The subtle and the profound.
Yugen is at the core of the appreciation of
beauty and art in Japan. It values the
power to evoke, rather that the ability to state directly. The principle of Yugen shows that real
beauty exists when, through its suggestiveness, only a few words, or few brush strokes, can suggest what has not been said or shown, and hence awaken many inner thoughts and feelings.
"Yugen is to watch the sun sink behind a flower-clad hill, to wander on and on in a huge
forest without thought of return, to stand upon the shore and gaze after a
boat that disappears behind distant islands, to contemplate the flight of wild geese
seen and lost among the clouds."