A Zen Life in Nature

Musô Soseki in His Gardens
Erscheinungsjahr 2007
ISBN: 978-1-929280-37-7
Verlag: University of Michigan Press

Buch, Englisch, 312 Seiten, Hardback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 229 mm

Reihe: Michigan Monograph Series in Japanese Studies

This book examines the design style of the medieval Japanese Zen monk Muso Soseki (1275-1351), who built gardens as places to meditate and to escape his busy public life. A Zen Life in Nature begins with a discussion of Soseki's rural upbringing and the spiritual background to it, his quest for enlightenment as a Zen monk and his role as mediator in the turbulent times that surrounded the Kemmu Restoration and the establishment of the Ashikaga shogunate. Other chapters look at the spiritual and cultural influences that are crucial to understanding Soseki's aesthetic and design sense and the development of his garden building. Finally, the book provides a detailed look at the beautiful Upper Garden at Saihoji, built by Soseki in 1339.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Über Autor(innen)

Keir Davidson, a landscape gardener for many years, has published three previous books on the planning and construction of gardens and on Zen gardening: Simple Garden Construction (1980, with Daniel Roberts), Zen Gardening(1982 [published in the U.S. as The Art of Zen Gardens, 1983]), and Garden Planning and Construction (1983, with Daniel Roberts).