1 Lit. Mt. Penglai. Ch: Penglaishan. The most famous of the three Elysian mountain-isles believed to lie off the coast of China. Along with Fangzhangshan (Jp: Hōjōsan 方丈山) and Yingzhoushan (Jp: Eishūsan 瀛洲山), Penglaishan was inhabited by immortals, tortoises, cranes, stags, and auspicious plants including the pine, peach, plum, and mushrooms all symbols of longevity. Legends concerning Mt. Penglai were widespread from ancient times, particularly in Daoism. The first emperor of the Qin dynasty (Ch: Qinshihuangdi; Jp: Shin Shikōtei 秦始皇帝, 259-210 BC) even sent several expeditions in search of the island. Stories of its gold and silver treasure attracted other adventurers, although according to tradition the island could not be visited by mortals. Emperor Wu (Jp: Butei 武帝, ?56-87 BC) of the Han dynasty had three islands with pavilions built in a pond within his massive garden. The idea of recreating the auspicious Mt. Penglai by building an artificial pond island within a garden was probably adopted in Japanese gardens of the Heian period although no examples remain. Mt. Penglai was associated with cranes, who supposedly lived there, and a tortoise, on the back of which the island was carried. Because the 11th-century garden treatise *Sakuteiki 作庭記 mentions crane islands *tsurujima 鶴島 and tortoise islands *kamejima 亀島, in pond gardens, this may well indicate an elaboration on the Mt. Penglai island design. Because the evergreen pine is a symbol of longevity, garden recreations of Penglai often include pines. Penglai appears frequently in Japanese gardens beginning in the Kamakura period, usually represented by a pyramidal stone *hōraiseki 蓬莱石, by a group of stones hōrai iwagumi 蓬莱石組, or an island *hōrai gantō 蓬莱岩島. These elements appear both in pond style chisenshiki 池泉式 and dry landscape *karesansui 枯山水 gardens. A related motif is the *hōraibune 蓬莱舟, a treasure boat that travels to and from the island. Gardens in which Penglai is the thematic focus are called *hōrai teien 蓬莱庭園, while gardens in which Penglai is a motif are *hōrai yōshiki 蓬莱様式.
2 Hōraisan was depicted in Chinese painting at least from the Tang dynasty and long remained a favorite auspicious symbol. In Japan, Hōraisan appeared in literature from Taketori monogatari 竹取物語 (The Tale of Bamboo Cutter; ca. 900). It was associated with local mountains, for instance Mt. Kumano 熊野 in Wakayama Prefecture and became a common motif in garden and miniature rock garden, bonseki 盆石 design. Later the legendary mountain became a favorite subject for Edo painters such as Maruyama Ōkyo 円山応挙 (1733-95; Higashi Honganji 東本願寺, Kyoto), Nagasawa Rosetsu 長沢蘆雪 (1754-99), and Tomioka Tessai 富岡鉄斎 (1837-1924).