Description
Book SynopsisThis illustrated study of Tenryuji, ranked number one among the five great Zen temples of Kyoto and a major destination for tourism and worship, weaves together history, design, culture, and personal reflection to reveal the inner workings of a great spiritual institution. Looking at Tenryuji's present as a mirror to its past, and detailing the famous pond and rockwork composition by renowned designer Muso Soseki, Norris Brock Johnson presents the first full-length "biography" of a Zen temple garden. Norris Brock Johnson is a professor of anthropology at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and has been teaching and writing about Japanese temple gardens for over twenty years.
Trade Review"Whether you experience Tenryu-ji in person or through the pages of this book, you will learn to understand the enduring appeal of Japanese gardens and will take away a lot more than photographic images and quickly fading memories. You will have a connection with the garden that will stay with you until your next visit- or your first." - The New York Journal of Books "[Norris Brock Johnson is] the perfect guide, describing Tenryu-ji with intellectual conciseness and tenderness, for a site that has clearly come to represent more than just a sacred garden."--The Japan Times
Table of ContentsThe Pond in the Garden 000 Acknowledgments 000 Part I: Land, Landscape, and the Spirit of Place 000 1 Mountains, Water, and Fragrant Trees 000 2 Death, Dream, and the Genesis of a Temple 000 3 Clouds of Flowers Preserve the Way 000 Part II: A Garden in Green Shade 000 4 A Pond of Shadow and Shimmering Stones 000 5 Footprints in the Sky 6 Settling Flowers of Ice 7 Bridge to Buddha-Nature 000 8 Sitting in the Garden 000 9 Anchors Along the Journey 000 10 The Dragon Gate 000 Part III: Garden as Life and Spirit 000 11 A Walk to the Garden 000 12 Stones and Life: Sweet to See 000 13 Just As Before 000 Notes 000 Bibliography 000 Index 000
