Emory News did a nice story on the exhibition:
Art exhibit celebrates partnership of Emory freshmen and Clarkston refugees
Friday, December 21, 2012
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Exhibition Blog
The exhibition now has its own blog!
明明徳 Clearly Manifesting Luminous Virtue
If you can't visit Clarkston, stop by the virtual galleries instead.
明明徳 Clearly Manifesting Luminous Virtue
If you can't visit Clarkston, stop by the virtual galleries instead.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Too much grief
day 890 12-14-2012
the small explosions
we were sure we heard again
swallowed by silence
From www.haikudiem.com
the small explosions
we were sure we heard again
swallowed by silence
From www.haikudiem.com
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Art Exhibition Celebrates Partnership of Emory Freshmen and Clarkston Refugees
The recently opened exhibition "Clearly Manifesting Luminous Virtue" displays the brush calligraphy of students in a freshman seminar and from Clarkston Community Center's Senior Refugee Program. Despite their differences, the Emory and Clarkston students proved to have much in common: all were newcomers to the Atlanta area and all were devoted to learning. While it was not always possible to communicate with words, students learned to appreciate each other through gestures, smiles, and patient brushwork. The exhibition presents the strikingly expressive art that emerged from these sessions.
With support from Emory's Center for Community Partnerships, the group of 16 freshmen made weekly visits to the students of the Senior Refugee Classes to chat in English and share the pleasure of writing with a brush. The exhibition's title is a phrase from one of the freshman class's textbooks, The Greater Learning (Chinese, Daxue) one of the most influential works of Chinese ethics. The book explains that students should try fulfill their potential by study and practicing the arts, including calligraphy. By improving themselves, claims the Greater Learning, students are able to support their families. By supporting families, they create community. By creating community, they bring peace to the world.
Students of the freshman seminar East Asian Calligraphy in the Community, taught by associate professor of Japanese Cheryl Crowley, explored the possibilities of putting these abstract ideas into practice. They first learned the basics of the classical Chinese scholarly art of calligraphy, and then joined students from the Clarkston refugee community to collaborate in studying it during weekly visits over a period of two months. The Clarkston students, elders from the Senior Refugee Program taught by Teresa Hatton and Sheilah Bowser, attend English as a Second Language classes at the Center. They come from places as diverse as Bhutan, Somalia, and Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The exhibition is on display from December 7 - 31, 2012 at Clarkston Community Center, 3701 College Avenue, Clarkston, GA 30021 (404) 508-1050.
Additional funding was provided by Emory's East Asian Studies Program and Confucius Institute.
With support from Emory's Center for Community Partnerships, the group of 16 freshmen made weekly visits to the students of the Senior Refugee Classes to chat in English and share the pleasure of writing with a brush. The exhibition's title is a phrase from one of the freshman class's textbooks, The Greater Learning (Chinese, Daxue) one of the most influential works of Chinese ethics. The book explains that students should try fulfill their potential by study and practicing the arts, including calligraphy. By improving themselves, claims the Greater Learning, students are able to support their families. By supporting families, they create community. By creating community, they bring peace to the world.
Students of the freshman seminar East Asian Calligraphy in the Community, taught by associate professor of Japanese Cheryl Crowley, explored the possibilities of putting these abstract ideas into practice. They first learned the basics of the classical Chinese scholarly art of calligraphy, and then joined students from the Clarkston refugee community to collaborate in studying it during weekly visits over a period of two months. The Clarkston students, elders from the Senior Refugee Program taught by Teresa Hatton and Sheilah Bowser, attend English as a Second Language classes at the Center. They come from places as diverse as Bhutan, Somalia, and Ethiopia and Eritrea.
The exhibition is on display from December 7 - 31, 2012 at Clarkston Community Center, 3701 College Avenue, Clarkston, GA 30021 (404) 508-1050.
Additional funding was provided by Emory's East Asian Studies Program and Confucius Institute.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Recommended: Chinese Writing and Calligraphy
Wendan LI teaches at the University of North Carolina. I met her last month at the American Society of Shufa Calligraphy Educators' 8th International Conference on Hanzi Shufa Calligraphy Education at Southwestern University in Georgetown, Texas.
While I was there I heard about her book, Chinese Writing and Calligraphy, and it looked so good I bought a copy. It is an excellent resource both for people who are interested in learning more about calligraphy but don't have a teacher to work with, as well as teachers who would like a textbook suitable for people who don't read Chinese or Japanese.
It has a thorough introduction to the history of Chinese characters, as well as the aesthetic principles behind their construction as artistic forms. Also included are explanations of the tools of calligraphy and finally a large section of practice exercises in standard style 楷書. What's nice about this book is that Professor Li is a specialist in linguistics, so the information she provides is scholarly and reliable. She is also a practicing calligrapher herself, so not only are the illustrations in the historical section very instructive, but the models provided in the practice exercise are so elegant and graceful you just want to copy them. In short, the book is an excellent foundational text for the anglophone classroom.
Wendan Li. Chinese Writing and Calligraphy (Latitude 20 Books). Hawaii: University of Hawai’i Press (2010) ISBN: 0824833643
It has a thorough introduction to the history of Chinese characters, as well as the aesthetic principles behind their construction as artistic forms. Also included are explanations of the tools of calligraphy and finally a large section of practice exercises in standard style 楷書. What's nice about this book is that Professor Li is a specialist in linguistics, so the information she provides is scholarly and reliable. She is also a practicing calligrapher herself, so not only are the illustrations in the historical section very instructive, but the models provided in the practice exercise are so elegant and graceful you just want to copy them. In short, the book is an excellent foundational text for the anglophone classroom.
Wendan Li. Chinese Writing and Calligraphy (Latitude 20 Books). Hawaii: University of Hawai’i Press (2010) ISBN: 0824833643
Wednesday, November 14, 2012
Course Syllabuses Re: The 3.11 Disasters
Sophia University in Tokyo has assembled a fantastic list of courses being taught in Japan and the US about the 2011 Great Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami.
Teaching 3.11 Syllabi Collection
Most are in English or Japanese, though there is a link to one resource in Italian.
Teaching 3.11 Syllabi Collection
Most are in English or Japanese, though there is a link to one resource in Italian.
Saturday, November 10, 2012
Fooling around with fûga 風雅
Some famous phrases associated with fûga (poetry, elegance) from the Bashô school.
There might be some problems with these because I'm taking them out of context. These are more or less notes to myself about their general meaning rather than 100% reliable translations. I'm just thinking about how the Bashô school describes poetic work.
There might be some problems with these because I'm taking them out of context. These are more or less notes to myself about their general meaning rather than 100% reliable translations. I'm just thinking about how the Bashô school describes poetic work.
- 俳諧といへども風雅の一筋なれば姿かたちいやしく作りなすべからず。
Though it be called haikai, it is on a continuum with everything artistic, so you should compose it in a way that is vulgar neither in content nor in form.
- Bashô, cited in Mukai Kyorai's 向井去来 Tabine ron 旅寝論
- 詩・歌・連・俳はともに風雅なり。上三つのものには余す所もあり。その余す所まで俳はいたらずといふ所なし。
Poetry in Chinese, waka, renga, and haikai are all artistic forms of expression. The first three have left areas unexplored. Of those unexplored areas, none may be called unreachable by haikai.Read more >>
- Dohô 土芳, in Sanzôshi 三冊子.
Monday, October 22, 2012
Syllabus: East Asian Calligraphy in the Community
My service learning course is underway. I'll post some reflections on our work in the course soon. For now, here's the syllabus, minus the assignments schedule:
JPN 190 FIRST YEAR SEMINAR: EAST ASIAN CALLIGRAPHY IN THE COMMUNITY Made possible by a grant from the Center for Community Partnerships at Emory University
Course Description:
The class uses brush calligraphy as a focal point from which to begin exploration of common values in the cultures of East Asia, and the ways in which some of these values can enrich life in modern, globalized communities. In premodern China, Japan, and Korea, skill in brush calligraphy was one of the most important attributes of an educated, civilized person; it was regarded as a means of both learning and of demonstrating virtue.
Although it was originally developed in China, as early Koreans and Japanese embraced Chinese knowledge, they also took on Chinese writing system and calligraphy. Thus, calligraphy as a means to educate and enrich life in China became an early example of intercultural exchange in countries far from its point of origin, and continues to offer amedium of common appreciation for people from a wide range of linguistic groups and cultural backgrounds.
During the first few weeks of the class we will read fundamental texts related to East Asian philosophy. We will also practice the basic strokes of brush calligraphy. In the second part of the course, we will meet once a week on the Emory campus, and continue our study and discussion of East Asian cultural theory. The second session of class each week will be held at Clarkston Community Center, where we will join the senior learning group in practicing and assisting with students working there (transportation is provided). During the course of these sessions at CCC, students will be invited to consider the applicability of the cultural theory to their own experience, and observe their CCC classmates'experience as well. They will be asked to keep a reflection journal, and to participate in planning and organizing an exhibition of final projects at the CCC.
(Follow link to read more >>)
JPN 190 FIRST YEAR SEMINAR: EAST ASIAN CALLIGRAPHY IN THE COMMUNITY Made possible by a grant from the Center for Community Partnerships at Emory University
Course Description:
The class uses brush calligraphy as a focal point from which to begin exploration of common values in the cultures of East Asia, and the ways in which some of these values can enrich life in modern, globalized communities. In premodern China, Japan, and Korea, skill in brush calligraphy was one of the most important attributes of an educated, civilized person; it was regarded as a means of both learning and of demonstrating virtue.
Although it was originally developed in China, as early Koreans and Japanese embraced Chinese knowledge, they also took on Chinese writing system and calligraphy. Thus, calligraphy as a means to educate and enrich life in China became an early example of intercultural exchange in countries far from its point of origin, and continues to offer amedium of common appreciation for people from a wide range of linguistic groups and cultural backgrounds.
During the first few weeks of the class we will read fundamental texts related to East Asian philosophy. We will also practice the basic strokes of brush calligraphy. In the second part of the course, we will meet once a week on the Emory campus, and continue our study and discussion of East Asian cultural theory. The second session of class each week will be held at Clarkston Community Center, where we will join the senior learning group in practicing and assisting with students working there (transportation is provided). During the course of these sessions at CCC, students will be invited to consider the applicability of the cultural theory to their own experience, and observe their CCC classmates'experience as well. They will be asked to keep a reflection journal, and to participate in planning and organizing an exhibition of final projects at the CCC.
(Follow link to read more >>)
Wednesday, July 4, 2012
"Onna daigaku": Character Building Calligraphy II
To start part two, here's a useful list of sources on the history of women's literacy in Japan:
Link to Women and Books in Japan (Cambridge)
Okay, back to Onna daigaku. We've now reached the Kyoho period. Ishikawa tells us that in 1716, there was the simultaneous Osaka-Edo publication of Onna daigaku takarabako, the first of a flock of similarly-named texts. It followed the example of Onna Imagawa and Onna jitsugokyô in organization and content, arranged in the form of admonitions. Similarly, aside from being a reader, it was also a calligraphy copybook. Furthermore, it was profusely illustrated.
According to Ishikawa, it's not clear why this (these) texts were called Onna daigaku. The editor is not named, there is no preface, and there's no indication in the main text either. It's entirely speculative to say so, but during the early modern period education for boys was drawn from Confucian curriculum, Song studies (= neo-Confucianism) was very influential, so the Four Books was the basis of education. The Four Books were Daxue, Zhongyong, Lunyu, and Mengzi, and of these, Daxue was the most important. So, perhaps Onna daigaku was thus named in order to function in girls' education the same way that Daxue did for that of boys? In other words, girls should have it to hand, internalize its principles -- the first, most important moral textbook.
Click "read more" for the rest.
Link to Women and Books in Japan (Cambridge)
Okay, back to Onna daigaku. We've now reached the Kyoho period. Ishikawa tells us that in 1716, there was the simultaneous Osaka-Edo publication of Onna daigaku takarabako, the first of a flock of similarly-named texts. It followed the example of Onna Imagawa and Onna jitsugokyô in organization and content, arranged in the form of admonitions. Similarly, aside from being a reader, it was also a calligraphy copybook. Furthermore, it was profusely illustrated.
According to Ishikawa, it's not clear why this (these) texts were called Onna daigaku. The editor is not named, there is no preface, and there's no indication in the main text either. It's entirely speculative to say so, but during the early modern period education for boys was drawn from Confucian curriculum, Song studies (= neo-Confucianism) was very influential, so the Four Books was the basis of education. The Four Books were Daxue, Zhongyong, Lunyu, and Mengzi, and of these, Daxue was the most important. So, perhaps Onna daigaku was thus named in order to function in girls' education the same way that Daxue did for that of boys? In other words, girls should have it to hand, internalize its principles -- the first, most important moral textbook.
Click "read more" for the rest.
Wednesday, June 27, 2012
"Onna daigaku": Character Building Calligraphy I
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| From Waseda's copy; link is below |
The book I'm reading about it is called Onna daigaku shû (Onna daigaku anthology) 女大学集, by Ishikawa Matsutarô 石川松太郎 (Heibonsha, 1977). It covers textbooks for women starting in Hôei 7 (1711, Volume 5 of Ekken's "Girls' pedagogy," from 和俗童子訓 Precepts for Children in the Japanese Manner), with 8 more examples, the last of which is Fukuzawa Yukichi's Onna daigaku hyôron, (Critical Onna daigaku), 1899. It's got great annotations and commentary, and is illustrated with reproductions of woodblock editions of the texts it includes, so it's really useful. Right now I'm really interested in what it says about women's textbooks in the eighteenth century, so my notes here will summarize what it says about that. What caught my attention was the way that Onna daigaku demonstrates theories about relationship between moral education (or if you prefer, self-cultivation), calligraphy models, and visual imagery. Consciously setting to one side the deep unpalatability of the message about women always obeying men, I want to think more deeply about the issue of specialized textbooks for women and wonder what's here.
(Click "Read more" for the rest of this post.)
If you're curious about the content, a partial translation is available online, and you can read the whole thing as a book.
- Excerpts from Onna daigaku (PDF, hosted by Columbia University)
- The book is called Women and Wisdom of Japan. A number of versions are kicking around on the internet. A reprint is also available as Onna Daigaku: A Treasure Box of Women's Learning from Nezu Press, 2010.
- Also, there are some amazing digitized editions available through Japanese libraries. Try this one, at Tokyo Gakugei Repository; or this one, at Waseda.
The first appearance of textbooks aimed particularly at girls corresponded with a few developments -- a peaceful state, improved printing technology, and the importation of books from China. These included Chinese texts for educating girls; thus, some of the earliest Edo-period girls' textbooks were basically annotated Chinese texts. Ishikawa mentions Kumabara Banzan's Precepts for Women 女訓 (1691). Another group of texts consisted of annotations of the imported Women's Four Books 女四書 (1656), including Women's Classic of Filial Piety 女孝経, Admonitions for Women 女誡, Women's Analects 女論語, and Precepts for the Interior 内訓. Also in 1656, Kitamura Kigin published a version of (the Chinese) Biographies of Exemplary Women called Biographies of Exemplary Women in the Japanese Syllabary 仮名列女伝. This was followed by Kurozawa Hirotada's 黒沢弘忠 Japanese Biographies of Exemplary Women 本朝列女伝(1663) and Asai Ryoi's 浅井了井 Japanese Mirror for Women 本朝女鏡 (1661).
Things developed further in the eighteenth century, as access to education and books began to extend to commoners, and correspondingly there was more demand for texts that would teach women basic literacy, letter writing skills, and proper behavior. An early best seller at this stage was based on the Muromachi-era classic Imagawa Admonitions 今川状 (by Imagawa Nakaaki); it was called Onna Imagawa 女今川 and followed a similar format of bullet-point style instructions about what not to do. In addition to its content, it was important as a model for handwriting practice.
A digital version of a copy at Waseda is here.Other kinds of textbooks followed on from late Heian/early Kamakura boy's textbooks like Teachings on Words of Truth 実語教 and Teachings for Children 童子教: Women's Admonitions Illustrated Women's Teachings on Words of Truth 女誡絵入女実語教 and Women's Admonitions Illustrated Women's Teachings for Children 女誡絵入女童子教.
A digital version of the former at Tokyo Gakugei Repository is here. A digital version of an edition of the latter that is not illustrated, but written in exquisite calligraphy, is here.The content emphasized developing wisdom and good moral character, as they were supposed to collect the essential teachings of the Four Books. They were also used as models for handwriting. In addition to these, there were lots of other women's textbooks published during this period, all of which combined examples of good writing with instruction in the virtues and skills required of women in maintaining the continuity of their households.
Wow! This has gotten more detailed than I'd anticipated! Ok, I'll publish this in two parts. The rest will follow before too long.
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Peter Kornicki's Bibliography of Japanese History
Professor Kornicki teaches at the University of Cambridge.
The bibliography was originally compiled in 1996 and has been revised since then. It covers Japanese history up to the Meiji period, and is searchable.
The link is here:
http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/jbib/
The bibliography was originally compiled in 1996 and has been revised since then. It covers Japanese history up to the Meiji period, and is searchable.
The link is here:
http://www.ames.cam.ac.uk/jbib/
Saturday, June 2, 2012
Development of Japanese Studies Outside Japan
The Pre-Modern Japanese Studies listserv has an interesting thread developing, inspired by celebrations of the Queen's Jubilee in the UK. Here are some highlights.
1) Ross Bender:
I just finished reading Orienting Arthur Waley: Japonism, Orientalism, and the Creation of Japanese Literature in English by John Walter de Gruchy (Hawaii, 2003) which is chock full of fascinating insights about the origin of premodern Japanese studies.
One of my favorite factoids is that when the SOAS was founded in 1917 in London, there were seven students in the Japanese program in the first year, "rising to an average of twenty-seven a year over the next five years." After the termination of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1921, the average number dropped to a mere eleven students between 1923 and 1941, and only two students actually took degrees in the period between the wars. According to de Gruchy, quoting Earl Miner, it was not until Donald Keene that the academic field of Japanese literature was actually created as an academic discipline.
1) Ross Bender:
I just finished reading Orienting Arthur Waley: Japonism, Orientalism, and the Creation of Japanese Literature in English by John Walter de Gruchy (Hawaii, 2003) which is chock full of fascinating insights about the origin of premodern Japanese studies.
One of my favorite factoids is that when the SOAS was founded in 1917 in London, there were seven students in the Japanese program in the first year, "rising to an average of twenty-seven a year over the next five years." After the termination of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1921, the average number dropped to a mere eleven students between 1923 and 1941, and only two students actually took degrees in the period between the wars. According to de Gruchy, quoting Earl Miner, it was not until Donald Keene that the academic field of Japanese literature was actually created as an academic discipline.
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Bike Ride Across Georgia 2012
This weekend I start an epic adventure, the 33rd annual Bike Ride Across Georgia. I -- and about 1,200 other people -- will travel about 350 miles (560 km) during the course of a week. I've never done anything like this before, so I'm pretty intimidated; on the other hand, I'm looking forward to what I hope will be a beautiful ride. We average about 55 miles a day, eat cafeteria-style from a mobile catering service, shower in a truck, and sleep en-masse in school gymnasiums. I'm also bringing plenty of reading to catch up on; however, considering how totally unathletic I am, maybe I should just be content to live through it.
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| Route map, BRAG 2012; click to embiggen |
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
David Slater on Volunteering in Tôhoku
The Asia-Pacific recently published a short article by David Slater of Sophia University on volunteer opportunities to help survivors of the 3.11 disaster in Tôhoku.
Volunteering in Tôhoku 東北で奉仕活動をするには
If you're planning a visit to Japan soon, here's a way to do something to help people who need it.
Volunteering in Tôhoku 東北で奉仕活動をするには
If you're planning a visit to Japan soon, here's a way to do something to help people who need it.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Asian Heritage at Dekalb County Public Library I
May is Asian-Pacific Heritage Month in the US. The US government site announcing it has a lot of great materials. Their page on education (link follows) includes a link to a nice page on teaching haiku in English:
Asian-Pacific Heritage Month for Teachers
Can You Haiku?
On Saturday I went to the Decatur branch of Dekalb Public Library to to a reading of folktales from East Asia. It was a lot of fun and I hope to do something similar again. The event was sponsored by Laura Hauser of Literacy Services. Here's the program. The call numbers are specific to the Dekalb Public Library Catalogue. Complete bibliographic information is available through the catalogue.
(Event program and finding list below the cut.)
Asian-Pacific Heritage Month for Teachers
Can You Haiku?
On Saturday I went to the Decatur branch of Dekalb Public Library to to a reading of folktales from East Asia. It was a lot of fun and I hope to do something similar again. The event was sponsored by Laura Hauser of Literacy Services. Here's the program. The call numbers are specific to the Dekalb Public Library Catalogue. Complete bibliographic information is available through the catalogue.
(Event program and finding list below the cut.)
Monday, April 23, 2012
Kentucky Foreign Language Conference
This past weekend Yumiko Nishi and I went to present our paper on the fourth-year Japanese class at the Kentucky Foreign Language Conference, held at the University of Kentucky in Lexington. I'd been to Kentucky before, once for the Southeast Council Association for Asian Studies conference when it was held in Louisville, and once for the fabulous Bluegrass in the Park/Pickin' & Pedalin' Bicycle Tour in Henderson, but I'd never been to Lexington. Lexington is really beautiful and the surrounding area is fabulously green and peaceful-looking. I had a very nice time.
The conference itself was in its 65th year. The majority of the presentations were related to European Languages, but there were a sizable number of papers related to East Asia also, thanks to the work of Doug Slaymaker and Masamichi (Marro) Inoue (info here).
The paper Dr. Nishi and I gave was "Teaching The Japanese Environment: 3.11 and After." It was great to work with her in writing it, because I got a lot of insight into all the planning that went into the class. I also got to hear about the amazing projects the students worked on -- 10-page papers in Japanese on some very difficult and challenging topics. All in all, Dr. Nishi's work sounded very impressive.
All the papers I heard were very interesting. I particularly want to follow up on the work of Dr. Inoue (who talked about his work on campus policing at UK and how it suggested directions for future research on Japan), Jianjun He of Western Kentucky University (who talked about literary trope of the "immortal" -- 神 or 仙 -- in Wei-Jin and Tang era Chinese poetry) and Matthew Wells of UK, who works on Taoism.
I was also fortunate to have a chance to briefly chat with Sharalyn Orbaugh of the University of British Columbia. Dr. Orbaugh's talk was "Japanese Pop Culture Tackles the Big Questions: Gender, Race and Posthumanity in Anime."
The conference itself was in its 65th year. The majority of the presentations were related to European Languages, but there were a sizable number of papers related to East Asia also, thanks to the work of Doug Slaymaker and Masamichi (Marro) Inoue (info here).
The paper Dr. Nishi and I gave was "Teaching The Japanese Environment: 3.11 and After." It was great to work with her in writing it, because I got a lot of insight into all the planning that went into the class. I also got to hear about the amazing projects the students worked on -- 10-page papers in Japanese on some very difficult and challenging topics. All in all, Dr. Nishi's work sounded very impressive.
All the papers I heard were very interesting. I particularly want to follow up on the work of Dr. Inoue (who talked about his work on campus policing at UK and how it suggested directions for future research on Japan), Jianjun He of Western Kentucky University (who talked about literary trope of the "immortal" -- 神 or 仙 -- in Wei-Jin and Tang era Chinese poetry) and Matthew Wells of UK, who works on Taoism.
I was also fortunate to have a chance to briefly chat with Sharalyn Orbaugh of the University of British Columbia. Dr. Orbaugh's talk was "Japanese Pop Culture Tackles the Big Questions: Gender, Race and Posthumanity in Anime."
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Elegance, virtue, and poetry: Fûgaron
Still working on Haikai to kanbungaku. However, this time the chapter is Fûgaron 風雅論 (Theories of fûga [poetic elegance]) by Ibi Takashi 揖斐高.
Fûga is a word that comes up a lot in discussions of haikai, especially when it comes to Bashô, so it makes sense to figure out where it comes from. Ibi tells us that it originates in Shijing (Classic of poetry, or Book of odes) 詩經, the collection of poems dated 10th-7th BCE that is one of the major books of the Chinese literary canon. Its contents break down into feng 風 (airs), xiaoya (lesser odes, maybe?) 小雅, daya 大雅 (grand odes?) and song 頌 (hymns). "Fûga" comes from the first three types, feng and ya, and thus is more or less synonymous with "poetry." In the early modern period, under the influence of Confucian thought, poetry = shi 詩 = kanshi, waka, and haikai = fûga.
Ibi notes that in the modern period, accounts of the history of Confucianism in early modern Japan go this way: the bakufu underpinned its social system with neo-Confucianism, which focused on the development of personal morality through self-cultivation. In the Genroku period Itô Jinsai 伊藤仁斎 advanced a kind of humanism-tinged school of thought that came to be called kogaku ("antiquarian studies"); he took a dim view of Zhu Xi's addition of Da Xue and Zhong Yong to the Confucian canon, and advocated that greater attention be paid to recapturing an "authentic" understanding of the Analects and Mencius without recourse to commentary. Later, Ogyû Sorai 荻生徂徠 picked up on a lot of the ideas put forth by Jinsai, adding in an emphasis on the appreciation and composition of music and art, which eventually resulted in the study of literature gaining independence from inquiry into ethics and politics. However, he says that this version of the story needs some more exploration.
Fûga is a word that comes up a lot in discussions of haikai, especially when it comes to Bashô, so it makes sense to figure out where it comes from. Ibi tells us that it originates in Shijing (Classic of poetry, or Book of odes) 詩經, the collection of poems dated 10th-7th BCE that is one of the major books of the Chinese literary canon. Its contents break down into feng 風 (airs), xiaoya (lesser odes, maybe?) 小雅, daya 大雅 (grand odes?) and song 頌 (hymns). "Fûga" comes from the first three types, feng and ya, and thus is more or less synonymous with "poetry." In the early modern period, under the influence of Confucian thought, poetry = shi 詩 = kanshi, waka, and haikai = fûga.
Ibi notes that in the modern period, accounts of the history of Confucianism in early modern Japan go this way: the bakufu underpinned its social system with neo-Confucianism, which focused on the development of personal morality through self-cultivation. In the Genroku period Itô Jinsai 伊藤仁斎 advanced a kind of humanism-tinged school of thought that came to be called kogaku ("antiquarian studies"); he took a dim view of Zhu Xi's addition of Da Xue and Zhong Yong to the Confucian canon, and advocated that greater attention be paid to recapturing an "authentic" understanding of the Analects and Mencius without recourse to commentary. Later, Ogyû Sorai 荻生徂徠 picked up on a lot of the ideas put forth by Jinsai, adding in an emphasis on the appreciation and composition of music and art, which eventually resulted in the study of literature gaining independence from inquiry into ethics and politics. However, he says that this version of the story needs some more exploration.
Sunday, February 19, 2012
Theory in Premodern Japanese Literature
There is an interesting thread going on at PMJS (Premodern Japanese Studies), a network and listserv for scholars in a variety of humanities-related fields. The thread was started by Chris Kern of Ohio State/Waseda.
Lots of good comments there. Here are three things it mentions that I'm adding to my library:
We have a problem - in theory
Paula Curtis
on the blog "What can I do with a BA in Japanese Studies?" (its URL tells it all: shimpaideshou: "bit of a worry, you know")
"Future Philology? The Fate of a Soft Science in a Hard World"
Sheldon Pollock
Critical Inquiry 35 (Summer 2009): 931-96
The link goes to JSTOR.
"Theory and the Early Modern: Some Notes on a Difficult Relationship,"
Michael Moriarty
Paragraph, 29:1 (Mar 2006), pp. 1-11
The link goes to Project Muse.
Lots of good comments there. Here are three things it mentions that I'm adding to my library:
We have a problem - in theory
Paula Curtis
on the blog "What can I do with a BA in Japanese Studies?" (its URL tells it all: shimpaideshou: "bit of a worry, you know")
"Future Philology? The Fate of a Soft Science in a Hard World"
Sheldon Pollock
Critical Inquiry 35 (Summer 2009): 931-96
The link goes to JSTOR.
"Theory and the Early Modern: Some Notes on a Difficult Relationship,"
Michael Moriarty
Paragraph, 29:1 (Mar 2006), pp. 1-11
The link goes to Project Muse.
Sunday, February 12, 2012
For Valentines Day: Vulgarity, Poverty, and Poetry
Here are some notes on the first chapter of Haikai to kanbungaku 俳諧と漢文学 (Haikai and kanbun [literature in Chinese written in Japan]), Wakan Comparative Literature Association, eds. 和漢比較文学会編, 1994. (和漢比較文学叢書第16巻). The chapter is called Haikai to kanshi 俳諧と漢詩 (Haikai and kanshi [poetry in Chinese written in Japan]), and is by Hino Tatsuo 日野龍夫.
The chapter starts with a proverb, 貧の盗みに恋の歌 "Poverty makes larceny; love makes poems"; That is to say, given enough desperation, even law-abiding people might steal; likewise, smitten by romance, the most unpoetic people can be inspired to versify. Having said that, though, Hino reminds us that classical uta (歌) don't include references to poverty; uta concern themselves with elegance--nature, love etc., not matters of everyday life.
On the other hand, the classical poetry of China is full of references to poverty. Hino cites Mei Yaochen 梅堯臣 as an example, of whom Ouyang Xiu 歐陽脩 wrote, "The poorer one is the more skillful one's poetry gets. Having said that, it is not skill in poetry that makes people poor. It is probably that having become poor, afterward one develops skill." Viewed in the light of the proverb, this tells us something about the essential natures of classical waka and of kanshi.
Hino gives us this part of a famous Mei Yaochen poem, "Looking Back in Sorrow" 懷悲 :
(That's just the first half of the poem. The poor lady dies after putting up with all that.)
Hino points out that this kind of poem would never had been written by a waka poet. While poverty wasn't always a theme in Chinese poetry (not in Shi jing, anyway) it came to be included as one of the things you might write about, along with the rest of human experience, pretty much.
When Japanese haikai poets take up the theme of poverty, their stance on the matter is considerably different. Both of the following are by Buson:
The distance between haikai and kanshi is shorter than that between haikai and waka; the distance between kanshi and haikai is shorter than that between kanshi and waka, The practice of referring to poverty in haikai no doubt comes from kanshi.
Hino cites another passage from Mei Yaochen as comparison:
From "Swarm of mosquitoes" 聚蚊
Generally speaking, though, there is a big difference, between the attitude towards poverty in classical Chinese poetry and that in haikai. Chinese poets tended to write about their own experience being poor, and the main point that they're expressing is resentment for being in that state. The typical scenario is a highly educated person who either repeatedly fails the official exam and thus can't get a good job; or someone who gets a bad job (one in a remote province) and can't keep it. This isn't the sort of thing you get in Japanese poetry. Japanese poetry that mentions poverty is far more likely to present it as a form of elegant austerity -- the minimalist existence of a recluse, rather than the sad squalor of a worthy person suffering unjust deprivation.
Hino cites a very interesting passage from Gion Nankai's 祇園南海 『詩学逢原}』that I'll paraphrase:
Hino then cites this passage from the famous 20-verse series "Drinking Wine" by Tao Yuanming. This is from verse 16:
In this example from one of the Chinese poets most beloved in Japan, the speaker is poor, angry, and full of resentment.
To sum up Hino's points here, Chinese poems take on the subject of poverty; it is a "cultivated person's" 君子 own poverty expressed as a protest against an unfair government. Making such protests are the duty of a cultivated person. A cultivated person maintains his or her dignity despite reduced circumstances. Cultivated persons who were faced with hardship were supposed to complain.
In Japan, it's not that haikai poets didn't ever write about noble resentment. However, they were more interested in more subtle emotions: the pathos of the situation, rather than its injustice.
The chapter starts with a proverb, 貧の盗みに恋の歌 "Poverty makes larceny; love makes poems"; That is to say, given enough desperation, even law-abiding people might steal; likewise, smitten by romance, the most unpoetic people can be inspired to versify. Having said that, though, Hino reminds us that classical uta (歌) don't include references to poverty; uta concern themselves with elegance--nature, love etc., not matters of everyday life.
On the other hand, the classical poetry of China is full of references to poverty. Hino cites Mei Yaochen 梅堯臣 as an example, of whom Ouyang Xiu 歐陽脩 wrote, "The poorer one is the more skillful one's poetry gets. Having said that, it is not skill in poetry that makes people poor. It is probably that having become poor, afterward one develops skill." Viewed in the light of the proverb, this tells us something about the essential natures of classical waka and of kanshi.
Hino gives us this part of a famous Mei Yaochen poem, "Looking Back in Sorrow" 懷悲 :
自爾歸我家, 未嘗厭貧窶。
夜縫每至子, 朝飯輒過午。
十日九食齏, 一日儻有脯。
東西十八年, 相與同甘苦。
When you came to my home, you never resented its poverty.
Always sewing until midnight, you ate breakfast after noontime
Nine days out of ten was pickles, one day we'd have dried meat.
East and west eighteen years, together we shared the sweet and the bitter.
(That's just the first half of the poem. The poor lady dies after putting up with all that.)
Hino points out that this kind of poem would never had been written by a waka poet. While poverty wasn't always a theme in Chinese poetry (not in Shi jing, anyway) it came to be included as one of the things you might write about, along with the rest of human experience, pretty much.
When Japanese haikai poets take up the theme of poverty, their stance on the matter is considerably different. Both of the following are by Buson:
貧乏に追ひつかれけりけさの秋
overtaken
by poverty
morning in autumn
月天心貧しき町を通りけり
moon-bright heaven
all across
the slum
The distance between haikai and kanshi is shorter than that between haikai and waka; the distance between kanshi and haikai is shorter than that between kanshi and waka, The practice of referring to poverty in haikai no doubt comes from kanshi.
蚊はつらく蚊遣いぶせきうき世哉 (几董)
mosquitoes are miserable
mosquito incense a nuisance
world of sorrows (Kitô)
我にあまる罪や妻子を蚊の喰らう(大魯)
paying for my excessive sins
my wife and child
bitten by mosquitoes (Tairo)
Hino cites another passage from Mei Yaochen as comparison:
From "Swarm of mosquitoes" 聚蚊
貴人居大第，蛟綃圍枕席，
嗟爾於其中，寧誇嘴如戟。
忍哉傍窮困，曾未哀臞瘠，
利吻競相侵，飲血自求益。
Aristocrats live in big houses;
their beds are surrounded by mosquito nets;
oh, in places like that,
you'd be prouder of your piercing mouths.
Is it not cruel of you to always torment the poor?
You have no pity on those already emaciated;
You vie with one another to see who has the sharpest bite,
Drinking blood you seek to fatten yourselves.
Generally speaking, though, there is a big difference, between the attitude towards poverty in classical Chinese poetry and that in haikai. Chinese poets tended to write about their own experience being poor, and the main point that they're expressing is resentment for being in that state. The typical scenario is a highly educated person who either repeatedly fails the official exam and thus can't get a good job; or someone who gets a bad job (one in a remote province) and can't keep it. This isn't the sort of thing you get in Japanese poetry. Japanese poetry that mentions poverty is far more likely to present it as a form of elegant austerity -- the minimalist existence of a recluse, rather than the sad squalor of a worthy person suffering unjust deprivation.
Hino cites a very interesting passage from Gion Nankai's 祇園南海 『詩学逢原}』that I'll paraphrase:
Not only painting, but the koto, chess, calligraphy, and painting also all emphasize elegance. If we talk about landscape painting, when you paint the houses of people in the mountains or fields, don't include outhouses, compost piles, or cooking pots; that is bad taste. If we talk about painting people, don't include their private parts; that's obscene. Depict elegance, don't depict vulgarity.While a lot of this is similar to standards in old-style Chinese poetry, it is virtually indistinguishable from what you'd find listed as the expectations of waka. By contrast, there are plenty of poems in which haikai poets mention scatalogical topics.
Hino then cites this passage from the famous 20-verse series "Drinking Wine" by Tao Yuanming. This is from verse 16:
陶渊明飲酒二十首
敝盧交悲風, 荒草沒前庭.
披褐守長夜, 晨雞不肯鳴.
孟公不在茲, 終以翳吾情.
A mournful wind blows through the ruined house,
Wild weeds fill the garden.
Wearing old clothes, I keep watch in the long night
When dawn comes, even the rooster disdains to crow.
Duke Meng is not here,
In the end I hide away my own feelings.
In this example from one of the Chinese poets most beloved in Japan, the speaker is poor, angry, and full of resentment.
To sum up Hino's points here, Chinese poems take on the subject of poverty; it is a "cultivated person's" 君子 own poverty expressed as a protest against an unfair government. Making such protests are the duty of a cultivated person. A cultivated person maintains his or her dignity despite reduced circumstances. Cultivated persons who were faced with hardship were supposed to complain.
In Japan, it's not that haikai poets didn't ever write about noble resentment. However, they were more interested in more subtle emotions: the pathos of the situation, rather than its injustice.
Saturday, February 4, 2012
Everything Old/New is New/Old Again
Notes on 江戸文学の冒険 (Explorations in Edo Literature) that I mentioned in the post below.
I enjoyed this essay: 江戸時代文芸の新しさ…西鶴・芭蕉・近松を例に (The novelty of Edo-period literary arts: Saikaku, Bashô, Chikamatsu as examples) by 大輪靖宏 Ôwa Yasuhiro. My views about it might be a bit biased, though, by something I've been thinking about lately: the reflexive defensiveness some specialists in pre-modern literature have about the relevance of their interest to "people today," especially students. That, on the one hand, and the sense that I get from some specialists in modern literature that what we pre-modernists are interested in is somehow utterly alien and unrelated to what they do. I find it puzzling and a little sad. Perhaps in another post I might indulge in a genteel rant, but as I don't think it would be all that productive, I'll do something else first, which is write up my notes about Mr. Ôwa's essay.
The main point of the essay is that the Edo period was a time of experimentation in literature, particularly in the case of Saikaku, Bashô, and Chikamatsu. Saikaku depicted his characters with "naked" realism; Bashô's haiku has universal appeal because he included imagery like lice, fleas, and urine -- earthy stuff which you'd expect to find in modern poetry. Thus, compared with the literature of the classical period, Edo period writing has much freshness and novelty to it.
The part of the essay that stood out to me was his discussion of a comment about the modern haiku poet Hino Sōjō's 日野草城 Miyako Hotel ミヤコ・ホテル that is cited in Fukumoto Ichirô's 復本一郎 Hino Sōjō: Haiku o kaeta otoko 日野草城 俳句を変えた男 (Hino Sôjô: The man who changed haiku, Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan, 2005). Fukumoto cites Murakami Fumihiko 村上文彦 saying, "I got interested in composing haiku after reading Hino Sôjô's series Miyako Hotel. Up until that point I knew no more haiku than Bashô's 'old pond' verse. I hadn't dreamed that haiku could have that kind of freshness to it." Ôwa says he doesn't want to talk about Hino Sôjô or Murakami Fumihiko, just that the comment uses Bashô's old pond verse as an example of the old-fashionedness of haiku.
I enjoyed this essay: 江戸時代文芸の新しさ…西鶴・芭蕉・近松を例に (The novelty of Edo-period literary arts: Saikaku, Bashô, Chikamatsu as examples) by 大輪靖宏 Ôwa Yasuhiro. My views about it might be a bit biased, though, by something I've been thinking about lately: the reflexive defensiveness some specialists in pre-modern literature have about the relevance of their interest to "people today," especially students. That, on the one hand, and the sense that I get from some specialists in modern literature that what we pre-modernists are interested in is somehow utterly alien and unrelated to what they do. I find it puzzling and a little sad. Perhaps in another post I might indulge in a genteel rant, but as I don't think it would be all that productive, I'll do something else first, which is write up my notes about Mr. Ôwa's essay.
The main point of the essay is that the Edo period was a time of experimentation in literature, particularly in the case of Saikaku, Bashô, and Chikamatsu. Saikaku depicted his characters with "naked" realism; Bashô's haiku has universal appeal because he included imagery like lice, fleas, and urine -- earthy stuff which you'd expect to find in modern poetry. Thus, compared with the literature of the classical period, Edo period writing has much freshness and novelty to it.
The part of the essay that stood out to me was his discussion of a comment about the modern haiku poet Hino Sōjō's 日野草城 Miyako Hotel ミヤコ・ホテル that is cited in Fukumoto Ichirô's 復本一郎 Hino Sōjō: Haiku o kaeta otoko 日野草城 俳句を変えた男 (Hino Sôjô: The man who changed haiku, Kadokawa Gakugei Shuppan, 2005). Fukumoto cites Murakami Fumihiko 村上文彦 saying, "I got interested in composing haiku after reading Hino Sôjô's series Miyako Hotel. Up until that point I knew no more haiku than Bashô's 'old pond' verse. I hadn't dreamed that haiku could have that kind of freshness to it." Ôwa says he doesn't want to talk about Hino Sôjô or Murakami Fumihiko, just that the comment uses Bashô's old pond verse as an example of the old-fashionedness of haiku.
Wednesday, February 1, 2012
On my bookshelf
Here are some books I've been looking through:
1,
江戸文学〈37〉特集 江戸の文体—その生成と文彩
Edo Literature Studies 37, Special Issue: Edo Literary Style: Its Formation and Figuration
I'm particularly interested in reading the essays:
a. 近世文体史を探る—文体指標性の喪失及び文体の創造性について
b. 漢詩文調の文体—芭蕉俳諧を中心に
c. 俳文の文体—芭蕉俳文の修辞的分析
2,
江戸文学の冒険
Explorations in Edo Literature
a. 江戸時代文芸の新しさ…西鶴・芭蕉・近松を例に(大輪靖宏)
b. 取合せ〉の可能性…実作のための芭蕉論 (峯尾文世)
Oh dear, that's as far as I'll get with this blog entry for now. Stay tuned for more.
1,
江戸文学〈37〉特集 江戸の文体—その生成と文彩
Edo Literature Studies 37, Special Issue: Edo Literary Style: Its Formation and Figuration
小池 清治
Koike Seiji
堀切 実
Horikiri Minoru
ぺりかん社 2007
Pelikansha 2007
I'm particularly interested in reading the essays:
a. 近世文体史を探る—文体指標性の喪失及び文体の創造性について
b. 漢詩文調の文体—芭蕉俳諧を中心に
c. 俳文の文体—芭蕉俳文の修辞的分析
2,
江戸文学の冒険
Explorations in Edo Literature
大輪靖宏I'm particularly interested in reading the essays:
Ôwa Yasuhiro
翰林書房
Kanrin Shobô 2007
a. 江戸時代文芸の新しさ…西鶴・芭蕉・近松を例に(大輪靖宏)
b. 取合せ〉の可能性…実作のための芭蕉論 (峯尾文世)
Oh dear, that's as far as I'll get with this blog entry for now. Stay tuned for more.
Tuesday, January 10, 2012
What it Was Like in the Kenkadô Kanshi Poetry Group
In thinking more about Edo period literati, I was interested by Ibi's list of rules for Kenkadô 蒹葭堂, the kanshi poetry salon run by Kimura Kenkadô in Osaka. Here they are, summarized:
1. At meetings of the poetry group, it's important to read contemplatively and seriously. You must ask questions about places you don't understand; it's not good to remain vague about things. Strive to keep a relaxed attitude and don't cause conflict. Read texts again when you leave.
2. The poetry group meets in the afternoon in spring and summer, and in the evening in autumn and winter. Namely, in the afternoon it runs from 2 pm to 4 pm; in the evening it runs from 6 pm to 8 pm. It is desirable to not be late in starting and finishing.
3. When you have to miss a meeting of the poetry group because of a personal obligation, let the group leader know in advance, and let him know when you'll definitely be able to attend next.
4. Associations within the group are like conduct among siblings. Accordingly, during meetings it is not always necessary to treat the leader differently. If this is a meeting among usual members, rank people in terms of their age; if there's a guest of honor, treat rank accordingly.
5. When the group meets, in order to compose prose and verse, decide a topic, select a rhyme scheme; you must sit quietly and revise intensely, think carefully and express yourself with skill. Don't think you have to finish quickly; what we want is for you to compose word by word, line by line, without mistakes. Idle chatter is the biggest obstacle, so it should be criticized. Private talk not allowed until everyone is finished writing. Everyone is expected to remember this.
6. Every month, on the afternoon of the first and fifteenth days, we want to go visit some scenic place in the mountains or riverside outside the city, to enjoy elegance like Confucius's disciples, "I want to bathe in the Yi River, feel the wind on Rain Altar, and return home, composing poetry." However, on those times as well we will return at nightfall.
From Edo no bunjin saron: chishikijin to geijutsukatachi 江戶の文人サロン : 知識人と芸術家たち (Literati Salons in the Edo Period: Intellectuals and Artists) by Ibi Takashi 揖斐, Yoshikawa Kôbunkan 吉川弘文館 2009, pp. 23-24.
1. At meetings of the poetry group, it's important to read contemplatively and seriously. You must ask questions about places you don't understand; it's not good to remain vague about things. Strive to keep a relaxed attitude and don't cause conflict. Read texts again when you leave.
2. The poetry group meets in the afternoon in spring and summer, and in the evening in autumn and winter. Namely, in the afternoon it runs from 2 pm to 4 pm; in the evening it runs from 6 pm to 8 pm. It is desirable to not be late in starting and finishing.
3. When you have to miss a meeting of the poetry group because of a personal obligation, let the group leader know in advance, and let him know when you'll definitely be able to attend next.
4. Associations within the group are like conduct among siblings. Accordingly, during meetings it is not always necessary to treat the leader differently. If this is a meeting among usual members, rank people in terms of their age; if there's a guest of honor, treat rank accordingly.
5. When the group meets, in order to compose prose and verse, decide a topic, select a rhyme scheme; you must sit quietly and revise intensely, think carefully and express yourself with skill. Don't think you have to finish quickly; what we want is for you to compose word by word, line by line, without mistakes. Idle chatter is the biggest obstacle, so it should be criticized. Private talk not allowed until everyone is finished writing. Everyone is expected to remember this.
6. Every month, on the afternoon of the first and fifteenth days, we want to go visit some scenic place in the mountains or riverside outside the city, to enjoy elegance like Confucius's disciples, "I want to bathe in the Yi River, feel the wind on Rain Altar, and return home, composing poetry." However, on those times as well we will return at nightfall.
From Edo no bunjin saron: chishikijin to geijutsukatachi 江戶の文人サロン : 知識人と芸術家たち (Literati Salons in the Edo Period: Intellectuals and Artists) by Ibi Takashi 揖斐, Yoshikawa Kôbunkan 吉川弘文館 2009, pp. 23-24.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
Literati Salons in the Edo Period
Today I'm reading Edo no bunjin saron: chishikijin to geijutsukatachi 江戶の文人サロン : 知識人と芸術家たち (Literati Salons in the Edo Period: Intellectuals and Artists) by Ibi Takashi 揖斐, Yoshikawa Kôbunkan 吉川弘文館 2009.
I was drawn to it because I've been thinking more about bunjin and wanted to learn more about how the term is understood. I often see it applied to Meiji intellectuals, for instance.
This book uses the word "salon" to link up the kind of social organization that educated people formed in early modern Japan with that of 18th century Paris and London (salons and coffee houses, respectively). Right away he concedes that there are some big differences -- the Japanese groups didn't admit women, and they didn't much talk about politics.
The groups he discusses include those related to the production of kanshi 漢詩 (poetry in Chinese written by Japanese people), of kyôka 狂歌 ("crazy" waka), rangaku 蘭学 (Western learning), collecting oddities, and a bit of painting as well.
It's a very serviceable introduction to/reference for important intellectuals and their associations. The comparison to salons is appropriate. I'm sorry there's not a bit more on haikai, as I really don't like kyôka very much, alas. It makes me want to find out more.
How does it relate to what I'm working on? In the most pedestrian terms possible, it's a good indication of what was going on in urban commoner culture in the 18th century. Most of the people named in the text are wealthy commoners -- shôyu brewers, merchants, etc. It helps to form a more detailed impression of what a life of creative inquiry might have been like for educated people in Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Haikai was part of it, but certainly not all of it.
I was drawn to it because I've been thinking more about bunjin and wanted to learn more about how the term is understood. I often see it applied to Meiji intellectuals, for instance.
This book uses the word "salon" to link up the kind of social organization that educated people formed in early modern Japan with that of 18th century Paris and London (salons and coffee houses, respectively). Right away he concedes that there are some big differences -- the Japanese groups didn't admit women, and they didn't much talk about politics.
The groups he discusses include those related to the production of kanshi 漢詩 (poetry in Chinese written by Japanese people), of kyôka 狂歌 ("crazy" waka), rangaku 蘭学 (Western learning), collecting oddities, and a bit of painting as well.
It's a very serviceable introduction to/reference for important intellectuals and their associations. The comparison to salons is appropriate. I'm sorry there's not a bit more on haikai, as I really don't like kyôka very much, alas. It makes me want to find out more.
How does it relate to what I'm working on? In the most pedestrian terms possible, it's a good indication of what was going on in urban commoner culture in the 18th century. Most of the people named in the text are wealthy commoners -- shôyu brewers, merchants, etc. It helps to form a more detailed impression of what a life of creative inquiry might have been like for educated people in Edo, Kyoto, and Osaka. Haikai was part of it, but certainly not all of it.
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
First Day of Class Rituals | Inside Higher Ed
In part to get me psyched for the new semester, here's a repost from Inside Higher Ed about the first day of class.
First Day of Class Rituals | Inside Higher Ed
First Day of Class Rituals | Inside Higher Ed
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