Shirai, Hikoe

The main objective of this paper is to try to describe the style of Eihoji garden in Gifu Prefecture by analyzing historical records. Eihoji (永保寺) is known as a Zen temple of the Rinzai Sect. The garden of the temple is described as a Zen garden (zenrinteieni禅林庭園), a circuit garden (kaiyushikirinsenteien廻遊式林泉庭園) or a zenstyle Jodo garden (zenshutekijodokeishikichitei禅宗的浄土形式池庭). Furthermore, it is said in common that the garden was created by the Zen priest Muso Kokushi between 1314-1317. There is, nevertheless, no concrete source which could proof this maintenance. And, in addition to that, the analyze of historical records like hekisannichiroku (碧山日録) kanyumanroku (閑遊漫録), tenryukaisan muso shogaku shinshufuzai kokushinenpu (天竜開山夢窓正覚心宗普済国師年譜) and others showed that a pond was dug before Muso Kokushi and Buttoku Zenshi founded Eihoji. For this reason, it is difficult to say that Muso Kokushi created the garden of Eihoji for the first time. It is, as shown, more in the bounds of possibility that the garden was once created not with a Zen philosophic background, but with a background of the Taoism, which was common for pond gardens of residences during the early Kamakura period. The style of the garden should, therefore, not be described as a Zen garden, but better as a former pond garden (kyuchisen funaasobishikienchi旧池泉舟遊式苑池) of a residence.