A widely supported new hypothesis argues that the so-called Mt. Sumeru Stone (7 century CE) of Asuka was a device for a ritual, in which the foreign barbarians swore obedience to the Imperial court of Japan at the time. The ritual is believed to have been a sacred or magical ritual related to Indra and the Four Heavenly Kings. Quoting the Buddhist scripture Abhidharma-kosa-sastra, the advocates of this theory even explain that the morphological common points between the stone and the so-called Mt. Sumeru Drawing (8 century CE) on a petal of the throne of the Great Buddha Statue in Todaiji temple indicate that the stone really symbolizes Mt. Sumem or the central mountain in a uddhist world. However, this hypothesis is unacceptable either philologically or iconographically. Carefully analyzing the contents of Nihonshoki, Chinese historical texts, Abhidharma-kosa-sastra and other texts, this paper suggests that the stone should be regarded as a device, like the circuses held by the order of Emperor Yangdi (r. 604-617 CE) of the Sui dynasty of China, to demonstrate the cultural power of the state to the foreigners. Furthermore, this paper illustrates that the stone has no clear relationship with Abhidharma-kosa-sastra, although the drawing likely have been made on the basis of the sastra. More studies are needed to clarify the exact meaning of the design of the stone.

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[in Japanese]

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The important central axis in the spatial composition of Goksudang was the mountain stream and garden facilities were arranged in the eastwestern part of the mountain stream. This stream connected organically each waterscape element and provided the unified landscape. The most characteristic garden technique of unseondo garden was creating water space by blocking the mountain streamflow. This research showed that creating Goksudang garden started from acquiring the source of water by blocking streamflow. He created the stream garden by using two bridges which connected two ponds. This research suggested that the ingenious use of natural mountain stream as a pond which provided the function of waterscape was an excellent garden technique. Although Goksudang showed various water shapes such as stagnation, flow and fall, it was mainly dominated by static waterscape elements. Goksudang created by Yunseondo as a recluse showed the spiritual world of contemplation based on cultural and social background. Therefore, taking a view of waterscape was the main static activity in this garden. The space of waterscape was much larger than building space for living in the spatial composition of Goksudang. To emphasize the water-based garden, waterscape elements were continuously arranged around the center of the mountain stream and this garden showed a multiplicity of water. The physical shape of waterscape was the pond shore and its shoreline of waterscape emphasized by a straight line was dominated in Goksudang. One interesting finding was that the axis of building and the pond shore were parallel. This result is suggested that this square pond was created as a necessity. The straight shoreline, which is not inappropriate in the surrounding natural environment, shows the simple and clear sensation in the composition order of waterscape element.

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