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In addition to the temple's famous building, the property features wooded grounds covered with a variety of mosses. The Japanese garden, supposedly designed by the great landscape artist Sōami. In the later periods of Japanese garden history, fine stones were transported from a ruined or impoverished garden to a new one. According to the book Landscape design: A Cultural and Architectural History by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, "In 1474, following his retirement from the shogunate, Yoshimasa (1436-1490), had some of the stones and pine trees of the Flowery Palace and Muromachi Hall, both of which had been devastated by civil warfare, removed to his villa retreat at the base of Higashiyama (the Eastern Hills). There he lived from 1438 until his death, when the villa was converted to the Zen temple, Jisho-ji, or Ginkakuji (the Temple of the Silver Pavilion), as it is better known." The Zen culture is not entirely represented in this garden because it was financed by the shogunate as a retreat and the primary use was aesthetic enjoyment. Instead of being designed by and for the use of monks, practitioners of zazen, or seated meditation. Ginkakuji was constructed in relation to its surroundings. This is described in the Journal of Asian Studies by Ichito Ishida and Delmer M. Brown, "The southeast corner of the first floor has openings in the walls, since a pond is located on that corner of the building, beyond which the moon rises between the peaks of Higashiyama. And since a lake extending northeastward reflected light that suffices even for reading, the room on the northeast corner has been planned as a library. Therefore the natural objects do not merely surround the building, twisting it out of shape but supply intrinsic motivation for the structural design." The sand garden of Ginkaku-ji has become particularly well known; and the carefully formed pile of sand which is said to symbolize Mount Fuji is an essential element in the garden.

Nature as Muse: The Gardens of China and Japan.” Landscape Design A Cultural and Architectural History, by Elizabeth Barlow Rogers, Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York, 2001, pp. 281–309. /ref>

Ichirō Ishida and Delmer M. Brown. “The Association for Asian Studies .” Zen Buddhism and Muromachi Art, vol. 22, no. 4, Aug. 1963, pp. 417–432., doi:10.15417/1881. /ref>