Kamo no Chōmei (1155–1216)
Auteur van Hōjōki
Over de Auteur
Fotografie: Kamo no Chomei. Drawing by Kikuchi Yosai. Wikimedia Commons.
Werken van Kamo no Chōmei
Tales of the Heike 1 exemplaar
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Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Gangbare naam
- Kamo no Chōmei
- Officiële naam
- Kamo Chomei
Kamo no Chomei - Pseudoniemen en naamsvarianten
- Kamo no Nagaakira
Ren-in - Geboortedatum
- 1155
- Overlijdensdatum
- 1216-07-25
- Geslacht
- male
- Nationaliteit
- Japan
- Geboorteplaats
- Kyoto, Japan
- Woonplaatsen
- Kyoto, Japan (death)
- Beroepen
- poet
critic
monk - Relaties
- 俊恵 (teacher)
Leden
Besprekingen
Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of the Heike : Being… door Kamo-Chomei
The Ten Foot Square Hut offers the memorable reflections of a recluse who has retired in disgust from a world too full of violent contrasts and cataclysms. Written some 700 years ago, it has an astonishing timeliness today. Professor Sadler's translation presents vivid selections from the story of the Heike clan from the days of its splendor down to its tragic end, when its leaders, utterly defeated by them Minamoto clan and scorning to surrender, throw themselves into the sea and perish.
This book is difficult to understand. Nary a paragraph goes by without encountering a word or phrase that means nothing to me without consulting the explanatory note, which are many and lengthy. Lots of credit must be given to the translator, not only for rendering a text written almost a millennia ago into modern English, but also for the copious research that must have been done to explicate the myriad of references that make up a huge portion of both the texts included in this volume. I must admit that my eyes sometimes glazed over, particularly when the writers recounted stories of emperors, various aristocrats, or monks, all of whom of course can mean nothing to me. This is obviously no fault of the authors or the translators, and simply a function of passing time and cultural differences. These moments were however worth it for the descriptive and philosophical passages interspersed within. Reading classic Buddhist texts as someone not well versed in the subject always surprise me in their piercing observations on psychology. The religious content here is in turns extremely practical (down to how one should arrange their house or what pets one should keep) and playfully contradictory. One passage in the Tsurezuregusa stood out to me in this regard. The writer starts off the section in a diatribe against drinking alcohol, describing the debauchery it leads to, the depression it invokes, the wasted day recovering from a hangover, and the punishment waiting for drinkers in their next life. However he immediate follows with this:
“Yet, loathsome though one finds it, there are situations when a cup of sake is hard to resist. On a moonlit night, a snowy morning, or beneath the flowering cherry trees, it increases all the pleasures of the moment to bring out the sake cups and settle down to talk serenely together over a drink. ”
The book is rife with ascetic recommendations that are contradicted in the next paragraph. Far from a flaw, it is this recognition of the duality of life that makes this stuff relevant hundreds of years later. The need to control hedonistic tendencies and stay focused on valuing your health and your time is balanced with the knowledge that there are occasions to break even strict tenets. To me, this kind of capacious understand of human psychology is needed to make any sense of what it is to lead a meaningful life.
It’s said that these two texts are classics of Japanese literature, and who am I to argue? I will say that in my opinion, the best sections take their place in the great Japanese genre of Iyashikei, slice of life works of art that encourage the very Buddhist practice of quiet contemplation and intense focus on the beauty of daily life. These impressions can be lost if one doesn’t slow down and pay attention. The great tragedy of our times is that this practice, difficult even in 13th century Japan, has become exponentially more difficult. One of the most haunting parts of this book was the repeated descriptions of wasted life and unpredictability of death. Without conscious practice, the precious, short existence we have on earth will zip by us with terrifying speed, and we will meet death bitter and regretful.… (meer)
“Yet, loathsome though one finds it, there are situations when a cup of sake is hard to resist. On a moonlit night, a snowy morning, or beneath the flowering cherry trees, it increases all the pleasures of the moment to bring out the sake cups and settle down to talk serenely together over a drink. ”
The book is rife with ascetic recommendations that are contradicted in the next paragraph. Far from a flaw, it is this recognition of the duality of life that makes this stuff relevant hundreds of years later. The need to control hedonistic tendencies and stay focused on valuing your health and your time is balanced with the knowledge that there are occasions to break even strict tenets. To me, this kind of capacious understand of human psychology is needed to make any sense of what it is to lead a meaningful life.
It’s said that these two texts are classics of Japanese literature, and who am I to argue? I will say that in my opinion, the best sections take their place in the great Japanese genre of Iyashikei, slice of life works of art that encourage the very Buddhist practice of quiet contemplation and intense focus on the beauty of daily life. These impressions can be lost if one doesn’t slow down and pay attention. The great tragedy of our times is that this practice, difficult even in 13th century Japan, has become exponentially more difficult. One of the most haunting parts of this book was the repeated descriptions of wasted life and unpredictability of death. Without conscious practice, the precious, short existence we have on earth will zip by us with terrifying speed, and we will meet death bitter and regretful.… (meer)
I wasn't terribly impressed with this work, and I suspect that it is because Japanese verse is gorgeous visually and delightful to the ears- none of which gets translated into English. Having only read this English translation, I am left simply with the content. It is interesting enough, but not terribly engaging. But, if you are interested in Japan at all this is a very influential and important work.
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- Werken
- 10
- Ook door
- 1
- Leden
- 575
- Populariteit
- #43,589
- Waardering
- 3.9
- Besprekingen
- 15
- ISBNs
- 39
- Talen
- 9
- Favoriet
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