Karesansui - Dry Landscape

A garden term. There are five other variations of this kunko, (1) kare sui, (2) kozan sui, (3) furu sui, (4) kare sui, and (5) ko sen sui, but kare san sui is the most commonly used. It refers to a garden that does not use water but has the appearance of water, and in Japan, they have been created since the Asuka and Nara periods. Today, this type of garden can be broadly divided into the following two types.

[1] Early style dry landscape gardens: Dry landscape gardens in which only a portion of a large garden is designed. These were common up until the Nanboku-cho period.

[2] Late style dry landscape gardens. This style of garden in which the entire garden is designed in dry landscape style appeared after the Muromachi period.

In the Heian period "Sakuteiki," dry landscape gardens were defined as "placing stones in a place with neither a pond nor water," but this design reached its peak during the Muromachi period. In the early Muromachi period, many abstract designs were used, while in the middle and late Muromachi periods many pictorial and concrete dry landscape gardens were created. Also, dry landscape gardens in the early Edo period tended to be designed with concrete features, such as walls, on one side.

[Shigemori Kando]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

庭園用語。この訓詁(くんこ)にはほかに5通りあり、(1)かれせんすい、(2)こざんすい、(3)ふるせんすい、(4)かれせんずい、(5)こせんずい、ともいうが、一般には「かれさんすい」がもっとも多く用いられている。水を用いないで、水のある表現の庭園をいい、わが国では飛鳥(あすか)・奈良時代のころから作庭されてきた。現在ではこの種の庭園を次の二つに大別する。

〔1〕前期式枯山水　広い庭園の一部を枯山水にしたもので、南北朝時代までに多い。

〔2〕後期式枯山水　全庭すべてを枯山水にしたもので、室町時代以降に現れる。

　平安期の『作庭記』では、「池もなくやり水もなき」所に「石をたつること」を枯山水といったが、この意匠が頂点を迎えるのが室町時代である。室町初期のころは抽象意匠が多く、中期から後期にかけては絵画的で具象的な枯山水が多く作庭された。また江戸初期の枯山水は、塀などの片側に寄せた、具象的な意匠が多い。

［重森完途］

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