Kanshi, Haiku and Media in Meiji Japan, 1870-1900
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The Poetry of Dialogue: Kanshi, Haiku and Media in Meiji Japan, 1870-1900 Robert James Tuck Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2012 © 2012 Robert Tuck All Rights Reserved ABSTRACT The Poetry of Dialogue: Kanshi, Haiku and Media in Meiji Japan, 1870-1900 Robert Tuck This dissertation examines the influence of ‘poetic sociality’ during Japan’s Meiji period (1867-1912). ‘Poetic sociality’ denotes a range of practices within poetic composition that depend upon social interaction among individuals, most importantly the tendency to practice poetry as a group activity, pedagogical practices such as mutual critique and the master-disciple relationship, and the exchange among individual poets of textually linked forms of verse. Under the influence of modern European notions of literature, during the late Meiji period both prose fiction and the idea of literature as originating in the subjectivity of the individual assumed hegemonic status. Although often noted as a major characteristic of pre-modern poetry, poetic sociality continued to be enormously influential in the literary and social activities of 19th century Japanese intellectuals despite the rise of prose fiction during late Meiji, and was fundamental to the way in which poetry was written, discussed and circulated. One reason for this was the growth of a mass-circulation print media from early Meiji onward, which provided new venues for the publication of poetry and enabled the expression of poetic sociality across distance and outside of face-to-face gatherings. With poetic exchange increasingly taking place through newspapers and literary journals, poetic sociality acquired a new and openly political aspect. Poetic exchanges among journalists and readers served in many cases as vehicles for discussion of political topics such as governmental corruption, international relations and environmental disasters, an aspect of Meiji-era poetry that has received comparatively little attention. The dissertation focuses on three main areas: poetic forms that depend on interaction among multiple poets, especially ‘rhyme-matching (wain)’ poetry in literary Chinese (kanshi), the social structures (such as poetic societies) that made such poetry possible, and the mediation of poetic sociality through modern print culture. The first half of the dissertation focuses on kanshi’s importance as a medium for public exchange on social and political topics. Chapter One covers rhyme-matching exchanges among Japanese and Qing Chinese poets throughout the 19th century, as seen through exchange of letters and through newspapers such as the Chôya shinbun. The chapter shows kanshi sociality enabling a transnational discourse that gave expression both to notions of shared cultural bonds between Japan and China and to ideas of poetic and cultural nationalism. The second chapter examines rhyme-matching sequences among poet and journalist Masaoka Shiki (1867-1902) and his friends, as well as a marathon exchange among kanshi poets Kokubu Seigai (1857-1944) and Mori Kainan (1863-1911) in the pages of the conservative newspaper Nippon that illustrates rhyme-matching’s role in creating shared social spaces within the newspaper world of 1890s Japan. The second half of the dissertation focuses on the rise of the so-called “new haiku” from 1892 onwards, showing, in Chapter Three, how poets used haiku in the newspapers of the 1890s as a vehicle for exchanging views on political matters, a function not traditionally associated with the genre. The final chapter looks at the use after the Sino-Japanese war of 1894-5 by Shiki and other “new haiku” groups of the notion of haiku as “commoner literature” to re-shape haiku in line with modern European ideas of literature. Centering on the influential haiku journal Hototogisu, these “new haiku” groups marginalized forms of textually linked poetry as a form of non-literary “play” and insisted on haiku primarily as a poetry of the individual. In discussing the uses of poetry in the Meiji print media, the dissertation complements previous studies of serialized prose fiction to provide a new and broader view of the economics and mechanisms of Japanese literary production and consumption. The study’s focus on prominent kanshi poets such as Mori Shuntô (1819-1889), Mori Kainan, and Kokubu Seigai sheds light on the understudied topic of the sociality of the 19th century kanshi world. Its discussion of the Meiji reception of Ming and Qing dynasty Chinese poetics and the importance of kanshi sociality in 19th-century Sino-Japanese diplomatic relations will be of interest to scholars of Chinese literature and history. More broadly, the dissertation’s focus on the development and uses of print media in a non-Western context will also prove useful for scholars of media and social history outside of East Asia. TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Illustrations………………………………………………………………………..........ii Conventions……………………………………………………………………………...……iii Acknowledgements....................................................................................................................iv Dedication..................................................................................................................................vi Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………….1 Chapter 1: “All Men Within the Four Seas Are Brothers:” Qing Poets and Poetics in 19th Century Japan…………………………………………………………........30 Chapter 2: Friendship, Rivalry and Poetic Spaces: Media, Kanshi Dialogue and Poetic Sociality, 1884-1892……………………………………………………...104 Chapter 3: Poetry as Political Commentary: Nippon and the Birth of the “New Haiku,” 1892-5…………………………………………………………………….175 Chapter 4: Japan’s Plebeian Poetry: “Commoner Literature,” Poetic Sociality and the New Haiku, 1895-1900………………………...………..……………………...238 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………….…….295 Bibliography………………………………………………………………………………....303 i LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure 1 Text from Tsuzure no nishiki……………………………………………...314 Figure 2 Printed text of Kokubu Seigai, A Song of Kegon Falls Amid the Wind and Rain, Nippon 09/09/1890………………………………………………....315 Figure 3 Cartoon of corrupt politician as frog, Nippon 01/01/ 1890………….........316 Figure 4 Cartoon of novelist asleep at his writing desk, Nippon 01/01/1890...........317 Figure 5 Nakamura Fusetsu, “Radiance Extinguished,” Shô Nippon 04/26/1894....318 Figure 6 Cover of Shii no tomo kai’s journal Haikai, published during 1893..........319 Figure 7 Cover of Shûseikai’s journal Autumn Winds, November 1896……....…...320 Figure 8 Frontispiece of Autumn Winds, featuring linked verse master Yamazaki Sôkan (?-c.1540)……………………………..………...………….……...321 Figure 9 Cover of Hototogisu’s first edition after move to Tokyo, October 1898....322 ii CONVENTIONS Unless otherwise noted, all translations are mine. Japanese scholars and authors working in the Japanese language are cited with their surname first and given name second. Authors or other historical figures who commonly used a pen name are referred to throughout by their pen name, with their birth name and dates of birth and death (where known) also given when the name first appears. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation could not have been completed without the help and support of a very large number of people. First and foremost I owe an enormous debt of thanks to Prof. Haruo Shirane, who first suggested that I might like to explore the topic of sociality in Meiji literature. Prof. Shirane has been a tireless source of encouragement, wisdom and good advice, and without his outstanding mentorship neither I nor the dissertation would have made it this far. Thanks are also due to Prof. Tomi Suzuki, whose encouragement and assistance throughout my time at Columbia was absolutely invaluable, and whose sharp and insightful critiques of my early work contributed enormously to my development as a researcher and scholar. I benefitted immeasurably from frequent talks with Profs. Paul Anderer, Wiebke Denecke, and David Lurie, who were always willing to take time to bat around ideas about this and other related projects, to talk about big-picture issues and to suggest new sources and avenues for inquiry. At Waseda, I am enormously grateful to Profs. Munakata Kazushige and Toeda Hirokazu. Prof. Munakata generously gave up his time to talk things over with me on a weekly basis, including reading and commenting on multiple Japanese-language drafts of the Waseda MA thesis that became the bedrock of the dissertation. During both of my years at Waseda, Prof. Munakata played a huge role in helping me to formulate the project, find new sources and sharpen my critical focus. Prof. Toeda Hirokazu likewise did an enormous amount to help me settle in and feel welcome at iv Waseda, and his advice on matters of modern Japanese media was invaluable. Thanks are also due to Janine Beichman, Kim Brandt, Matthew Fraleigh, Carol Gluck, Christopher Hill, Itô Kiwako, Kanai Keiko, Kikuchi Mami, Nishida Masaya, Sachie Noguchi, Machi Senjûrô, Nate Shockey, Hitomi Yoshio, Pauline Yu, and many others at Columbia and in Japan. I would also like to express my gratitude to the Japan Foundation and to Shinchôsha for their generous fellowship support that allowed me to spend close to two years in Japan doing archival research. Their support allowed me both time to write and access to otherwise unavailable sources in Japan, and the project would not have been possible without it. Lastly, I am grateful