees, removing decayed leaves from stone arrangements, and strewing open grounds with sand to make them evenly. KAGARIBI a bonfire in an iron basket on a tripod, and hanging lanterns were used as gardenlights for the nighttime usage. Reflections from KAGARIBI on water surfaces made wonderful atomosphere to the garden.
MURASAKI SHIKIBU, the auther of “GENJI MONOGATARI”, was serving the second consort of an emperor, and was able to know the life in the Imperial Court. Therefore her description was very much in detail. It is not too much to say that the aesthetic sense of the garden described in this story was inherited be modern Japanese and was an origin of Japanese attitude toward the garden and gardening.