Thoughts of Taoism in Japanese garden

Abstract

     Whenever discussing about philosophy of a Japanese garden, most people are concerned about thoughts of Buddhism, especially Zen – a branch of Buddhism. The reason is that Zen had the patronization of the Bakufu Shogun in the past that affected profoundly to Japanese culture, and particularly, in the garden philosophy of Japan. However, Taoism is known as another thought that also forms the standards for Japanese garden. Through analyzing various elements of a Japanese garden, this article demonstrates Taoism thoughts applied in the garden, while contributeing the new insights to future research.