Suikinkutsu
A Suikinkutsu ( Japanese 水 琴 窟 ), also known as a "water zither ( koto ) cave" is a form of Japanese garden ornamentation and at the same time a musical element. The suikinkutsu mainly consists of an upside-down pot with a hole in the top. Through the hole, water drips into the interior, which already contains a small water pond, producing a splashing sound that sounds like a bell or a string of the Japanese zither known as koto inside the pot . Normally the suikinkutsu is located near a traditional Japanese stone basin, which is called a chozubachi and is part of the tsukubai , the device for washing hands before the Japanese tea ceremony .
Traditional structure
Building a suikinkutsu is more difficult than it appears because all of the components must be finely tuned to produce a melodious tone. The most important part of the construction is the vessel, the pot buried upside down in the ground. Normally, pots are used for this, which are available as containers for rice or water, both glazed and unglazed pots can be used. Nowadays, metallic suikinkutsu are also available. However, unglazed pots have established themselves as the cheapest pots, as the rough surface helps the drops to form. The height of the pot can range from 30 centimeters to one meter, with a diameter of 30 to 50 centimeters. The hole at the top is about two centimeters in diameter. A good suikinkutsu's pot should sound like a bell when struck, and a pot with a good sound also makes a good suikinkutsu. A broken pot, on the other hand, does not produce a good sound and cannot be used for a suikinkutsu.
The suikinkutsu usually rests in a bed of crushed stone . The area under the pot is often concreted so that a puddle can build up, but sometimes it is simply made up of solid ground or clay . A drainage allows the drain, so the water can not rise too high. Larger stones cover the top of the pot completely. Traditional suikinkutsu are always near a hand wash basin, the chozubachi, whereby the suikinkutsu is always between the basin and the first stone in front of the basin. The material and design of the suikinkutsu can vary greatly depending on the region.
Usually only a single pot is buried in front of a chozubachi. Sometimes, however, there are also installations with two or more suikinkutsu in front of a pool. Such a double installation can be found, for example, in front of Iwasaki Castle in Nisshin in Aichi Prefecture , on the campus of the Takasaki Art Center College in Takasaki in Gunma Prefecture or in the University of Kyoto . Because the openings of the individual suikinkutsu are more than 50 centimeters apart in these designs, it is difficult to hit both openings when washing your hands, so the openings in this case are usually deliberately splashed instead of accidentally when washing.
history
The suikinkutsu were originally known as tosuimon ( 洞 水 門 ), but were rarely used in Japanese gardens. Probably originally a vessel was simply buried in the garden near the sink in order to have a drainage system. This is how the noises came about and the garden architects were encouraged to improve the tone and develop the suikinkutsu. The name suikinkutsu was given to the "water harp" around the middle of the Edo period (1603–1867), when it steadily gained popularity in Japan. The stone washbasin, the chozubachi, was developed around the same time. The suikinkutsu of the famous master of the Japanese tea ceremony Kobori Enshū , who is still called the inventor of suikinkutsu to this day, became particularly well known . At the end of the Edo period, the popularity of suikinkutsu fell again and only rose again during the Meiji period (1867-1912).
At the beginning of the 20th century, in the early Shōwa period , both the name suikinkutsu and the functionality of the instrument had largely been forgotten. A report by Professor Katsuzo Hirayama of the Tokyo University of Agriculture , published in 1959, named only two known suikinkutsu in all of Japan, and both were no longer functional and filled with soil. In 1982 the Asahi Shimbun newspaper published an article on suikinkutsu, asking the population to name other suikinkutsu in the country, which enabled a number of these instruments to be rediscovered. Then in 1985 a television report about the suikinkutsu appeared on Japanese television and led to a new popularity of the installation and the repeated installation of suikinkutsu and chozubachi in the gardens of Japan.
Modern variants
Today there are a number of modern variations on traditional suikinkutsu. The following list shows some of the possible variations:
- Modern suikinkutsu are not always close to a traditional chozubachi, as is traditionally required.
- Modern Suikinkutsu can be fitted instead of the individual droplets with a continuous flow of water, creating a continuous tone ( suitekion ) instead of a Tropfentons ( ryusuion ) arises.
- As mentioned above, there are also metallic suikinkutsu today.
- Not all suikinkutsu are now underground, there are also a number of suikinkutsu that are above ground as parts of sculptures.
- Today there are also suikinkutsu within closed spaces.
- In restaurants, shops and other rooms, the sound of an indoor or outdoor suikinkutsu can also be electronically amplified and played over loudspeakers.
- An additional pipe can be provided to direct the sounds from the cavity of the suikinkutsu to another location, e.g. B. in an interior.
- Sometimes bamboo tubes are provided, one end of which can be held on the ground so that the sounds can be heard more intensely at the other end.
philosophy
An important part behind the idea of Suikinkutsu is that the facility is hidden from view. The visitor washes his hand and hears the pleasant splashing from the floor. The act of washing hands can also be thought of as playing the suikinkutsu, as the splashing occurs shortly after hand washing. The clear sound of water droplets is seen as relaxing and calming and also described as very beautiful and peaceful.
various
In 1995, a CD was recorded on the Takasaki Art Center College campus and is now commercially distributed by the Victor Records label. A number of other, mostly Japanese, musicians use suikinkutsu tones in their recordings as accompanying sounds. Today, Naoko Tanaka is considered the leading scientist and musicologist in the field of suikinkutsu .
literature
- Yoshio Watanabe: Analytic Study of Acoustic Mechanism of "Suikinkutsu" . In: Japanese Journal of Applied Physics , Vol. 43 (9A), 2004, pp. 6429-6443, suikinkutsu.com (PDF) suikinkutsu.com
Web links
- Suikinkutsu design (English)
- Japanese Suikinkutsu Forum (Japanese, with sound samples)