The rock garden has a history in Japan dating back to the Heian Period (784-1185), when the first karesansui ("dry landscape") gardens appeared, inspired by the Song Dynasty Chinese gardens.

However, the Zen rock garden we know and love today appeared much later, during the Muromachi Period (between 1337 and 1573). They are gardens made especially for meditation, a quintessence of symbols, with stones representing islands, with lines drawn in the sand symbolizing seas, waves or rivers and with moss representing forests, as in today’s photo, taken in the Garden of Solitary Meditation from Zuiho-in, Kyoto, one of the most complex Zen gardens I have visited…

The Garden of Solitary Meditation, Zuiho-in Temple, Kyoto

EXIF Info:

Yesterday’s Japan Photo: Japanese signs, Kakigori