Exploring Japan by Cruise Ship Henna Series - Part 7: Explore Japanese Garden Culture

The Amami Sato Garden in Kagoshima, a typical Japanese garden with many oriental elements. We discovered a cultural treasure here.

When I stepped into Amami Sato Garden, memories of the Summer Palace in Beijing, the largest green garden near my home, came rushing back. I used to visit there often. The striking similarities between Chinese and Japanese garden art amazed me. Since the Tang Dynasty, Japanese culture has been greatly influenced by China, especially Confucianism. Scenery in oriental gardens often includes symbolism, such as the large stones and flowing river symbolize the "moral sense" and "wisdom" ideas of Chinese Confucianism. Their meaning is "the moral sense," which is as firm and unchanging as a mountain, and "wisdom," which is as changeable as water. The presence of pine and cypress symbolizes the quaint of the garden. Their origin is that the earliest Xia Dynasty (about 2070 BC - about 1600 BC) in China used pine trees for sacrifices, and the Shang Dynasty (16th century BC - 11th century BC) used cypress trees for sacrifices. Typical of oriental gardens with high tower and low bridge. These signify that high tower reach the sky, while low bridge allow crossing people (drawing from Buddhism, symbolizing the liberation from the contradictory state of contentment and dissatisfaction in life, leading towards a paradise without contradictions).

The landscape of watching fish under the bridge echoes the story of the ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi and Huizi observing fish on the bridge over River Hao. We learned this story from our elementary school Chinese textbooks.

Zhuangzi said: "Sawbelly fish are swimming so leisurely. That’s the joy of fish.” Huizi said: “You’re not a fish. How do you know the fish are happy?” Zhuangzi said: “You’re not me. How do you know I don’t know the fish are happy?” Huizi said: “I’m not you. Of course, I don’t know how you think. You definitely are not fish, and you don’t know about the joy of fish. That’s for sure!” Zhuangzi said: “Let’s go back to the start of the issue. You said: ‘How do you know the fish are happy’. Since you already knew I knew and then you asked me. I knew it on the bridge of River Hao.” (Tr. alexcwlin) When I was watching fish with my classmate, I told her, "You are happy," and she replied, "You are not me, how do you know if I am happy?" ... Haha.

While strolling through the Amami Sato Garden, I came across the picturesque Japanese Little Red Bridge, which had also captivated the renowned French painter Monet. It should be noted that Monet borrowed a large number of Japanese Ukiyo-e painting techniques in his paintings. European Impressionism originated from Japanese Ukiyo-e paintings. I knew that Monet had a similar bridge in the courtyard of his own house when I used to read the book "Charlotte in Giverny," and had immortalized it in one of his paintings. I enthusiastically shared this newfound knowledge with my fellow classmate.

The rich cultural information contained in the beauty of Amami Sato Garden shows the cultural skills of the builders who created this garden. Once Amami Sato Garden is endowed with humanistic feelings, it becomes so close and warm.

To be continued.