Matsuo Basho's Poem as a Piece of Literature Treated as Comic or Unorthodox - Book Report/Review Example

Why Matsuo Basho left the capital Edo, and went to the country-side, Oku? The period of Tokugawa (1603-1868) is generally considered as the Golden Age in the History of Japan. In this period, Japan was ruled by the shoguns of the Tokugawa family. After the period of war was over, all confusions turned silent and it was the time of commencement of a new era. This point onwards, peace prevailed in Japan for four hundred. Paradoxically, people felt suffocation. The closed-door policy accompanied with several other strict rules enforced by the Tokugawa government pushed the citizens into a very strict social rank. There were severe limitations on travel and ban on some colors in clothing. Nonetheless, the prohibition was balanced by peace that prevailed in that time as a result of which, the Japanese society underwent a lot of changes. The quiet and peace helped Japan attain economic stability. People tried to spend their time in the most meaningful and beneficial way so that they would get rid of stress. This might be the reason why Japan greatly excelled in the fields of arts, architecture and agriculture in the very period. The capital city, Edo was the most well developed place and particularly reflected the rich Japanese culture. Therefore, people came to Edo in large numbers. “Edo bustled with warriors, craftsmen, merchants, and performers from throughout the land.” The money they spent strengthened the economy. “The shogun, daimyo, and their retainers spent almost all their money in the city; Edo was a center of consumption.” The people who had gathered in Edo from different places of origins mutually gave rise to a unique culture. “Instead, it resulted from the interaction of three groups, each of which complemented the others: the warriors, the provincial cho-nin “outsiders,” and the Edokko.” With the passage of time, the period of Tokugawa became significant because of cultural efflorescence. The Genroku era (1688-1703) was a time of renaissance in the Japanese culture; a time when both aristocratic and common arts flourished. New forms of art like Kabuki, Bunraku and Ukikiyo-e surfaced in the very era. Japanese literature also reached its apogee in the seventeenth century. Ihara saikaku of Ukiyo-zoshi (Prose, 浮世草子), Chikamatsu Monzaemon of Zoruli (Dramatic-literature, 浄瑠璃) and Matsuo Basho of Haikai (Verse, 韻文) were the writers’ identity during the Genroku era. Among those writers, Matsuo Basho was particularly remarkable because of his contribution to literature through his Poem (Haikai). This poem was one of the very few pieces of literature that were treated as comic or unorthodox (俳諧HYPERLINK "http://hanja.naver.com/search?query=%E4%BF%B3%E8%AB%A7" ). “He is also chiefly known as a great writer of the haiku, one of the world’s shortest verse forms that consist of only three lines with a total of seventeen syllables.” Haiku always consists of both seasonal and cutting words. The stay of Matsuo Basho in Edo commenced in 1644 which was forty years after the establishment of government of the Tokugawa family in Edo, and his stay continued till 1690. As discussed before, the Genroku era was a time in which the popular culture greatly flourished and Edo became crowded with people. This essentially made Edo the perfect place and the Genroku era, the perfect time for Basho to implement his theory and principles in. Soon after the capitalism started to dominate in Edo, Matsuo Basho set off on a long journey to the city of Oku in 1689 miles away from the capital city (邊方). Basho’s decision to leave Edo was quite interesting and filled the audience with curiosity. The audience might have several questions, like what made Basho choose Oku for the stay? Why did Basho leave the capital city? and, what did Basho originally pursue from his journey? It is worthwhile trying to judge the underlying factors that convinced Basho to take this decision. This paper discusses some of the reasons why Matsuo Basho might have chosen to travel to Oku. The first and foremost purpose of Basho’s travel to Oku could be visiting the Utamakura. The term Utamakura is used to refer to certain places or things like river, wood and beach which were made use of by numerous famous poets in their poems. Oku was rich in Utamakura. Oku was on the country-side and it was known for its antiquity and rural background. Especially, a monk, Saigyo was one of the most famous poems of Basho that referred to many Utamakura in Oku. In Basho’s travel’s journal, the book, The Narrow Road to Oku, 1694, he talked about several places and things that became popular in the monk, Saigyo: The willow tree where “flows a crystal stream” stands on a path through the rice fields near Ashino Village. The prefect of the district, a certain secretary, had often said he would like to show me the willow, and I wondered where it might be. Today I stood in the shade of the very tree. (Basho). They sowed a whole field, And only then did I leave Saigyo’s willow tree. (Basho). The explanation of this particular journey and poem is this, “The words occur in a Waka by the celebrated priest-poet Saigyo, a men for whom Basho had the greatest admiration. It seems likely that Basho embarked on his journey to the north in 1689 because it was five hundred years since the death of Saigyo.” In order to follow the footsteps of the old poets, the new poets worked upon a traditional custom that required them to revisit the places where the previous poets had originally gone to gain influence and write poems. In the introductory note of his account of his journey, (Basho) wrote, “I patched my torn trousers and changed the cord on my bam-boo hat. To strengthen my legs for the journey I had moxa burned on my shins. By then I could think of nothing but the moon at Matushima.” Basho particularly focused on the moon that was frequently included in the poems of previous poets. In Oku, there were a lot of things that were referred to in the poems of the previous poets. Therefore, it is quite reasonable to guess that Basho tried to trace the previous poets. A second reason for Basho’s travel to Oku could be the repose of souls, (鎭魂). In Oku, there was a lot of vestige of unfortunate warriors who were not talked about anywhere in the history. There were a lot of places in Oku where the warriors died in the middle of the war. There were also tombstones of the warriors and the temple where relics of the warriors were kept. Minamoto Yoshitsune was one of the most respectful warriors of Matsuo Basho. This can be estimated from the fact that Basho cherished his memories very deeply in Hiraismi. Hiraismi is the place where Yoshitsune died with his subordinates after he was chased by Minamoto Yoritomo who had established the Gamakura government. In the summit of his journey, he visited Hiraismi. Here is what he said in the journey: We first climbed up to Palace-on-the-Heights, from where we could see the Kitagami, a big river that flows down from Nambu. The Koromo River circles Izumi Saburo’s castle, then flows into the big river below Palace on the Heights. The ruins of Yasuhira’s time are on the other side of the Koromo Barrier, seemingly to Palace-on-the Heights that Yoshitsune and his picked retainers fortified themselves, but his glory turned in a moment into this wilderness of grass. “Countries may fall, bur their rivers and mountains remain; when sparing comes to the ruined caste, the grass is green again.” (Basho). “These lines went through my head as I sat on the ground, my bamboo hat spread under me. There I sat weeping, unaware of the passage of time.” (Basho). “The summer grasses Of brave soldiers’ dream The aftermath. In the verbena I seem to see Kanefusa Behold his white hair!” (Basho). Another account of the journey and poem that Basho wrote in honor of the warriors related with Minamoto Yoshitsune is as follows: We crossed the river at the Moon Wheel (Tsukinnowa) ferry, and arrived at the post-town of Senoue. The old ruins from Sato Shoji’s time were about three miles to the left, at the edge of the mountain. I was told that they were at Sabano in Iizuka Villiege, and went around asking people where that might be. I was finally directed to a place called Maruyama. This was where the remains of Sato Shoji’s residence stand. I wept when people told me that what was left of the Great Gate of his castle was to be found at the foot of the mountain. At an old temple nearby the gravestones of the entire family are preserved. Among them, the most affecting ate those of two women who married into the Sato family. They were women, but what a reputation for heroism they left behind! At the thought I wetted my sleeve with tears. One need not go to China to find a gravestone that induces tears. (Basho). Sword and altar both Display on boy’s Day in May When paper banners fly. Matsuo Basho went to Oku to meet and cherish the warriors. He might also have wished to get those non-mainstream warriors acknowledged in his journal so that the future generations would cherish them in the centuries to follow. A third purpose of Basho’s travel to Oku could be his desire to spread his unique style of poem far and wide in Japan. New styles and forms of poems were emerging in Japan at the time when Basho had made his journey to Oku. During that period, a poem was generally treated as comic or humor. However, some people like Basho went an extra mile and created a travel’s journal along with writing the poems to present a holistic view of nature. It was the time when people like merchants and warriors lost interest in poems in the capital city, and the country side largely became the platform for poetic activities. Through his journey, Basho might have made an attempt to take the new style of poem to the country side where it would be more welcomed than in the capital city where he lived. In the book, “The Narrow Road to Oku, 1694”, he actually met with the poets of small towns, and exchanged thoughts with them. As he traveled, the people he met consequently became his students. Hokishi was a notable student among them. Basho narrated a story to him. Hokishi then wrote a book titled “Yamanaka answer” which is considered an important reference to traditional poem nowadays. Basho’s intention to share his thoughts with audience in the country side in addition to the capital city could be a potential reason of his travel. In his main three travel’s journal, he had an ambition from Nozarashi Kikō in “Record of a Weather-Exposed Skeleton” (Basho, 1684). He narrated his dealing with Haikai from Oi no Kobumi, or Utatsu Kikō in “Record of a Travel-Worn Satchel” (Basho, 1688) and talked about his journeys from Oku to Hosomichi in “Narrow Road to Oku” (Basho, 1694). In all of these works, it is quite evident that he always tried to talk about his journeys. Whenever he would find a landscape in his journey, he would adore its beauty through his poem. He visited the places which previous poets had been to. Hence, he traveled to the past through his journeys. He might try to accomplish the ripeness of Haikai through an arduous journey. Literature was the key driver of Basho’s journeys. His book, Narrow Road to Oku, 1694, is quite different from the usual travel’s journals in that it starts from a departure and ends with an arrival. We are able to learn that the story in Basho’s journal started from the point when he came back from his recent travel from the phrase “I returned to my cottage on the ricer and wept away the cobwebs”. Also, when he was about to leave the city, Edo, he made the poem, “spring is passing by! Birds are weeping and the eyes of fish fill with tears.” And in the last page of this book, he made the poem, “Diving like clam and shell, I leave for Futami, autumn is passing by”. Basho does not seem to be against the basic principle of universe (根本理念). This can be estimated from the fact that he considered both spring and autumn as passing by in the first and the last part of the journal respectively. This signifies lack of a proper start or end, which means that he remained a traveler forever. It seems that he thought that a poem, being the purest form of language, could be created from journeys. Therefore, this wonderful book is a master piece of Basho, and is an extremely enjoyable piece of literature,(風雅). Read More