Influence of Genji Tale Bring Life to Katsura Imperial, Zen Buddhist Villa
Katzura Imperial Zen Buddhist villa is built between 1579 and 1629 by Prince Toshihito and Kobori Enshu, a tea master and garden designer.
From 1631, the villa i named a “palace” and no longer just a villa.
Katzura Zen palace’s gardens are considered a masterpiece of Japanese gardening.`
The buildings are among the most significant achievements of Japanese architecture.
Prince Toshihito, from an early age, was very familiar with the Tales of Genji, Poems of Past and Present.
Those tales inspired him in all his creation around Katzura Imperial Zen Buddhist villa .
Katsura Imperial Villa is a place that gives a dazzling perspective to contemplate the moon.
It is a harvest which allows you to connect with nature, elements in all its candor.
In 1579 Toshihito purchased the land on the south bank of the Katsura River, the district of the novel, the “Tales of Genji.”
The prince made his mind to construct a villa inspired on passages from the novel.
However, because Prince Toshihito required wealth and resources, the first constructed villa was similar to “a teahouse.”
The construction of the villa began after the marriage of Tokugawa Kazuko to Emperor Go-Mizunoo, whose Toshihito contributed.
As Prince Toshihito became a more significant figure in public life, more guests came to visit the Katsura Imperial Villa.
Katzura Imperial Zen villa Teahouses
Teahouses are perfect illustrations of how Zen Buddhism has affected the landscape and architecture.
Tea ceremony, carry out at the pavilions, is an essential part of Japanese society.
Tea ritual’s Influence – Wabi-Sabi
The tea ritual is a spiritual ritual used as a “transformative practice.”
Wabi
The ritual begets aesthetic, the principle of Wabi-Sabi.
‘Wabi’ represents the inner, or spiritual, experiences of human lives.
Its meaning refers to quiet or sober refinement or subdued taste “characterised by humility, restraint, simplicity, naturalism, profundity, imperfection, and asymmetry.”
‘Wabi’ emphasises clean, elementary, unadorned objects, and architectural space.
‘Wabi,’ honor the mellow beauty that time and care impart to materials.
Sabi
‘Sabi,’ on the other hand, represents the outer, or material side of life.
Formerly, it meant “worn,” “weathered,” or “decayed.”
‘Sabi’ represents the emptiness.
It is considered the most effective means of spiritual awakening while embracing imperfection.
It honoured as a healthy reminder to cherish our unpolished selves, here and now.
It is just as we are—the first step to “satori” or enlightenment.
Five distinct teahouses are all separated from the main building. They are isolated from everything but in touch with the surrounding nature.
The teahouses features picturesque materials such as bark-covered wooden supports or irregular shaped wooden pieces as extensions of the natural world.
The tea ceremony aims at connecting the spiritual and the natural.
To feel connected to nature, apertures and bays in the pavilion are at eye level when sitting.
Katzura Zen villa Construction
Tatamis covers all the surfaces.
They used Natural stones” of about forty to fifty centimeters in diameter.
The Katzura zen villa is built on stilts allowing to avoid the floods of the Katsura river.
Beam made of sandstone between one and two meters above the ground. Solid walls isolate the basement at the garden level.
For this kind of filling, the mud is made of a mixture of earth and straw.
It is then applied to a bamboo structure with a coating of finish tinged with iron oxides or covered with stretched wallpaper.
Carpentry and roofing
: On a classic wooden structure is laid a small framework hidden by the ceilings.
After a ceremony, the carpenters pose the purlins and rafters.
The sewer and ridge strips reinforced by a dozen thickness of these boards gives them the impression of having a high thickness.
Ceilings
Thin and light planks of wood laid on exposed joists, except in the reception area of the emperor, who has a lacquered coffered ceiling.
Prestigious rooms and corridors feature doors made of a single board chosen for its beauty.
Doors of several boards close the service rooms.
The translucent sliding partitions have a frame and a lattice covered with white rice paper let the light come through.
In the living rooms, the opaque partitions consist of a frame with lath covered with several layers of paper, the last one is opaque. All the fittings are in bronze.
A succession of “open galleries,” overhanging the garden, connects the three pavilions.
At the same time, it serves as an interface between the interior space of the noble’s rooms and the outdoor space of the gardens. Large openings punctuate the length pierced galleries or corridors. External partitions covered with paper, which let the light of day, some being sliding, constitute the openings darken the corridor.
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