The Limits of Metaphor: Ideology and Representation in the Zen Garden

Abstract

It is impossible to separate the semiological from the mythological, the poetic from the historical, the aesthetic from the ideological. Since, as the phenomenologist Maurice Merleau-Ponty insisted, any entity can be taken as an emblem of Being, one must be attentive to the symbolic power and semiotic valences of every word, object, and image. This article is an attempt to sketch out the role of the rock in Zen-inspired Japanese gardens and, consequently, to offer a new interpretation of one of the most famous gardens in the world, Ryōan-ji.

Designing for Microbreaks: Unpacking the Design Journey of Zenscape

“…The Zen garden is meant to restore one's mind by allowing a view of the idealized nature. A Zen garden typically features a dry landscape stylized with rocks, water features and sand each with specific meanings imbued in them [68]. For instance, the stone may represent mountains or trees or animals.…”

“…For instance, the stone may represent mountains or trees or animals. The sand may symbolize a field of water or a waterfall slithering down a mountain [68]. Zen monks also use a rake to draw wavy patterns on the white sand, and by doing Stone Sand / Gravel Neutral Color Tone this action, they mimic undulating movements of streams.…”