Tenryu-ji Garden

Artist Yoshida, Toshi (Japanese, 1911–1995)

Date1963

Mediumwoodblock print, ink and color on paper

Dimensionsaiban

ClassificationsPrints

Markingsseal: Yoshida

Credit LineGift from the Judith and Paul A. Falcigno Collection

Terms

Object number2010.93

Label TextTenryu-ji (“Temple of the Heavenly Dragon”) was established in 1339-45 by the "shogun" Ashikaga Takauji (1305–58) on the site of a former imperial villa on the western outskirts of Kyoto. It became one of the five principal Rinzai temples of Kyoto under the direction of its eminent first abbot Muso Soseki (1275-1351). Tenryu-ji’s famous “pond-stroll style garden” ("chisen-kaiyu-shiki") was the first Japanese garden to deliberately borrow landscape elements beyond its boundaries ("shakkei"). From the veranda of the abbot’s quarters, three horizontal planes give the garden an illusion of depth: first the strip of gravel with a peninsula skirted by rocks and a detached rock/islet in the foreground, then the scenic Sogen Pond with rock arrangements on its far shore, and finally the Arashiyama and Kameyama hills in the background. The stones near and on the opposite shore are arranged to suggest several groupings: mythical islands in the pond, a three-slab bridge along the shore line, and a dry cascade on the hillside with a central “carp stone” called Ryumon-no-taki (“Dragon Gate Waterfall”). According to Chinese legend a carp turns into a dragon if it swims far enough upstream; this belief is a metaphor for passing the “gate” of civil-service examination or achieving enlightenment.ProvenancePaul A. Falcigno and Judy Mansfield, Hamden, CT

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