Renewed
interest in the collaborative form haikai no renga 誹諧の連歌
was an integral part of the mid-eighteenth century "Back to Bashō
movement, in which Yosa Buson 与謝蕪村 (1716-1783)
and his associates condemned the commercialized practices that characterized
contemporary haikai and argued for a return to the ideals of Matsuo
Bashō 松尾芭蕉(1644-1694).
After
the death of Bashō, who had made ga 雅, or elegance,
central to his poetry, game-like forms came to rival linked verse
and hokku composition in popularity. Buson and his colleagues in
the "Back to Bashō" movement opposed this trend. In their efforts
to imitate Bashō, they made linked verse a cornerstone of their
practice.
In
this paper, I will discuss one of the Buson school's verse sequences,
Susuki mitsu 薄見つ (Seeing Miscanthus), written
by Buson, Takai Kitō 高井其董 (1741-1789),
Wada Ranzan 和田嵐山 (d. 1773), and Miura
Chora 三浦樗良(1729-1780) in the ninth month
of 1773 (Anei 2) and published shortly afterwards in the anthology
Kono hotori – Ichiya shi kasen この辺り一夜四歌仙.
I will argue that for Buson and his colleagues, linked verse composition
was an act of resistance to the more popular trends of the day,
and a marker of solidarity among poets of different schools who
shared the same goals. It was central to their efforts to reclaim
haikai from the status of a game and return to the standards set
for it by Bashō.
Because
this sequence was written in the context of the "Back to Bashō"
movement, it will be helpful to begin by tracing the origins of
the movement and explaining the process by which it came to shape
the haikai of the mid to late eighteenth century. The "Back to Bashō"
movement lasted roughly from the 1730s to the 1790s. In addition
to Buson, Chora, and Kitō, other major "Back to Bashō"
poets were Tan Taigi 炭太祇 (1709-1771), Katō
Kyōtai 加藤暁台 (1732-1792), Chōmu
蝶夢 (1732-1795), Kaya Shirao 加舎白雄
(1738-1791), and Hori Bakusui 堀麦水 (1718-1783)1.
The movement had followers all over the country, due in part to
the itinerant habits of many of its members. The "Back to Bashō"
poets were reacting to what they saw as the degenerate state of
the haidan in the early decades of the eighteenth century. In the
first place, haikai became increasingly popular, and a variety of
different factions competed to attract the growing numbers of students.
Older, long-established groups like the Teimon 貞門
and Danrin 談林 schools continued to attract followers.
Also, Bashō's disciples formed schools of their own, collectively
called the Shōmon 蕉門. And finally, there was
a growing number of other groups not affiliated with either the
Teimon, Danrin, or Bashō traditions. Furthermore, the Shōmon
itself divided into two major factions, the urban and the rural.
The urban school chose to emulate the style of Bashō's early
career, favoring a style that was close to that of the Danrin school
in its emphasis on complexity of language and humor. The rural faction
– further divided into the Mino and Ise schools – made Bashō's
late work their model, and aimed to produce verse in the light or
karumi style of his later years. Both the urban and rural schools
claimed to preserve Bashō's authentic teachings, of which there
were multiple, competing versions.
In
addition to the proliferation of factions, another important change
took place: verse styles that had originated in the Genroku period
achieved new prominence. Haikai as practiced by Bashō mainly
takes two forms, linked verse and hokku 発句. However,
a wide range of other varieties developed, collectively termed zappai
雑誹, or miscellaneous haikai. One such variety was
called maekuzuke 前句付, where a haikai verse
marker or tenja 点者 set a verse (maeku 前句)
and his – or, occasionally, her – disciples would write a linking
verse or tsukeku 付句 to match with it. The tenja would
then rate the students' efforts with points. Verse scoring had been
used by medieval renga masters to help students practice. However,
in this period, the score became an end in itself. For many practitioners,
haikai was less a kind of literary self-expression than an amusing
diversion, and it eventually became a form of gambling. This kind
of haikai was immensely popular in the fifty or so years after Bashō's
death.
Thus,
in the first half of the eighteenth century a new community of haikai
practitioners emerged: those who played the game, and the tenja,
who earned a living by deciding the scores. In trying to please
their teachers and earn the most points, competitive poet-players
ignored the finer details of linking technique that was of critical
importance in composing sequences, and interest in linked verse
composition itself began to decline.2
Some members of the haikai community, particularly those who felt
some affinity with Bashō, resisted this development. A new
trend began to emerge with the publication of the collection Goshikizumi
五色墨 (Five colors of ink, 1731) that criticized
the low standards of the haikai of the day.3
Over
the next decade a loose affiliation of poets who actively sought
a return to Bashō started to coalesce. The earliest phase of
this movement began at the time of the fiftieth anniversary of Bashō's
death in 1744, which was marked by the compilation and publication
or republication of Bashō's important works by Shōmon-affiliated
poets. Discontent grew during the middle years of the eighteenth
century. Seeking to turn back what they saw as a trend towards the
simplification and vulgarization of the genre, Buson, Kitō,
and their colleagues looked for a source of authority to provide
a standard. Since so many of them came from schools that traced
their lineages back to Bashō, not surprisingly, Bashō
was the one to whom they turned.4
Buson
and his disciples and associates generally sought to imitate haikai
practices of the previous generation instead of pandering to currently
popular tastes. During his early years in Kyoto, for example, Buson
led a haikai study group called Sankasha, 三果社,
whose purpose was to practice writing on dai 題 or poetic
topics that had fallen out of use in his day. As the decades passed,
many of the activities of his school, Yahantei 夜半亭,
were planned to commemorate the anniversaries of Bashō's death.
One such example was the 1773 publication of Akegarasu 明烏
(Dawn Crow) – an anthology compiled by Kitō – which, like the
title's reference to the calling of crows at sunrise, was supposed
to serve as a wake-up call to poets to return to the teachings of
Bashō. This was followed by Zoku akegarasu 続明烏
in 1774, also compiled by Kitō, who envisioned it as a latter-day
answer to Bashō's seminal verse collection Sarumino 猿蓑(Monkey's
straw raincoat, 1691). 5 In
1776, Buson and others even undertook to rebuild the Bashō-an
芭蕉庵, a hermitage built by Konpuku-ji 金福時
priest Tesshū 鉄舟 (d.1698), a disciple of Bashō.
Buson and his colleagues used it for haikai gatherings for several
years.6
The
"Back to Bashō" poets viewed linked verse composition as another
way to recapture the glamour and elegance of Bashō school haikai.
Composing a kasen 歌仙, or thirty-six link sequence,
required much more discipline, experience and knowledge of the classical
literary tradition than did maekuzuke. Buson himself preferred composing
hokku to linked verse, which may have been because he was a perfectionist
who was uneasy with surrendering so much control of his work to
others.7 Nevertheless,
his linked verse output was prodigious—over 100 of his sequences
are extant. Buson and his associates tended to favor the kasen in
imitation of Bashō, who preferred this form. Gathered in the
place of composition, the participants were able to enact the ideals
of Bashō as a living practice.
The
four Kono hotori sequences were highly representative of the linked
verse of Buson's school. Buson's contributions in particular show
a strong interest in classical Japanese and Chinese literature and
history, something that is common in the hokku of his mature period.
Often the links are distant in comparison to those composed by Bashō
and his disciples, and the shikimoku 式目 (rules of
linked verse) standards are not so strictly followed. For example,
in three cases moon and flower verses appear out of their appointed
positions in the Susuki mitsu sequence. Also, one participant, the
ailing Ranzan, drops out after two rounds and does not re-appear
until the very end, contributing only three of the thirty-six verses.
8
Susuki
mitsu brought together four dissimilar voices. Ranzan's haikai teacher
was Renshi, one of the Goshikizumi poets.9
Chora grew up in Ise, and studied with disciples of Bakurin, a leader
of a rural Bashō school. Chora was a successful haikai master
with numerous students, although he had a reputation for being irresponsible
and profligate in his ways. He spent several years in Kyoto in the
early part of the 1770s, and his work frequently appears in sequences
composed by Buson and his colleagues around this time.10
Buson's
first haikai teacher was Hayano Hajin 早野巴人(1676-1742),
who had studied with Bashō's Edo disciple Takarai Kikaku 宝井其角(1661-1707).
Kitō's father had also been a student of Hajin. Kitō was
Buson's closest disciple and was so thoroughly trusted and admired
by Buson that he eventually succeeded Buson in the leadership of
the Yahantei school. Kitō edited several of the collections
in the Buson shichibu shū 蕪村七部集,
and was perhaps even more zealous than Buson was in championing
the ideals of Bashō.11
The
four sequences of Kono hotori were composed under unusual circumstances,
as Buson's preface to the collection notes. Chora was visiting Kitō,
and they decided to join Buson in paying a sick-call to Ranzan,
who was at that point extremely ill. In fact, Ranzan died shortly
afterwards.
Ranzan
was very poor – the small house in Aburakōji 油小路
to which he was confined was filthy and neglected. Ranzan wrapped
his head in a zukin 頭巾 rather than greet his visitors
showing how matted and disheveled his hair had become. His bedding
was old, and half-eaten food and unwashed dishes were piled up around
his sickbed. Still, the visit of the three poets brought him cheer.
First they tried to amuse him by telling him horror stories in imitation
of the Chinese poet and painter, Su Dongpo 蘇東坂
(1037-1101), who had a taste for the grotesque. Thoroughly delighted,
Ranzan proposed that they compose shigin 四吟 (a linked
verse sequence composed by four people), and before the end of the
evening they had completed four. Buson was immensely pleased with
the results of this small gathering. He quickly wrote a preface
to accompany the four sequences and took the manuscript to the printer
Kitsusendō 橘仙堂, where it was published
shortly afterward.12
The
first of the four Kono hotori sequences is Susuki mitsu (Having
seen miscanthus). I will discuss several links that suggest the
general nature of the whole. A translation of the entire sequence
is included elsewhere in this issue.
The
opening verse of a haikai no renga sequence is expected to include
a kigo 季語 (season word) and to make a flattering gesture
towards the good taste of his host. The privilege of composing the
opening verse of a haikai sequence is typically given to the highest-ranking
guest. In this case, the honor fell to Buson.
1.
薄見つ萩やなからん此辺り
(Buson)
susuki
mitsu hagi ya nakaran ya kono hotori
having
seen miscanthus –
surely there is also bush clover
around here
The
season word here is hagi (bush clover). Having noticed miscanthus,
a plant evocative of the pleasant sadness of autumn, near Ranzan's
house, Buson expects that there should also be bush clover, another
plant associated with autumn melancholy, nearby. In his commentary
on the sequence, the modern scholar Nakamura Yukihiko suggests two
possibilities for this pair of images: the miscanthus represents
the refined sensibility of Ranzan, and the bush clover the more
flamboyant energy of Chora. According to this interpretation, in
addition to making the conventional greeting to his host, Buson
also makes a nod to the out-of-town guest Chora, acknowledging the
dynamic vitality of his poetic style. Alternatively, kono hotori
(around here) may refer to the Kyoto haikai community, and the bush
clover to the Yahantei school flowering within it.13
Chora
composed the waki 脇, or second verse. The waki was conventionally
written by the host in grateful response to the main guest's hokku,
but as an especially welcome visitor, he was given a singular
honor here.
2.
風より起る秋の夕に
(Chora)14
kaze
yori okoru aki no yūbe ni
beginning
with the wind
on an evening in autumn
Chora's
verse recalls the waka by Kokinshū poet Fujiwara no Toshiyuki
藤原敏行(d. 901) that describes a chilly
blast that brings an awareness of autumn:
秋立つ日よめる
(Kokinshū 169)
あききぬとめにはさやかに見えぬども
風のをとにぞおどろかれぬる
aki
tatsu hi yomeru
aki
kinu to me ni wa sayaka ni mienudomo
kaze no oto ni zo odorokarenuru15
Composed
on the day autumn began
that
autumn has come is not obvious to the eye, rather,
I was surprised by the sound of the wind
Chora's
waki, linked with Buson's, is an assertion of his solidarity with
the Yahantei school's efforts to create a new poetic style emulating
Bashō's. The verse refers not just to a meteorological phenomenon,
but is also a declaration of the four poets' awakening to the lofty-minded
elegance of Bashō-school haikai.16
The
next two verses are fairly ordinary, but Chora and Buson follow
them with links that are very characteristic of the Buson school
and "Back to Bashō" poets in general in their evocation of
the classical past.
3.
舟たへて宿とるのみの二日月
(Kitō)17
fune
taete yado toru nomi no futsukazuki
missed
the boat;
nothing to do but find a place to stay for the night—
early eighth-month moon
4.
紀行の模様一歩一変
(Ranzan)18
kikō
no moyō ippo ippen
journeys
follow this pattern:
something new with each step
Chora
and Buson respond with:
5.
貫之が娘おさなき頃なれや
(Chora)19
Tsurayuki
ga musume osonaki goro nare ya
Tsurayuki's
daughter—
when she was just
a little girl—
6.
半蔀おもく雨のふれゝば
(Buson)20
hajitomi
omoku ame no furereba
the
half-panel shutters are heavy
when rain is falling
Chora
picks up on Ranzan's somewhat vague, platitudinous verse about travel
and recasts it into a more elevated situation – the death of the
provincial governor's daughter mentioned in Ki no Tsurayuki's 紀貫之
(868-945) Tosa nikki 土佐日記 (ca. 935).
Buson then adds a link using an archaic word, hajitomi, the wooden
blinds of an aristocratic Heian residence. He juxtaposes hajitomi
with a synesthetic image, the dull, grim feeling of heavy rain.
Linked with the previous verse, it suggests a scene of Tsurayuki's
daughter closing the heavy shutters against a cold, dreary downpour,
compounding the sense of grief and loss.21
Elsewhere,
Buson responds to plain, untextured verses by adding links that
allude to historical figures, such as in this example:
18.
五尺の劔打おふせたり
(Chora)
goshaku
no tsurugi uchi ousetari
the
five-foot sword,
thoroughly tempered
19.
満仲の多田の移徒日和よき
(Buson)
Manjū
no Tada no watamashi hiyori yoki
the
weather was fine
on the day Michinaka
moved to Tada
Minamoto
no Michinaka 源満仲 (913-997), a descendant of
the Seiwa Minamoto 清和源 family, was a military
commander during the second half of the tenth century. He moved
to Tada in Settsu province after an illustrious career. Because
of his outstanding service, two great swords were made for him by
a famous blacksmith. Buson picks up on this detail to make the link.22
In
other places Buson's taste for creating an historical or monogatari-like
atmosphere is also evident, such as in this series of links that
begins with Kitō's evocation of an erotic scene.
26.
灯を持出る女麗し
(Kitō)
hi
o mochi izuru onna uruwashi
the
grace of a woman
going out with a lamp to light her way
Chora's
tsukeku continues this theme, bringing the focus to the contrast
of white snow on the woman's long black hair:
27.
黒髪にちらちらかかる夜の雪
(Chora)
kurokami
ni chirachira kakaru yoru no yuki
scattered
on black hair
night snow
Buson's
link is:
utae
ni makete shoryō owaruru
having
lost the lawsuit
she is chased out of the territory
This
link changes the mood abruptly. The reason for the scene of snow
falling on someone's uncovered head is recast into a medieval context,
of a plaintiff suddenly run out of the territory after the failure
of a lawsuit. In his commentary on the sequence, Teruoka Yasutaka
argues that the link may be trying to suggest Izayoi nikki 十六夜日記
(1279), in which Abutsu-ni 阿仏尼 (d. 1283) describes
her journey to Kamakura to plead for her son's right to inherit
his father's property.23
As
an examination of this sequence from Kono hotori shows, the "Back
to Bashō" movement poets were not trying to imitate the style
of Bashō's linked verse. Rather, they aimed to emulate his
attitude of seriousness towards the genre. Buson himself makes this
plain in a letter he wrote to Katō Kyōtai which he sent
along with a copy of Kono hotori soon after it was published:
In
my haikai, I do not dare try to directly imitate the style (gofū
語風) of Elder Bashō, but only to follow my heart
(kokoro 心), taking pleasure in changing my tastes (fūchō
風調) from day to day; in the same way as the physician
Bianque 扁鵲, I change my manner (kikaku 気格)
to conform to the standards of each setting.
Here
Buson refers to the Chinese physician Bianque, described as an exemplary
figure in Mengqiu 蒙求 (Beginner's guide, early 8th
c.). When Bianque found himself in Handan, where the people venerated
women, he became a specialist in women's health; in Loyang, where
they respected the elderly, he changed his specialty to geriatrics;
in Qin, where they cherished children, he became a pediatrician—tailoring
his practice to suit the conditions of the place in which he found
himself.24
In
other words, Buson acknowledges the futility and indeed the inappropriateness
of attempting to slavishly copy Bashō's style. However, he
does make a particular point of the fact that he is actually following
Bashō's example in a much more authentic way, by staying in
accord with the spirit of Bashō's style but remaining in touch
with the times. Indeed, this is exactly what Bashō himself
suggested in the haikai prose passage Kyoriku ribetsu no kotoba
許六離別ノ詞 (Words of valediction
to Kyoriku), "Do not seek the traces of the ancients, instead, seek
what they sought."25
The
"Back to Bashō" movement as a whole was itself a collaboration:
the dialogue of the voices of diverse individuals seeking to renew
haikai by bringing it back to an idealized past. As the example
of Susuki mitsu shows, linked verse composition was part of this
effort. Despite the fact that the poets involved belonged to different
lineages, resistance to the spread of tentori haikai brought them
together. In composing linked verse sequences such as Susuki mitsu,
they put into practice their ideal of making a return not to the
style, but to the spirit of Bashō. |
