1 Edward H. Schafer, Tu Wan’s Stone Catalogue of Cloudy Forest, University of California Press, 1961, p. 1.
2 Xiaoshan Yang, Metamophosis of the Private Sphere: Gardens and Objects in Tang-Song Poetry, Harvard University Press, 2003, p. 18.
3 Author’s translation, but I first found the poem in Yang’s Metamophosis of the Private Sphere, and followed Yang’s citation of the original Chinese on p. 101.
4 Katsu koori/ katsu wa kudakuru/ yamagawa no/ iwama ni musebu/ akatsuki no koe, poem no. 631 in the Shinkokinshu poetry anthlogy. (c. 1200)
5 Shizukasa ya/ iwa ni shimiiru/ semi no koe, from Basho’s Oku no hosomichi, “Narrow roads to the Back Country.” Basho composed this haiku on a visit to Ryushaku Temple in Yamagata province.
6 Poem by Naomi Wakan, from Gardening, Bevalia Press, 2007, p. 12. Reprinted with permission from the author.
Introduction
Suiseki are small, naturally formed stones admired for their beauty and for their power to suggest a scene from nature or an object closely associated with nature. Among the most popular types of suiseki (pronounced suu-ee-seck-ee) are those that suggest a distant mountain, a waterfall, an island, a thatched hut, or an animal (Figs. 28-30).
The art of suiseki is believed to have originated some two thousand years ago in China, where small stones of great natural beauty were set on stands to represent legendary islands and mountains associated with Buddhist or Taoist beliefs. In the sixth century A.D., emissaries from the Asian mainland brought several such stones to Japan. The Japanese adapted the art to their own tastes and have practiced it to this day.
Suiseki are traditionally exhibited on a carved wooden base or in a shallow tray. When formally displayed, suiseki are often accompanied by bonsai, dwarfed trees trained to grow into pleasing shapes. The term suiseki means literally “water stone” 水 sui, water; 石 seki, stone or stones). It is derived from the ancient custom of displaying miniature landscape stones in trays filled with water, and from the association between suiseki and classical Oriental landscape paintings of mountains and lakes. Prior to the Meiji era (1868-1912) a variety of other terms were used interchangeably to describe miniature landscape stones, including bonseki, bonzan, chinseki, kaiseki, and daiseki. By the latter part of the nineteenth century, however, the use of the word suiseki was firmly established among Japanese collectors, and it assumed precedence over all other terms.
In the last thirty years the popularity of suiseki in Japan has greatly increased. Numerous books in Japanese have been written on the subject, and annual exhibitions of suiseki are held in nearly every large Japanese city. Collectors roam the countryside looking for high-quality specimens, and some of their finds are sold for thousands of dollars.
Within the last decade an increasing number of non-Japanese, particularly Western bonsai and tray-landscape enthusiasts, have discovered the special beauty of suiseki. These new collectors share with their Japanese counterparts the challenge of searching for suiseki among thousands of ordinary stones, and the exhilaration of discovering a specimen that will be admired for generations to come.
CHAPTER 1
Historical Background
For thousands of years the Japanese have looked upon stones with a spirit approaching veneration. It is therefore not surprising that Empress Regent Suiko greatly admired the miniature landscape stones first brought to Japan as gifts from the Chinese imperial court during her reign (A.D. 592-628). Reflecting the Chinese taste of the period, these imported stones were often fantastically shaped, with deep folds and hollows, pass-through holes, highly eroded surfaces, convoluted forms, and soaring vertical lines (Fig 2). Stones of this type were popular in Japan for many centuries and were an important item of trade (Fig. 1).
During this early period of development, miniature landscape stones were appreciated both for their natural beauty and for their religious or philosophical symbolism. For Buddhists, the stone symbolized Mount Shumi, a mythical holy mountain that was believed to lie at the center of the world. (Fig. 31). For Taoists, the stone symbolized Horai, the Taoist paradise (Fig. 32). For believers in the Chinese philosophical system of yin-yang (in Japanese, in-yo)— the ancient doctrine that attempts to explain nature’s workings according to two opposing yet complementary principles—a miniature landscape stone set in water symbolized the two fundamental forces of the universe. The stone represented yang characteristics: hard, solid, unyielding, dry, hot, bright, strong, forceful, rough, and penetrating. The water represented yin characteristics: soft, void, yielding, moist, cool, dark, mysterious, weak, passive, delicate, sensitive, and receptive.
The Japanese, appreciation for miniature landscape stones was also highly influenced by Shintoism, the native religion of Japan. For the Shintoist, specifically designated natural stones and other elements in the natural environment—the sun, the moon, and particular trees—were the abode of powerful spiritual forces or gods (kami). To symbolize the divine nature of such stones and to mark them off as places of worship, they were encircled by a thick rope of plaited rice-straw fringed with rice stalks and strips of folded white paper. A striking example of this practice is the pair of rocks in Futamigaura bay, which lie just offshore near the city of Ise on the Pacific coast of Japan (Fig. 33). For centuries these two rocks—romantically called “Wedded Rocks” (Meoto-iwa)—have been associated with Izanagi and Izanami, the male and female mythical creators of Japan.
Fig 1. Section of a sixteenth-century Japanese screen entitled “Portuguese in Japan.” The screen shows Portuguese traders unloading stones and other imported Chinese goods from a ship.
From these diverse religious and philosophical traditions there developed in Japan several forms of artistic expression based on the aesthetics of stones. Miniature landscape stones set in trays were one manifestation; however, the art of stone appreciation was particularly refined in garden design. One of the earliest and most comprehensive Japanese books on the latter art was an eleventh-century garden manual called the Sakuteiki.7 It describes in minute detail the characteristics of stones and their proper positioning, advising the gardener to exercise great care in aligning them. It is warned, for example, that a stone incorrectly placed—such as a naturally upright stone set horizontally—will disturb the spirit of the stone and may bring misfortune to the owner.
Detail of screen.
Fig 2. Chinese Coastal rock stone with tunnels. Height: approx. 16 inches (41 cm.).
The artistic appreciation of stones underwent further refinement in the centuries immediately following the writing of the Sakuteiki. From the thirteenth to the fifteenth centuries, however, there occurred a radical change in Japanese taste, due partly to the political developments in Japan at that time. During the latter part of the Kamakura period (1183-1333), the samurai-warrior class rose to power. Active trade and cultural exchanges with China
