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Reading Ryoanji: (De)Constructing an Asian Icon

A talk by Professor Kendall Brown, Asian Art History, Cal State Long Beach

Thursday, May 03, 2007
2:00 PM - 3:00 PM
275 Dodd Hall
UCLA
Los Angeles, CA United States

The stone garden at Ryoanji in Kyoto is an iconic landscape: an emblem of Japan, a symbol of Zen and perhaps even a marker for pre-modern Asian culture. Yet for all the rhetoric of authenticity and profundity, the actual history of the garden is highly problematic and its fame the product of the twentieth century. This talk surveys the contentious history of the garden and its modern interpretations, then analyzes how the temple administrators carefully stage the experience of the garden. It concludes by suggesting different kinds of tourist performance at the garden.

The Ryoanji garden has played an important role in the "inspiration and re-creation" of the Chinese garden.

For more information please contact

Richard Gunde
Tel: 310 825-8683
gunde@ucla.edu

Sponsor(s): Center for Buddhist Studies, Center for Chinese Studies, Art History Department