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Behind me is the entrance to Jouei Temple
in Yamaguchi
famous for the Zen garden
built by Sesshu
Sesshu was a well known Japanese painter
painting in black and white, in charcoal ink
While being famous as a painter
He's (almost) also famous for his gardens
And there is one at the back of this temple.
which we will go on to see (now).
Situated at the foot of a mountain
The entrance to Joueiji is rather splendid
White walled temple
The roofed gate
And the massive
Tiled roof the roof of the
main part of the temple
over to the left
very ornamental trees
very sort of still and silent feel to the place
Now I'm on the veranda from which you can
view the Sesshuu garden
The temple er is behind you (me)
the large tatami matted room
There's a tape recorder playing
with a Japanese lady's explanation
of the history of the place
And... in front of the veranda,
you can overlook the
famous Zen garden
And here is the garden
It's quite big
It's about the size of say..
Two tennis courts
It's got a pond
a whole variety of rocks
scattered in a seemingly random order
but of course they have great significance
surrounded by
deciduous
evergreen
some bamboo trees too
very different from a British traditional garden
The garden is said to represent
a much larger area
with the rocks representing mountains
And perhaps the pond representing a sea
This is typical of the
cosmology of a Zen garden
The hardness of the rocks
is meant to somehow represent their spirit
The other side of the temple
there's a very nice gravel garden
and that I really do like
Not to be missed!
I am not even if it was designed
by Sesshu himself
But from my point of view
It's very decorative
This is the gravel garden.
And I'm really a fan of these.
We don't have them in Britain.
In that respect they are very interesting.
They're a kind of optical illusion.
And they look like they should be moving
but they are not moving.
It's almost as if
one expects the gravel to ripple.
Again these represent
perhaps, the gravel a sea
one rock an island
a much larger area
is represented by
quite a small garden.
Or at least that's one interpretation.
In any even I think they
defy interpretation
so they make you stop and think
They also have a lonely feeling.
The Japanese call it er...
"wabi" and "sabi"
which is the enjoyment of lonliness.
And looking at a Zen gravel garden,
somehow, I like to think
that I can understand that
aesthetic that
they do look lonely and yet
It's like a violin symphony or something
tugs at your heart strings
and, makes you enjoy
the sense of loliness.