"
On the lotus leaf turns the dew of the world."
When they are not drawing the delicacies of the garden, the Japanese write it in the prettiest way.
Seventeen times in three lines.
Their haikus celebrate the hours of the day and the round of the seasons with a lot of poetic associations.
Illustration is given at the Guimet Museum in Paris where the gardens of Asia flourish on prints, miniatures, kimonos, ceramics, in a small exhibition installed under the rotunda.
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What do the Indian garden of the Maharaja, that of the Confucian scholar and the Zen space of the Japanese tea house have in common? Their structure, in the first place. It is closed, geometric among the Mughals, more sinuous in the Far East, but still offers a profusion of essences and colors to summon all the senses. And the water runs there in majesty. In 1526, the founder of the Mughal Empire, Babur, who had just conquered India, was sorry for the drought of the place. He greened the gardens he created with a lot of water wheels, wells and ponds. The result was not long in coming. Here we are not far from paradise, and, when they are not planted, the flowers slip everywhere, even on these unusual weights intended to keep the carpet flat.
In the Far East, we don't plant the garden, we build it.
In the 11th century, a landscaper who could be described as obsessive wrote the
Sakuteiki
, the guide that explains how to place stones there.
Little Thumb would certainly not find his little stones there.
It is a question of restoring all the imagination of a grandiose landscape in which the literate will withdraw from the hustle and bustle of the world and stroll.
On the graceful prints, the artists never fail to invite dragonflies and butterflies.
Lessons in humility
The Japanese know how to portray the withering of lotus flowers wonderfully.
Nothing is eternal, nature also offers lessons in humility reminding us of these superb pages taken from illustrated collections that we contemplate, presented alongside a very pragmatic book which lists the appropriate garden furniture, from the claustra to the planter!
Sometimes, just reading the title of an Indian ink drawing is enough to stimulate the imagination:
Spring morning at the Han Palace
(Ming period).
In these gardens, we discuss, we listen to music, we meditate, we calligraphy and we love each other under the foliage.
A great program.
“Jardins d'Asie”, at the Guimet Museum (Paris 16th), until September 20.
The visit can continue with the opening of the hotel garden in Heidelbach, 100 meters from the museum.
www.guimet.fr
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