ASIAN GARDEN AT GLEN BURNIE GARDENS, WINCHESTER, VA - 7-15-23

“Every morning we are born again. 

What we do today is what matters most.”

 ~Buddha~

We are at the far end of Glenn Burnie.  The Asian Garden was something I had wanted to see after discovering we had missed it the last time.  A couple with two young sons were near the bridge when we arrived, but they were already walking away.  We had the place to ourselves.

Though this is not entirely a Japanese Garden like the ones I have seen elsewhere, I thought I would add this.  Finding out about other parts of the world has always interested me. 

"Japanese gardens have their roots in the national region of Shinto, with its story of the creation of eight perfect islands, and of the shinchi, the lakes of the gods.  Prehistoric Shinto shrines to the kami, the gods of the spirits, are found on beaches and in forests all over the island."

The above paragraph came from Wikipedia at this link.  There is a lot of other interesting information.

A memory: back in his navy days, Gregg and I were at a welcome party for a group of Japanese Midshipmen. Their ship had arrived the day before.  (This is going back nearly 40 years.)  All these young men spoke perfect English.  One of their officers struck up a conversation, a very nice young man, and during that conversation he told me that his father was a Shinto Priest.  That evening was very enjoyable and memorable.

Having had my curiosity about other cultures since childhood, I continued reading here.  "Shinto priests perform Shinto rituals and often live on the shrine grounds. Men and women can become priests, and they are allowed to marry and have children. Priests are aided by younger women (miko) during rituals and shrine tasks. Miko wear a white kimono, must be unmarried and are often the priests' daughters."

There are many statues in other areas of the garden (I will share later).  This lovely lady was near the Tea House. After a lot of online looking, I think she may be the goddess Quan Yin, also known by other names, one of them being Guanyin.  You can read about her at this link.  (If any blogging friends think I am incorrect, please tell me.  I don't want to be unintentionally disrespectful by putting the wrong information in my post.)  Her description is: "Goddess of Compassion, Mercy and Kindness and considered to be the patron of seamen."

While Gregg was exploring the Bamboo Grove beyond the Moon Gate, because of the heat I saw the Tea House and the thought of resting in the shade was more appealing. 

Continuing my search online, I learned that the shogun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436-1490) constructed the first chashitsu/Tea Room at his villa in Kyoto. It is considered to be the first one in the history of chanoyu (a Japanese ceremony consisting of the serving and taking of tea in accordance with an elaborate ritual).

Below is the view of the garden from the Tea House.

My photo below is of my dear other half in front of the Moon Gate I mentioned.  It was left open but I asked him to close it to show the design for my photograph (we left it open after the photo op).  So, you can probably guess I did an online search of Moon Gates. 

The first thing I came across was a website where someone mentions his, and also had a video of another showing the building process.  You can see it here.  It looked a lovely addition to a garden.  I enjoyed his website as he has other interesting articles to read.  There is another design of a Moon Gate here.

I was curious about its symbolism, and I read that like the moon rising in the sky, the Moon Gate rising out of the land represents the cycle of life and symbolizes birth and renewal.  During wedding celebrations, stepping through the Moon Gate brings good luck for newlyweds.  

Moon Gates originated in China.

From this link, "A Moon Gate is a circular opening in a garden wall that acts as a pedestrian passageway, and a traditional architectural element in Chinese gardens. Moon Gates have many different spiritual meanings for every piece of tile on the gate and on the shape of it. The sloping roofs of the gate represent the Half Moon of the Chinese Summers and the tips of the tiles of the roof have talismans on the ends of them. Chinese gardens are often used as a display of class and beauty in many different western cultures. The purpose of these gates is to serve as a very inviting entrance into gardens of the rich upper class in China. The gates were originally only found in the gardens of wealthy Chinese nobles.”  

These are Gregg's photos from the other side of the gate.

I heard a call while in the Tea House and found a face among the bamboo.  This was one of my favorite photos of him at the garden. 

We were both happy about our walk today…

and were on our way home shortly afterwards.  Visiting the garden had been well worth the hour-and-a-half it took to get here.  Another place we are looking forward to going back sometime.

There will be one last post tomorrow about the other statues we saw.  Always a fun hobby to not only take the photos, but then read about the subject as I go along.