- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- One Prologue
- Two Renga History
- Three On the <i>Tsukubashū</i>
- Four Post-<i>Shinkokinshū</i> Waka
- Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga
- Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters
- Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (<i>Yūgen</i>)
- Eight Learning and the Study of Renga
- Nine The Role of Waka in Renga Training
- Ten On Hokku
- Eleven Double Meaning in Poetry
- Twelve The Manifold Configurations of Poetry
- Thirteen The Roots of Poetry in Temporality
- Fourteen Poetic Process as a Contemplation
- Fifteen The Wisdom of Nondiscrimination
- Sixteen Right Teaching and the Individual Poet
- Seventeen The Influence of Companions in the Way
- Eighteen Poetry and the Mundane Mind
- Nineteen The Issue of Fame as Index of Poetic Value
- Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline
- Twenty-One Poetry Is a Self-Consuming Passion
- Twenty-Two Worldly Glory Versus Reclusive Concentration
- Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations
- Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master
- Twenty-Five Constant Practice Is Decisive
- Twenty-Six Valorizing the Deviant or Obscure
- Twenty-Seven The Difficulty of Comprehending Superior Poetry
- Twenty-Eight The “Vulgar” Verse
- Twenty-Nine Plagiarism
- Thirty Excessive Straining After Effect
- Thirty-One Semantic Confusion
- Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility
- Thirty-Three The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Thirty-Four On <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i> as the Structure of the Renga Link
- Thirty-Five On <i>Rikugi</i>:
- Thirty-Six Poetry Contests and Criticism
- Thirty-Seven Marks and Grade Points in Renga
- Thirty-Eight One's True Poetry Emerges in Old Age
- Thirty-Nine The State of Renga in Our Time
- Forty About <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i>
- Forty-One The Central Place of Grace [<i>en</i>] in the Poetic Process
- Forty-Two Verses on the Moon, Flowers, and Snow
- Forty-Three The Verse of Ineffable Remoteness (<i>Yōon</i>)
- Forty-Four Renga Rules and Buddhist Precepts:
- Forty-Five Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
- Forty-Six The Link Betwee <i>Maeku</i> and <i>Tsukeku</i>
- Forty-Seven The Nature and Goal of Criticism
- Forty-Eight Selecting Friends of the Way
- Forty-Nine The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Fifty On the Issue of the Ultimate Style
- Fifty-One Discipline in the Mind-Ground
- Fifty-Two Orthodoxy and Plurality
- Fifty-Three Reclusion
- Fifty-Four The Impartiality of Divine Response
- Fifty-Five Heredity, Social Status, and the Way
- Fifty-Six The Mark of Temporality in Talent, Training, and Fame or Obscurity
- Fifty-Seven The Difficulty of Achieving the Way:
- Fifty-Eight Mutually Supportive and Antagonistic Arts
- Fifty-Nine The Practice of Poetry in Our Time
- Sixty The Question of the True Buddha and the Ultimate Poem
- Sixty-One The Ten Virtues
- Sixty-Two Epilogue
- Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
Introduction
Introduction
This book is an annotated translation of Sasamegoto (1463–64), a Japanese poetic treatise from the medieval period noted for its thoroughgoing construction of poetry as a way to attain, as well as signify via language, the aim of Buddhist practice: mental liberation (satori). Written by Shinkei (1406–75), a Tendai cleric best known today as one of the most brilliant poets of renga (linked poetry), Sasamegoto is also a representative work in the larger cultural history and an equally distinctive voice in the classic waka form. Shinkei formulated the principles of renga as a serious art during the Muromachi period (1392–1568). Sasamegoto articulates renga, and poetry in general, as an existential praxis, a Way. The medieval notion of praxis is informed by what used to be called “the wisdom of the East,” mainly Confucianism, Taoism, and Buddhism. Sasamegoto is in two parts: the first written in the fifth month of Kanshō 4 (1463) and the second in the fifth month of Kanshō 5 (1464).
Keywords: Sasamegoto, Shinkei, Japanese poetry, Buddhism, renga, waka, Muromachi period, poetic treatise, satori, praxis
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- Title Pages
- Dedication
- Acknowledgments
- List of Abbreviations
- Introduction
- One Prologue
- Two Renga History
- Three On the <i>Tsukubashū</i>
- Four Post-<i>Shinkokinshū</i> Waka
- Five Ancient and Middle-Period Renga
- Six The Character of the Work of the Early Masters
- Seven The Style of Ineffable Depth (<i>Yūgen</i>)
- Eight Learning and the Study of Renga
- Nine The Role of Waka in Renga Training
- Ten On Hokku
- Eleven Double Meaning in Poetry
- Twelve The Manifold Configurations of Poetry
- Thirteen The Roots of Poetry in Temporality
- Fourteen Poetic Process as a Contemplation
- Fifteen The Wisdom of Nondiscrimination
- Sixteen Right Teaching and the Individual Poet
- Seventeen The Influence of Companions in the Way
- Eighteen Poetry and the Mundane Mind
- Nineteen The Issue of Fame as Index of Poetic Value
- Twenty Poetry is an Existential Discipline
- Twenty-One Poetry Is a Self-Consuming Passion
- Twenty-Two Worldly Glory Versus Reclusive Concentration
- Twenty-Three Criticism is a Function of One's Own Limitations
- Twenty-Four Sitting with a Master
- Twenty-Five Constant Practice Is Decisive
- Twenty-Six Valorizing the Deviant or Obscure
- Twenty-Seven The Difficulty of Comprehending Superior Poetry
- Twenty-Eight The “Vulgar” Verse
- Twenty-Nine Plagiarism
- Thirty Excessive Straining After Effect
- Thirty-One Semantic Confusion
- Thirty-Two Incomprehensibility
- Thirty-Three The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Thirty-Four On <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i> as the Structure of the Renga Link
- Thirty-Five On <i>Rikugi</i>:
- Thirty-Six Poetry Contests and Criticism
- Thirty-Seven Marks and Grade Points in Renga
- Thirty-Eight One's True Poetry Emerges in Old Age
- Thirty-Nine The State of Renga in Our Time
- Forty About <i>Hen-jo-dai-kyoku-ryū</i>
- Forty-One The Central Place of Grace [<i>en</i>] in the Poetic Process
- Forty-Two Verses on the Moon, Flowers, and Snow
- Forty-Three The Verse of Ineffable Remoteness (<i>Yōon</i>)
- Forty-Four Renga Rules and Buddhist Precepts:
- Forty-Five Poetry and Zen Meditation, the Cosmic Body, and the True Word
- Forty-Six The Link Betwee <i>Maeku</i> and <i>Tsukeku</i>
- Forty-Seven The Nature and Goal of Criticism
- Forty-Eight Selecting Friends of the Way
- Forty-Nine The Close Link and the Distant Link
- Fifty On the Issue of the Ultimate Style
- Fifty-One Discipline in the Mind-Ground
- Fifty-Two Orthodoxy and Plurality
- Fifty-Three Reclusion
- Fifty-Four The Impartiality of Divine Response
- Fifty-Five Heredity, Social Status, and the Way
- Fifty-Six The Mark of Temporality in Talent, Training, and Fame or Obscurity
- Fifty-Seven The Difficulty of Achieving the Way:
- Fifty-Eight Mutually Supportive and Antagonistic Arts
- Fifty-Nine The Practice of Poetry in Our Time
- Sixty The Question of the True Buddha and the Ultimate Poem
- Sixty-One The Ten Virtues
- Sixty-Two Epilogue
- Appendix: Biographical Notes
- Bibliography
- Character List
- Index of First Lines
- Subject Index
