Les jardins paysagers des seigneurs domaniaux de l’époque d’Edo et les manuels relatifs à la composition des jardins

During the Heian period (794-1195) in Japan, at the time where the main characteristics of pleasure gardens were introduced, the landscape architect was a well-read aristocrat who enjoyed reproducing one of the country’s famous landscape in his own home garden. During the medieval period (1185-1573), the monks have an important role in the conception of gardens, and, like the nobles, they conceive the landscape compositions of their monasteries by themselves. At that time, some rare technical manuscripts deal with the conception of gardens, but these works – that remain for a long time in the hands of a unique owner – are scarcely distributed. The pre-modern period (1573-1867) marks the start of a new development of gardens in many areas : the themes of the landscapes depicted, the spatial devices, or the horticultural techniques are renewed through the conception of vast landscape parks