P1+Samurai+Arts

Samurai Arts: Ikebana, Haiku, Landscape Paintings and Gardening. Kevin K. and Victoria P.

The Samurai Arts are important to the samurai because this is their lifestyle. These four things are the most important things that the samurai have to know, and be able to do. They have to be able to arrange flowers properly in the Ikebana way. They have to be able to write Haiku in a proper form. They have to be able to paint an amazing Landscape painting. They also have to be able to Garden properly and be able to take care of a garden. This is why these four arts are so important to the Samurai.


 * Ikebana** is the Japanese art of arranging flowers. It was a skilled art and it was more than just the ability to arrange flowers. Other art forms of Zen Buddhism are on the creation of beauty was considered and aid to religious enlightenment. The art of Ikebana originated as early as the Nara period from the custom of offering flowers statues of the Buddha. In the Ashikaga period ikebana became part of the tea ceremony, but towards the seventeenth century in became an independent art form. “The flower masters” are people who teach other people how to select flowers and how to arrange them according to strict standards of, grouping, and line.


 * Haiku** is a major form of Japanese verse. During the Tokugawa time from 1600 to 1867, tanka poetry was given up as a favor of the even shorter haiku form. The haiku form was made of seventeen syllables in three lines of 5, 7. Plus 5 syllables respectfully. The essence of Haiku lies in its blend of ease and detail. The greatest master of the haiku form was Matsuo Basho who lived from 1644 to 1694. He was a former samurai who became a nomadic Buddhist monk.
 * Landscape Paintings-** In Japan landscape is known as Sansui. The word San stands for mountains whereas the word Sui means water. You will find that the majority of the landscape paintings from Japan actually portray mountains with water flowing out of them. Only occasionally would you find the sun or the moon to be depicted in Japanese landscape paintings. They would be shown as part of the natural truths that was the basis of the scenery.


 * Gardens-**The most famous Zen Gardens in the world are at the Ryoanji Temple in Kyoto. In the image above it is a picture of the Zen Garden. The Ryoanji Temple Garden was created sometime between the 14th and the 16th centuries. The creator of this wonder is still unknown. The rocks in this garden are symbols representing a tigress crossing the sea with her cubs. It could also be the Chinese characters for the heart. Landscape gardening came from China along with Chinese-style temple and palace architecture. The gardens beauty and courtyards were as important as the architecture of the buildings themselves. In the Ashikaga period 1333-1573 when Zen Buddhism was becoming large in numbers, garden design achieved great heights. The temple gardens were designed to help monks in meditation and everything in them had some symbol to nature. The Gardens contained ornamental trees such as pines, camellias, flowering plums, and bamboo. It also had well raked areas of white sand in ornamental patterns. Gnarled volcanic rocks, moss, ponds and lakes, and pathways that led to wooded groves or tea-ceremony pavilions can be also found in a garden. The Gardens are designed to create a calm and harmony.

These Arts are an essential part of Samurai culture during the Tokugawa period because they helped meditation. Without the Ikebana they wouldn’t have a strong aid to religious enlightenment. Without the gardens there wouldn’t be a very strong place that creates such a calm harmony as the gardens do. The gardens are a very good place to meditate. Without Haiku they wouldn’t know how to write a Japanese verse and poetry. Without Landscape Paintings they wouldn’t be able to show parts of nature’s truth. These Arts helped build up the Japanese culture. This is why these Samurai Arts are so important to the Japanese culture.

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