Japanese rock gardens, called karesansui (枯山水) are a type of traditional Japanese art. Similar to Ikebana, Japanese people tend to their zen rock gardens to stay calm and create a peaceful atmosphere. A tranquil mindset is that of a very happy and well-adjusted person. The kanji for karesansui literally means “dry landscape.” Japanese rock gardens have been studied and tended to for hundreds of years. Originating from early Chinese settlements, it’s one of the oldest Japanese traditions still practiced today. The main point of rock gardens is tending to them. The sense of peacefulness comes from repeatedly smoothing and raking the sand, slowly travelling around your garden over and over to create a flawless finish.
Japanese traditions are very important to Japanese people, and rock gardens are the same. Rock gardens are often created with lots of sand or small stones as a base. This sand is raked and smoothed into various patterns depending on the style of the rock garden (pictured below). Rock gardens, as their names suggest, also carry many rocks. These can be large, weathered boulders or small rounded pebbles. Some rock gardens use large, flat rocks as stepping stones to get through the garden without disrupting the sand.
Many contemporary rock gardens also contain foliage such as trees, bushes or moss. Moss naturally occurs on some rocks, and it adds color to the grays and browns of the rocks and sand. The trees oxygenate the air and allow people visiting the gardens to feel more at ease and peaceful. The different height of the trees and bushes also allow for some artistic contrast. This contrast allows the gardens to be more aesthetically pleasing and add a greater sense of peace to the garden overall. Rock gardens are very interesting in that they are only popular in Japan and around some Buddhist temples in China.
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