Yohaku-no-bi, meaning the beauty of paucity, is one of the concepts of Japanese aesthetics. In an art form, Japanese artists try to create a vacant space or a blank from which viewers, with their imaginations, can see things that are spiritual and philosophical. In other words, to appreciate, viewers not only start from an art's appearance but from its blank space provided by the artists. Thus, void, emptiness, and less-is-more are the key words for the concept of yohaku-no-bi. We can see yohaku-no-bi is applied to many Japanese art forms, such as Zen gardens (kare-san-sui) and Japanese ink and wash painting (sui-boku-ga).
A typical Japanese Zen garden
the large surface of white gravel serves as the emptiness from which viewers can excite and capture their imaginations: gravel represents ocean; rocks represent island.
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