The south garden of the abbot's quarters of Ryōanji temple. The garden is said to have been built in 1499, but from another perspective, it assumed its present form in the early Edo period. It is a dry landscape garden of about 250 square meters, surrounded by a tamped-earth wall, and has white spreading pebbles and fifteen stones grouped in five arrangements. Its abstract design differs from those which represent the natural landscape in concrete fashion, such as the garden at the shoin of Daisen'in temple. Its composition, with both balance and tension, is praised as the best of all dry landscape gardens. It is designated a national historic site and special scenic spot, and is inscribed on the World Heritage List as one of the Historic Monuments of Ancient Kyoto. It is located in Ukyō ward, Kyoto.
Japanese Garden Dictionary: A Glossary for Japanese Gardens and Their History
(C) 2010 by Ono Kenkichi and Walter Edwards. All rights reserved.
