CHAPTER XII
MINIATURE GARDENS
“Oh! Master Workman, labouring cunningly,
Which proves thy genius more,
Thy big works or thy small?
The temple Pine, that towers straight and tall,
Or fragile-fashioned seaweed strewn upon the shore?
I am content with Fuji, formed of rose and snow.
But are the curves less perfect that this shell doth show?”
If the laws of landscape gardening, in big and extensive grounds, are as rigorous and inflexible as those of Nature, they are no less so in the miniature gardens which are small enough to set on a tea-tray. The makers call them Hachi Niwa, or ‘Dish Gardens.’
The Japanese artist never scamps his work. His detail is the most perfect in the world. Plodding, infinitely patient China cannot surpass him, or even equal him. The Nippon carvings have a finesse added to the original upburst of inspiration, that comes only from loving labour. The Chinaman works because he has always worked, not from second nature, but from centuries of nature. His subconscious mind
