English
In serene weather we climb to the summit and view from afar the sky over my native place. Hence we can see Kowata- yama, Fushimi, Toba, and Hatsukase. Fine scenery is not private property, and there is nothing to prevent me from enjoying it. With no toilsome journey on foot, my mind flies afar along the range of mountain peaks. I cross Mount Sumi, I pass beyond Karadori, I make a pilgrimage to Iwama, I worship at Ishiyama, or else I thread my way over the plain of Awadzu, and pay my respects to the remains of the old Semimaru [a famous musician]; I cross the river Tagami, and visit the tomb of Sarumaru Dayu [a poet]. “On our way home we break off the cherry branches, or gather the red autumn foliage; we pluck the young HOJOKI 155 shoots of the bracken, or pick up nuts according to the season. Some of these are offered to Buddha, and some are taken as presents [to my companion’s family]. “When on a calm night the moon shines in at my winddw, I think with yearning of the men of old, and at the cry of the monkeys my sleeve is wetted with tears. The fire-flies in the clumps of herbage represent to me the fishermen’s cressets on the isle of Magi no Shima; the rain at daybreak sounds to me like the leaves when fluttered by a stormy gust of wind. When I hear the copper pheasant with his cry of ‘horo, horo,’ I wonder whether it is my father or my mother.!. When the stag from the mountain top approaches without shyness, I realise how far I am separated from the world. “When I first took up my abode in this place, I thought it was only for a little while. But five years have passed and my temporary hut has become old. Under the eaves there is a deep bed of withered leaves, and moss has gathered on the earthen floor. When by chance I receive news of the capital, I hear of the deaths of many men of high rank, while of those of men of low degree it is impossible to reckon the number. I hear too of many houses being destroyed by frequent conflagra- tions. But this temporary cabin of mine has remained secure and undisturbed. It is small, but at night I have a bed to lie upon, in the daytime a mat on which I sit. It has all that is needed for the lodging of one person. “ Buddha has taught mankind not to allow their hearts to become enslaved by outward things. Even my love for this thatched cabin is to be reckoned a transgres- 1 Referring to a poem in which the doctrine of transmigration is alluded to. 156 JAPANESE LITERATURE sion; even my lying down to quiet rest must be a hindrance to piety. How can any one waste precious © time in a continuous indulgence in useless pleasure ? One calm morning I thought long over the reasons of this, and asked of my own heart the question—‘ The object of leaving the world and making companions of the hills and woods is to give peace to the mind, and to enable us to carry out the practices of religion. But though your outward appearance is that of a holy man, your heart is steeped in impurity. Your dwelling is an unworthy imitation of that of Jomyo, but in observance you fall behind even Shuri and. Bandoku. Is this a natural affliction, inseparable from a mean condition, or is it due to the disorderly passions of an impure heart?’ To this my heart made no answer. A few unbidden invocations of the name of Buddha rose to my lips, and then—silence. “Written in my hut at Toyama, the second year of Kenriaku (A.D. 1212), the last day of the third month, by me the monk Renin.”} Some editions add the following pious Tanka :— ' “ The moon ts gone— A cruel mountain-spur Where late she shone : Oh! that my soul had sight Of the unfailing light.” Choémei is also the author of acollection of short essays entitled Mumzdsho (“Anonymous Selection”), mostly relating to poetical subjects, and of the Shzkz (“Four Seasons”) Monogatari, descriptive of court functions throughout the year. 1 Chomei’s name as a Buddhist monk, IZAYOI NO KI 157 Several diarics and journals of travel have come down to us from the Kamakura period. The Jzayot no ‘Kz is the best known of these. It was written by a lady called Abutsu, a name which indicates that she had taken Buddhist vows. She was a descendant of one of the Mikados, and the widow of a son of the Fujiwara no Sadaiye who edited the Hzakunzn-ts-shiu. The diary was composed on a journey which she took to Kamakura in 1277 to obtain justice for her son Tamesuke against an elder brother by a different mother, who had usurped one of the family estates. The /zayot no Kz is a highly sentimental journey in- terspersed plentifully with Tanka. The following short passage may suffice as a specimen :— “26th day. We crossed a river, which I believe is called the Warashina, and proceeded to the shore of Okitsu. I remembered the poem which says, ‘the moonshine behind me as I took my way with tears.’ At the place where we made our mid-day halt there was a queer little pillow of boxwood. I lay down quite exhausted, and finding an ink-stone there, wrote, as I lay, the following on the paper slides close to my pillow :— . *Twas an experience Scarce worth remembering. Tell tt not to the world, O thou chance pillow / Nor say that I have bound myself” Musubi-okitsu, which means “to bind oneself down,” also contains the name of the place where the author was stopping. The verse is obviously composed simply for the sake of this pun, and contains no record of any actual personal experience. 158 JAPANESE LITERATURE “As it became dusk we passed Kiyomigaseki. The waves breaking over the rocks looked as if they were clothing them in white robes—a very pretty sight! Ye ancient rocks On the shore of Kiyomi / A question let me ask of you— How many suits have you put on Of wet wave-garments ?” (“Wet garments” is a metaphorical expression for unmerited blame or punishment]. “Presently it became dark, and we put up for the night in a village in that neighbourhood which stood close by the sea. From somewhere near, there came a smoke of burning, the smell of which was very noisome. It was no doubt caused by something the fishermen were doing. It brought to my mind the words, ‘the rank odours of my nightly lodging.’ “The wind was very boisterous all night long, and the waves seemed breaking in tumult over my pillow.” The next passage relates to Fujisan. It appears from it that in the author’s day the smoke from this mountain was intermittent. It has long ago quite ceased to rise. The style of the /zayoi no Kz is very different from that of the Gempet Seisuiki or Heike Monogatart. lt is comparatively free from Chinese elements, and reads more like a work of the Heian period. The author has evidently taken the Yosa Nikki for her model. Abutsu also published a volume of critical essays on poetry, called Yo no Tsuru (“The Crane in the Night”), and other less important writings. The Ben no Nagy? Nikki, also by a woman, is a diary of incidents which occurred between 1246 and 1252. So POETRY 159 POETRY The manufacture of Tanka at the court of Kidto con- tinued during this period. Several collections of verses prepared under official auspices were the result; but, as they contain little which is characteristic, it is need- less to dwell upon them. The poetry of this time deserves mention chiefly as an indication that culture was not wholly neglected during what was in the main a benighted age. It was now that the practice began of making anthologies of Tanka consisting of one specimen each of one hundred different authors. These are called Hiaku-nin-is-shiu. The original collection of this kind, which contains Tanka from the seventh to the thirteenth centuries, is at this day in the hands of every Japanese schoolgirl. It was compiled about 1235 by a court noble named Sadaiye, one of the great Fujiwara clan, which at this time had almost a monopoly of Japanese poetry. It has been translated into English by Mr. F. V. Dickins. A new metre appeared during this period, which took the place of the older Naga-uta. It is called Ima-y6 or “present fashion,” and consists of alternate phrases of seven and five syllables. This arrangement is more or less closely approximated to in the poetical passages which now begin to occur in prose works. BOOKS IN CHINESE The works written in Chinese during the Kamakura period bear witness to the general decay of learning. They are composed in a species of bad Chinese which 160 JAPANESE LITERATURE may aptly be compared to the barbarous Latin of the Middle Ages in Europe. The most important is the Adzuma-Kagami or “ Mirror of the East,” a history of Japan from 1180 till 1266. Invaluable as a mine of historical information, its literary worth is but small. It is one of those dry chronicles in which events are jotted down month by month and day by day without any attempt to show their con- nection, BOOK THE FIFTH NAMBOKU-CHO (1332-1392) AND MUROMACHI (1392-1603) PERIODS (DARK AGE) BOOK THE FIFTH NAMBOKU-CHO (1332-1392) AND MUROMACHI (1392-1603) PERIODS (DARK AGE) CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY— JINKOSHOTOKI ”— CT AIHEIKE?: Towarps the end of the Kamakura period the mis- government of the Hojo regents, who were to the Shoguns what the Shoguns had been to the Mikados, was the cause of general discontent ; and when a Mikado of resolute character came to the throne, the opportunity seemed favourable for casting off the domination of the military caste. At the court of Kidto there had always been a strong undercurrent of intrigue directed against the Shoguns’ authority, and that of the regents who ruled in their name. The Mikado Go Daigo was the first who thought himself strong enough to take bolder measures, After a desperate struggle, and many vicissitudes of for- tune, his enterprise was partially successful.