POETRY IN THE GARDEN

TOWARD the end of the sixth century, according to an old Japanese folk tale, a rich nobleman built himself a garden, placed an island in the middle of its lake and aroused such curiosity that he became famous. Ever since, garden designing has been regarded by the Japanese as a major art form (see color pages), and its changing patterns have reflected the country's historic development. The first Japanese gardens were polychromic, glowing with the blossoms of plum and cherry trees, calm with the gentleness of willows, luxurious with the gaiety of bright flowers. But a warrior class crushed the rule of the aristocracy at the end of the 12th century, and Japan's classic era faded into its middle ages. The warriors wanted no part of luxury, opened their gates to the disciplines of a religious philosophy imported from China: Zen Buddhism. Austere Zen masters became the new architects; the garden lost the color of blossoming trees and flowers, gained instead a richness of subtle green hues.

After years of devastating civil wars, the religion-cloaked warrior class crumbled in the 16th century. Japan's Renaissance was born, and with it the advent of one of Japan's most serene traditions: the tea ceremony--a symbol of respect, reverence and peace. As the tearoom won primary status in the home, the tea garden grew in importance. The new architects were the tea masters and the garden was carefully planned to symbolize each moment of the ceremony. Stepping stones, paved paths, sculptured water basins, the tranquil arrangements of trees and shrubs were tuned into a poem of peace. When a new warrior class emerged in the 17th century, the patterns had been set, the traditions well grounded. The military spirit of standardization served only to spread throughout the land what was already established.

Today, amid new awareness that gardens form an integral part of architecture, the influence of Japanese garden design is growing. The 1954 exhibition of a Japanese house and garden at Manhattan's Museum of Modern Art still holds the record as the museum's most heavily attended architectural show. Last week the same display was being reconstructed in Philadelphia's Fairmount Park. Books on Japanese gardens (most recent: Gardens of Japan by the late Tetsuro Yoshida, famed Japanese architect) have become a must for the modern architect's library. After 14 centuries the art form started by that legendary nobleman is gaining new and important ground in the West.

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