Keywords
Architecture
Gardens
Lit. theory of five elements. A basic principle of Chinese geomancy and cosmology adapted in Japanese garden design. The five elements (with their related colors and directions) are: wood (blue-green, east); fire (red, south); metal (white, west); water (black, north), earth (yellow, center). Japanese gardens manuals such as *Sakuteiki 作庭記 and Sansui narabi ni nogata no zu 山水ならびに野形図 clearly state the necessity of understanding the five elements, five colors, and the directional orientation of the garden site and its elements. Sansui narabi ni nogata no zu begins with a detailed explanation of the relationships of mutual production and mutual creation among the five elements.