A Study on Conception of the Zen Sect Gardens in Japan.

The ancient Chinese defines the spirit of zen as the followings; Zen is the name of heart. Thart is the body of Zen.The short sentence of FURI TSUMONJI, KYOGAIBETSUDEN represents also the basic metaphysical thinking of Zen sect, and is svmbolised ollly by a word of MU.It means that the essence of Zen is free or nothing in spirit, but is flexible something like an ecko in the deep valley or a reflected image upon the water.For zen sect gardens, therefore, there are no appreciation rules, and yet no written records about composition of gardens and techniques.The author believes that the zen sect garden is a reflection of human life and its composition represents metaphysical thinking and cosmology rooted in Zen. This is especially true for the ancient notable Zen disciples, in most of cases they were the founders of new temples, that garden is a part of the most ideal demonstration places for their original metaphysics and history of spiritual awakenning through designed forms and ornamentsIt is here that the need for research upon these hypotheses is necessary for knowing true meaning of the garden composition symbolise deeply behind, and for opening up a new method of approaching to study on traditional Japanese garden design.This study, therefore, is designed to clarify the followings;1. to find out the original source of the subject of garden, 2. to identify the main theme of the garden from the source, which is translated into modern language, 3. to analyse the garden composition along the main subject, 4. to conclude the identification by use of plan maps and literary quotations