The rock garden at Ry?an-ji, a piece of Japanese cultural heritage, is arguably the most popular in Kyoto. The deceptively simple garden consists of fifteen rocks spread out on white sand in a space of 248 square meters. The fifteen rocks are carefully arranged so that there is always at least one rock that cannot be seen, regardless of the angle. The garden was likely built in the Muromachi period (late 14th - 16th century), but who built the garden still remains a great mystery. Along with the confusion surrounding who designed it, the intended meaning of the garden is unclear and theorists have interpreted the garden in many different ways. One of the more popular theories is that the garden shows a tiger carrying her baby cubs across the water, while another theory is that the rocks spell out the Chinese character ?heart?.
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