Inventing the New Through the Old: the Essence Of

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Inventing the New other is the Song scholar Lin Xiyi’s ᨋᏗㅺ2 annotations of the Zhuangzi, which stress that the Through the Old: entire Zhuangzi is a parable. While scholarly The Essence of Haikai opinion differs on which factor or factors played and the Zhuangzi a key role behind the phenomenon, they agree Peipei Qiu that the Danrin’s enthusiasm for the Zhuangzi lies primarily in imitating the gugen in the work.3 Asian Studies Vassar College

Introduction meaning, according to Burton Watson, is words put into the mouth of historical or fictional persons to make them more compelling. The Zhuangzi scholars The latter half of the seventeenth century have also used the term to refer to the general writ- witnessed an innovative phenomenon in Japanese ing style of the text. Watson has rendered the haikai େ⺽ (comic linked verse) circles. A meaning of the term into “imported words” in his group of haikai poets who called themselves the translation of the Zhuangzi. The title of Konishi Danrin ⺣ᨋ enthusiastically drew upon the Jin’ichi’s ዊ⷏↟৻ study on Basho and Zhuangzi’s Daoist classic Zhuangzi ⨿ሶ (The works of gugen, “Basho to gugensetsu” ⧊⭈ߣኚ⸒⺑ Master Zhuang), setting off a decade-long trend [Nihon gakushiin kiyo ᣣᧄቇ჻㒮♿ⷐ no. 18 of using the Zhuangzi in haikai composition. In (1960) 2 and 3] is translated into “Basho and assessing the causes and significance of this Chuang-tsu’s Parabolical Phraseology.” The term in phenomenon previous studies give much atten- modern Japanese and Chinese is often translated as tion to the intellectual, philosophical and reli- “fable,” “apologue,” or “parable,” but these transla- gious climates, noting two major factors that in- tions are not suitable to the present study. In the spired the Danrin’s interest in the Zhuangzi. One context of the Danrin haikai, gugen is used to imply is the medieval Genji monogatari Ḯ᳁‛⺆ both the theoretical frame of reference and the tech- (The tale of Genji) scholars’ commentaries, nical device for the metaphorical and fictional expression of haikai. Since the complex connotations which compare the fictional story of Genji with 1 of the term cannot be properly expressed by existing the gugen ኚ⸒ (parable) of the Zhuangzi. The English words, this article uses gugen throughout.

2 Lin Xiyi, whose dates of birth and death are Research of this study was supported by the In- unknown, was a scholar and official of Song ternational Research Center for Japanese Studies China. According to Song Yuan xue an ቡరቑ᩺ and by the Japan Society for the Promotion of (Brief biographies of the Song and Yuan scholars) Science fellowship. I am grateful for the hours 47, he became Jinshi(a successful candidate in spent with Professors Suzuki Sadami and Mitsuta the highest imperial examinations) during the Kazunobu at the International Research Center Duanping era (1234-37), and was once appointed for Japanese Studies, where I was a Visiting Re- a Vice Director of the Office of Personnel searcher. I am indebted to Professors Carolyn Evaluation. He was skilled at painting, calligra- Morley of Wellesley College, Sonja Arntzen of phy and poetry. Lin’s literary name was Juanzhai University of Toronto and Margaret Childs of ? . His explanation of the Zhuangzi, (Zhuangzi University of Kansas, for stimulating discussion Juanzhai kouyi ⨿ሶ? ᢪญ⟵, 1253), was re- and incisive criticism regarding this study. I would also like to thank Professors Philip Brown printed in Japan during the seventeenth century and Lawrence Marceau, the editors of Early and widely read by the haikai poets.

Modern Japan, and the two anonymous readers, 3 for their detailed comments and warm support. For in-depth studies on the Danrin haikai and the Zhuangzi, seeYamamoto Heiichiro ጊᧄᐔ৻ 1 Gugen (yuyan in Chinese) appears in the ㇢, “Haikai to Soji ga gugen” େ⺽䈫 ⨿ሶ䈏ኚ⸒ twenty-seventh chapter of the Zhuangzi. Its original (Haikai and Zhuangzi's gugen), in Kokugo to ko-

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Based on earlier investigations of the exter- to sustain the poetic conversation, and the ex- nal factors that promoted the popularity of the tremely short form of each verse needs conven- Zhuangzi among the Danrin poets, this article tionalized mediating signs to clarify, translate, explores the inner elements in the development of and expand the poetic essence through intertex- haikai that led to the Danrin’s encounter with the tual structures. Therefore haikai, while being a Zhuangzi. Allusion to classical sources has been parodic, unconventional genre of popular culture, one of the oldest poetic “games” in the world, but never completely breaks away from the classical none of other poetic genre has witnessed the im- tradition. portant role classical sources played in the theo- This contradiction is reflected clearly in the rization and signification of haikai. This article haikai poets’ struggle to convey profound es- reveals that the Danrin poets’ interest in the Dao- sence through haikai language (haigon େ⸒), ist classic is motivated not only by their impulse the vernacular and Chinese-origin words that lack to defend comic linked verse, but, more signif i- the literary and cultural associations accumulated cantly, also by an urgent need to reconstruct and within the classical poetic diction. Attempting to regenerate the signifying systems of the comic invent a new poetic essence with haikai language, poetry, especially its poetic essence (hon㵭i ᧄᗧ). the Danrin poets found the Zhuangzi an ideal This latter need comes from the paradoxical na- foundation text. Although the Danrin’s under- ture of haikai. On one hand, as a newly rising standing of the Zhuangzi had limitations, their commoners’ art, comic linked verse must distin- effort inspired the later Shomon ⭈㐷 school, guish itself from classical linked verse by decon- whose continued search for new poetic possibili- structing the classical poetic diction, breaking the ties indicated by the Daoist classic brought hai- orthodox conventions, and parodying the aristo- kai’s encounter with the Zhuangzi to meaningful cratic classics. On the other hand, haikai compo- fruition. Because a full discussion of the haikai sition relies heavily on the classical past, because poets’ adaptation of the Daoist classic is beyond the dialogic nature of a haikai sequence requires the scale of this paper, the examination in the a shared knowledge of instituted poetic signifiers following pages focuses on the Danrin’s attempts to reinvent the essence of haikai with the Zhuangzi, and my discussion on the Shomon kubungaku, 14 (1937) 1, pp. 60-87; 2, pp. haikai is restricted to a few examples of how the 167-192; Kon Eizo ੹ᩕ⬿ “Danrin haikai Zhuangzi is used as mediating signs or texts to oboegaki, Gugensetsu no genryu to bungaku- deepen the poetic essence.4 shiteki jittai” ⺣ᨋେ⺽ⷡᦠ৻ኚ⸒⺑䈱Ḯᵹ䈫 ᢥቇผ⊛ታᘒ (Notes on Danrin haikai--The The Essence of the Comic Poetry and the origin of gugen theories and its presence in Japa- Zhuangzi nese literary history), in Kokugo kokubun kenkyu ࿖⺆࿖ᢥ⎇ⓥ, No 7 (1953), pp. 1-2; and Around 1674, a conflict occurred between Nonomura Katsuhide ㊁䇱᧛ൎ⧷, "Danrin hai- two major haikai schools. The Teimon ⽵㐷 kai no gugenron wo megutte" ⺣ᨋେ⺽䈱ኚ⸒ school, which tried hard to appropriate haikai ⺰䉕䉄䈓䈦䈩 (On the gugen theories in Danrin according to orthodox poetic tradition, accused haikai), Kokugo to kokubungaku ࿖⺆䈫 ࿖ᢥቇ, the Danrin ⺣ᨋ school of being against the tra- 33, no. 11 (1956): 36-44. Konishi Jin’ichi’s and ditional principles. When Nishiyama Soin ⷏ጊ Hirota Jiro’s ᐢ↰ੑ㇢ works on the influence ቬ࿃ (1605-1682), the leader of the Danrin of the Zhuangzi in Basho’s haikai also provide school, published a hundred-verse sequence enti- insightful discussions on the Danrin school’s encounter with the Zhuangzi. See “Basho to gugensetsu,” pp. 97-118; Hirota Jiro, Basho no gei- 4 For comprehensive studies of Daoist influence jutsu--Sono tenkai to haikei ⧊⭈䈱⧓ⴚ৻䈠䈱 on Basho, see Hirota Jiro, Basho no gei- ዷ㐿䈫 ⢛᥊ (Basho's art--its development and jutsu--Sono tenkai to haikei, and Konishi Jin’ichi, background. Tokyo: Yuseido, 1968), pp. 192-237. “Basho to gugensetsu,” cited in Note 2 above.

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tled (Nishiyama Soin) Kabashira hyakku (⷏ጊቬ ployed in the major imperial waka anthologies ࿃) Ⰶᩇ⊖ฏ (Swarming Mosquitoes: One became conventionalized. As a result, what a hundred verses), the Teimon responded with a word or an image signifies in poetry was no criticism called Shibuuchiwa ᷦ࿅ (Astringent longer the pure choice of an individual poet or the fan), whose metaphorical title means a powerful reader, but the normative essence defined by the fan to beat off the mosquitoes of the Danrin. The celebrated poems in the waka tradition, especially work criticizes Soin’s verses as “having lost the those in the first eight imperial anthologies. The essence (hon’i) of poetry while simply spitting concept of hon’i was further elaborated and sys- out whatever he wanted to say.”5 “Isn’t haikai tematized by renga and haikai masters, who applied the term not only to the poetic topics and after all,” the attacker says, “a form of waka ๺ images, but also to the nature of poetry. As seen ᱌? Poetry is a way to assist government and to in the debate between the Teimon and Danrin, 6 edify people.” Defending their leader’s work, while the Teimon insisted that haikai was “a form Okanishi Ichu ጟ⷏ᗅਛ (1637-1711), a disciple of waka” and it should assist government and of Soin and a vocal member of the Danrin, wrote moral edification, the Danrin took the Zhuangzi Shibuuchiwa hento ᷦ࿅㄰╵ (A response to as the hon’i of haikai, associating the Daoist “Astringent fan”), in which he made an intriguing classic with the essence of haikai at an ontologi- statement concerning the origin and essence of cal level. haikai: “Among the books from China, I think the It is well known that, in general, the Japanese entire work of the Zhuangzi is the essence (hon’i) perspective on poetry differs from that of Chinese of haikai. Its use of words and its expression are in its emphasis on the expressive/lyrical nature all haikai. In our country, the essence (hon’i) of instead of the pragmatic/didactic function defined The Tale of Genji is haikai.”7 The emphasis on by the Confucian scholars. When discussing the hon’i, or the poetic essence, in both the Teimon’s Chinese influence on the Kokinshu ฎ੹㓸 and the Danrin’s arguments reveals a unique tra- prefaces to the first imperially commissioned an- dition of Japanese poetry: poems must be com- thology, the Kokin wakashu ฎ੹๺᱌㓸 (905), posed according to the normative essence based John Timothy Wixted makes the following ob- on authoritative texts. servation: Hon’i, which literally means “the original meaning,” was used widely in waka, renga and The backdrop to all Chinese consideration haikai theories. As early as the tenth century, the of literature, from earliest times until today, term already appeared in the judgments of poetry has been the primacy of its pragmatic ends. contests, referring to the original nature or way of In contrast with this, the Kokinshu prefaces, an object treated in poetry. Through the Heian especially the Japanese preface, while paying period, the essences of the images and topics em- homage to pragmatic ends, pointed the direc- tion to a more expressively oriented literature. 5 Shibuuchiwa (Astringent fan, 1674). The These in turn became the classic earliest work is attributed to Kyohoshi, but his identity is source for later Japanese views of poetry. With such a venerable authority as the Japa- not clear. He might be a person from Nara. Some nese preface behind them--its recondite Chi- scholars suspect that the author might be Kit a- nese reference misunderstood or ig- mura Kigin . See Iida Masakazu ർ᧛ቄี 㘵↰ nored--later Japanese writers and theorists ᱜ৻, Esaka Hironao ᭑ဈᶈዏ, and Inui Hiro- (unlike their Chinese counterparts) were yuki ੇ⵨ᐘ, eds. Koten haibungaku taikei ฎౖ spared having to concern themselves with େᢥቇᄢ♽ (Tokyo: Shueisha, 1972) 4, p. 41. justifying the expressive/lyrical function of Henceforth abbreviated KHT.

6 Shibuuchiwa, KHT, 4, p. 41.

7 Shibuuchiwa hento, KHT, 4, p. 59.

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literature. This has had profound implication To get a clear idea of the critical tradition for the later course of Japanese literature.8 which Kigin stresses by referring to the Six Prin- ciples, let’s take a close look at Kigin’s discus- However, Edo period haikai poets’ view of sion of the first principle, fu 㘑 (the Suasive this critical history provides a different picture. Poem).11 As seen in the excerpt from Shibuuchiwa above, Teimon poets believe that “poetry is a way to (1) Fu. The Yakumo misho ౎㔕ᓮ assist government and to edify people.” Accord- ᛞ12 says: “Fu is the Suasive Poem. It ing to Kitamura Kigin ർ᧛ቄี (1624-1705), a speaks of one thing by drawing upon another. major theoretician of the Teimon school and the It is to enlighten the listener’s mind without suspected author of Shibuuchiwa, this concept spelling it out directly.” According to finds its roots in the Kokinshu prefaces, which, in Kyogoku Komon, the term fu means to re- turn, draws upon the Six Principles (liuyi ౐⟵ veal the truth of one thing covertly by draw- in Chinese, rikugi in Japanese) in the “Great ing upon another. The fu-style poem has to Preface” to the oldest Chinese poetic anthology, be the same. A poem that does not put forth the Classic of Poetry (Shijing ⹞⚻). Kigin sum- its intent directly but draws upon other things, marizes this critical history in his Haikai umoregi whatever it speaks of, is called fu. According େ⺽ၒᧁ (The buried tree of haikai, 1673) as to Fujiwara Kiyosuke ᷡテ13 the Classic of the following: Poetry says: “Those above edify those below with feng 㘑 [fu in Japanese]; those below Regarding the Six Principles, in Japanese also criticize those above with feng.” (Note: poetry, they were found in the Kokinshu. Both edification through feng and criticism Kyogoku Komon ੩ᭂ㤛㐷9 says that the through feng mean to use allegorical refer- essence of the Six Principles was enunciated ences, which is to avoid speaking overtly.)14 by the Classic of Poetry and he recommends I think fu in the work means using allegorical that people read it. Among renga poets, the reference. It is read “soe” [in its Japanese venerable Shinkei ᔃᢘ (1406-1475) once pronunciation]. “Soe” means to reveal the said that the fundamentals [of the Six Princi- meaning while not presenting the topic ples] should permeate each verse. Soyo ቬ㙃 overtly. Therefore, fu is called the Suasive also discussed them. Haikai is no excep- Poem. In his study of the Kokinshu, Sogi ቬ tion.10 ␧ points out that there are different aspects

8 In Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine 11 I follow Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Henkenius, trans. and annot., Kokinshu: A Col- Catherine Henkenius in translating fu here. lection of Poems Ancient and Modern (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1984), p. 399. 12 Yakumo misho (Treatises on poetry by Re- tired Emperor Juntoku 㗅ᓼ) is a six-volume 9 Kyogoku Komon refers to the famous waka work of waka poetics. The manuscript of the poet and critic, Fujiwara no Teika ⮮ේቯኅ work was completed in 1234. (1162-1241). 13 Fujiwara Kiyosuke (1104-1177) was a late 10 Haikai umoregi (The buried tree of haikai, Heian poet and critic. His work referred to here is compiled in 1655 and published in 1673), in probably his Ôgisho ᅏ⟵ᛞ (Notes on the po- Ogata Tsutomu የᒻੴ ed., Kigin haironshu ቄ etic profundities, 1124-1151). It is a representa- ีେ⺰㓸(Collection of Kigin’s treatises on hai- tive work of waka poetics of the Heian period. kai), in Koten bunko ฎౖᢥᐶ(Tokyo: Koten Bunko, 1960) Vol. 151, pp. 36-37. 14 This note was by the original author.

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stressed by the Six Principles in the Classic classical texts. As seen in the following excerpts, of Poetry,which can be divided into the basic the Teimon and the Danrin in fact draw upon the principles and the supporting methods, or the same classical sources to define the essence of normative forms and the rhetorical modes, haikai. In Haikai umoregi, Kigin writes: respectively. Also, some poems that belong to the category of fu use ko ⥝ (evocative Speaking of haikai, the Ôgisho says songs)15 at the same time. Some scholars say that “haikai” mentioned in the Hanshu that the way feng is used [in China] is ṽᦠ refers to “huaji” ṖⓀ. “Hua” Ṗ slightly different from that in this country, means “wonderful meaning.” “Ji” Ⓚ but the meaning is the same.16 means “endless words.” “The Origin of Huaji” in Shiji ผ⸥ says: “Huaji The original Chinese term, feng, in the Clas- was a type of vessel for wine. Later the sic of Poetry comes from a section title, word was used to describe effortless “Guofeng” ࿖㘑, the “Airs of the States.” In creativity and endless expression, like a later critical writings it is often used to describe hauji from which wine is poured out. . . . poems that are like the Guofeng. The term some- The two characters for haikai can be times is also interpreted as feng 㘑, which means read as wazagoto. Therefore, people to criticize. The translation of the term in the think that it is a kind of frivolous joke. Kokinshu prefaces, soeuta, the Suasive Poem, But this is not necessarily true. As I seems to have followed the latter interpretation, mentioned earlier, although those who designating the pragmatic function of poem. devoted themselves to huaji were not Kigin’s writings indicate that Japanese theorists directly dealing with the Way (Dao ㆏, were not “spared having to concern themselves do in Japanese), they actually attained with justifying the expressive/lyrical function of the Way. Haikai is different from the literature.” Instead, from representative works of way of government, but it teaches won- waka poetics to treatises on renga and haikai, derful meaning. Therefore, haikai is like most important critical writings concerning the huaji: its design seems to be oratorical fundamentals of poetry include a discussion of and witty, and its language makes “fire” the Six Principles to justify their own poems. into “water,” or reveals wonderful Compared with the Kokinshu prefaces, these later meaning through comedy. Yet, haikai Japanese theorists seem to have interpreted the can convey what is deep in the heart six principles in a more didactic way. through its words.17

Whether or not the Six Principles have truly In the passage above, Kigin first tries to jus- permeated Japanese poetry is a debatable issue. tify haikai by tracing the origin of the term to the As Wixted points out, Japanese poetry and Chi- Chinese histories, the Han shu (The Han history) nese poetry show different orientations from their and the Shi ji (The record of history), both of emergence, and the way in which the Kokinshu which are considered to be authoritative classics. prefaces cite the Six Principles is not much more He then stresses that haikai can convey wonder- than paying homage to the Chinese classic. ful meaning, perfectly complying with the ca- However, what is of interest is just how strongly nonical concept of poetry, even though it is a the Japanese writers felt the need to pay homage comedy. A very similar definition of haikai is to the past, to seek the essence of poetry in the also found in the Danrin theorist Ichu’s treatise. He writes: 15 One of the six principles. It is translated as Tatoeuta, evocative songs, in the Japanese preface to the Kokinshu. 17 Haikai umoregi, pp. 33-34. 16 Haikai umoregi, pp. 37-38.

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About haikai, in Haikai mogyu େ⺽ government and to educate people; comic verse ⫥᳞, I have traced its origins to the was thought to lack the qualities that could Japanese and Chinese classics. It has achieve this goal. Thus, the first collection of been said in Kiyosuke’s Ôgisho that al- renga, Tsukubashu ╳ᵄ㓸 (The Tsukuba an- though haikai is not a way of govern- thology, 1356), separated comic linked verses ment, it teaches wonderful meaning. Its from the elegant renga by putting them in a hai- effect seems to lie in oratory and wit. It kai section. Another renga collection compiled makes fire into water, and reveals won- when the verse form had matured, Shinsen tsu- derful meaning through comedy. It is kubashu ᣂㆬ╳ᵄ㓸 (The newly selected Tsu- the oratory of heart and oratory of lan- kuba anthology, 1495), contains no haikai verses guage, the wit of heart and the wit of at all. Subsequently, haikai no renga was always language, the comedy of heart and the excluded from renga anthologies. This exclusion comedy of language.18 of haikai from classical poetry had a notable impact on the later development of haikai and con- While it is true that the Danrin, as previous tributed directly to haikai's encounter with the studies have pointed out, gives more attention to Zhuangzi. the oratorical and witty effect of haikai, the similar way in which the Teimon and the Danrin con- The Essence of Haikai Language and the struct their theories is striking: both refer to the Zhuangzi canonical texts to define haikai and emphasize that haikai teaches wonderful meaning through Haikai inherited the formalistic features of comedy. renga. It also followed most of the rules pre- However, the insistence on the didactic func- scribed by the renga masters regarding the asso- tion and the authority of the canonical texts ciation and progression of a sequence. While brought inevitable contradictions to comic linked taking the very same form of renga, haikai dif- verse, because haikai was a genre born through fered from classical renga in its comic approach departing from the classical poetic tradition. and vernacular language. In order to distinguish Haikai grew out of renga, a linked verse form haikai from renga, haikai masters declared that that emerged in the medieval period. It started as the use of haigon, or haikai language, was the an entertaining poetic game in which the partic i- hallmark of comic linked verse. Matsunaga Tei- pants competed with each other in wit and humor toku ᧻᳗⽵ᓼ (1571-1653), the founder of the by adding their own verse to the preceding ones, Teimon school, writes about this when talking making linked verses of alternate seventeen- and about haikai regulations: fourteen-syllable lines. When renga became popular in the parlor gatherings of aristocrats, At the beginning, there was no dis- elite samurai and priests, the renga masters tinction between haikai and renga. gradually polished the rules guiding renga com- Later, linked verses that used purely position and turned it into an elegant art form that elegant language were called renga was extendible to 100, 1,000, even 10,000 links. while those that have included vernacu- To elevate the status of renga, the renga masters lar words were called haikai.19 denied its original entertaining purpose and humorous nature because the orthodox poetic theories identified poetry as a way to support the

19 Quoted in Fujii Otoo ⮮੗ਸ↵, “Teimon 18 Okanishi Ichu, Kinrai haikai futaisho ㄭ᧪ haikaishi” ⽵㐷େ⺽ผ (The history of the Tei- େ⺽わᛞ (Notes on recent haikai styles, 1679), mon haikai), in Yamamoto Sansei, ed. Haiku Ogata Tsutomu, ed., Danrin Hairon shu ⺣ᨋ Koza େฏ⻠ᐳ (Tokyo: Kaizosha, 1933) I, p. େ⺰㓸 (Tokyo: Koten bunko, 1963), p. 23. 127.

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As these words suggest, haikai kept both the fines the meaning of specific seasonal images, form and the rules of renga. The use of hai- but also prescribes how a particular image should gon--vocabulary that was not included in the be presented. For instance, by the normative es- classical poetic diction of waka and renga, such sence, when the image of “winter rain” is used, it as slang, colloquial expressions of commoners, signifies specifically the shigure ᤨ㔎, a short and Chinese-origin words--became the primary shower in the early winter, even though there are distinction between haikai and the traditional different kinds of rain in winter. Similarly, the renga. The emphasis on non-classical language in image of spring rain has to be a kind of quiet and haikai reflected the interest of the rising com- misty drizzling. If a cuckoo needs to be present in moner class, who had been deprived the right of the scene, it is not allowed to break the quietness literacy in the past. Through the haikai language, with noisy calls, but it is permissible if the bird commoners now could take pleasure in laughing gives out a single lonely cry. In other words, in at the “high” classes and the authorities, parody- the traditional signifying system a poetic image ing the aristocratic classics, and making fun of or motif becomes a strictly codified and heavily social conventions. charged sign that signifies more than a simple The creation of haigon, however, brought object in the external world or the speaker’s in- about a serious problem in haikai’s signifying ternal feelings. Above all, such an image evokes systems. Haigon was created in opposition to the associations and significance conventional- kago ᱌⺆, or classical poetic diction, conven- ized by the celebrated classical texts. Needless to tionalized by the imperially commissioned waka say, conventionalized signifiers limit the creativ- anthologies (chokusenshu ഼ㆬ㓸), especially ity of an individual poet. However, as an ex- the first eight, from the Kokinshu to the Shin tremely condensed poetic form and a product of Kokinshu ᣂฎ੹㓸 (The new collection of an- group composition, haikai needs heavily charged cient and present poems). This body of dic tion signifiers in order to sustain its poetic expression. became the standard language for poetic compo- The development of Japanese poetry shows a sition for centuries. Both waka and renga em- tendency towards brevity, and this tendency is at ployed only this unitary language, and their top- its extreme in haikai. Except for a limited number ics were limited to the elegant ones collected in of choka 㐳᱌, or long poems, collected in the the classical anthologies, such as love and the oldest anthologies, shortness characterizes all four seasons. When comic linked verse arose, the remaining Japanese poetic forms. The existing standard diction was challenged for the thirty-one-syllable classical genre waka is already first time.20 In fact, challenging, parodying, and short, but an individual verse of a renga sequence recontextualizing the classical tradition became is even shorter: renga breaks waka’s thirty-one the very nature of haikai when it began to flour- syllable form into seventeen- and fourteen- sylla- ish at the end of the medieval age. By going be- ble shorter verses, building a linked verse through yond the classic poetic diction, however, haikai the alternation of the two types of short links. created a void in its signifying system: the haigon When haikai was reaching its maturity during the that never appeared in poetry before lacked es- seventeenth century, the seventeen-syllable tablished poetic essence. opening verse of a linked verse sequence, hokku, A conventional kago is not simply an elegant became independent and self-standing, forming word. Defined by the canonical poetic antholo- one of the shortest poetic genres, known as haiku gies, each kago embodies a complex intertextual today. Although earlier renga masters also tried structure that implies a cluster of conventional- their hands at composing a sole opening verse, ized poetic essence, or hon'i. Hon’i not only de- this was not a regular practice in classical renga. But, by the 1670s, composing a single hokku was already very common among haikai poets. 20 Some folk song genres in the medieval period Along with the independence of the opening didn’t follow the classical poetic diction, but they verse, the movement toward brevity was also never became major genres of Japanese poetry. evident in the fragmentation of a linked verse sequence. In haikai, each seventeen or fourteen

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syllable link must represent an independent world. Kigin discuss the use of hon’i in lengthy hand- Teitoku once wrote: “There is a change from books, the Danrin also stresses hon’i in their hai- waka to renga. In waka, sometimes the meaning kai theories. However, when haigon is introduced, of the content of the first three lines in a poem there is no convenient normative essence behind can be given in the remaining two lines. But in this important part of their poetic language. The renga, the three lines of a preceding verse and the lack of mediating power would directly affect the two lines of the following verse must have their construction of the meaning of a brief haikai own meaning respectively. Haikai is even more verse, either leaving it as a superficial parody or strict in this requirement.”21 conveying only the surface value of the words. The independence of individual verses in a Apparently, this presented a serious problem to linked sequence led to the condensation of haikai the haikai poets who firmly believed that comic in both form and content. In order to expand the linked verse must convey wonderful meaning. poetic capacity of a seventeen- or four- To remedy this problem, the Danrin poets teen-syllable verse, haikai poets have to rely on tried to include the Zhuangzi as a cardinal source mediating signs to build an intertextual construc- of normative poetic essence. Ichu, the vocal Dan- tion. In addition, since the creation of haikai re- rin theorist, repeatedly asserted that “the quires a constant shifting between the roles of Zhuangzi embodies the hon’i of haikai,” and speaker and audience, participants are at once the “nothing embodied in the hon’i of the Zhuangzi is speakers and the listeners. As speakers, they must not found in haikai.” This argument is not merely compose in accordance with the expectation of a defence strategy. It is also an effort to use the the audience, while as listeners they are always Daoist classic to supply hon’i to their new lan- expected to understand what the preceding poem guage, haigon. In order to prove that the is intended to say and to respond immediately Zhuangzi has been a source of hon’i of Japanese with an appropriate poem. Therefore, a familiar poetry since the classical age, Ichu quotes exten- set of codified signs communicating the poetic sively from the Zhuangzi to interpret the essence conventions and criteria to all the participants is of Japanese poetry, not only that of haikai, but essential. In other words, haikai needs a body of also that of the waka and renga. He painstakingly mediating signs to translate the surface meaning shows how a personified cuckoo in a Kokinshu of the limited words and to explain the deeper poem finds its hon’i in a gugen in the Zhuangzi, signif icance the poem suggests. which personifies a perch in a carriage rut. He A word with hon’i functions as a mediating also argues that a haikai verse which depicts the sign that generates two or more texts as well as early haikai poet Sokan as a shogi ዁ᫎ player the associated significance(s) simultaneously actually conveys the hon’i of the fictional figures within the poem, greatly increasing its signifi- in the Zhuangzi. By demonstrating that “even cance-carrying capacity.22 Hon’i also guides the the poems in the ‘Haikai’ section of the Kokinshu reading of the poem, providing the necessary take [Zhuangzi’s] gugen as hon’i,”23 Ichu tries to context or subcontext for the extemporaneous demonstrate that what is articulated in the dialogue of a linked verse sequence. Therefore, Zhuangzi has long been part of the accepted nor- not only did conservative Teimon poets such as mative essence of Japanese poetry. The Danrin’s such effort can also be clearly seen in Ichu’s de- fense for Kabashira hyakku. 21 Tensuisho ᄤ᳓ᛞ (Notes of Heavens and As mentioned earlier, Soin’s Kabashira Waters, 1644), KHT 2, p. 399. hyakku is a work that intentionally breaks the conventions of the existing signifying systems. 22 The discussion on the hon’i, honka and hon- The Teimon school, therefore, criticized Soin for zetsu as mediating signs and texts is inspired by “having lost the hon’i and simply spitting out Michael Riffaterre’s discussion on intertextuality in Semiotics of Poetry (Bloomington and London: Indiana University Press, 1978), p. 81. 23 Haikai mogyu, p. 84.

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whatever he wants to say.”24 Refuting such criti- ‘I have this one leg that I hop along on, cism, Ichu provides evidence of how each of though I make little progress. Now how Soin’s verses has its hon’i derived from Japanese in the world do you manage to work all and Chinese classics. Among the classics, the those ten thousand legs of yours?’ The Zhuangzi is a prime source. One of Soin’s poems millipede said, ‘You don’t under- in Kabashira hyakku deliberately changed the stand.’”27 This is a conversation be- normative essence of mushi ⯻(insect): tween Kui and a millipede. As I have mentioned in Haikai mogyu, the mama kuou to ya “I want to eat a meal!” Zhuangzi also has birds and fish that mushi no naku ran An insect is crying. can talk. . . . But some haikai masters believe that this kind of expression be- In the waka tradition, an insect’s cry typi- trays hon’i and they wouldn’t describe cally signifies the autumn melancholy: an in- anything that does not exist. It is the sect’s faint singing breaking the stillness at night fortune of our time that we have a verse evokes profound loneliness and an awareness of as the above which awakens those hai- the passing of the season. In Soin’s verse, how- kai masters from the sleep of their ever, the insect cries hungrily for its meal, creat- minds. Although in renga there was ing a humorous picture entirely different from the nothing like this kind of expression, traditional essence. The first half of the verse uses haikai should take this as its own hon’i. vernacular language, “I want to eat a meal,” From now on when one composes hai- which has never been part of the normative es- kai, one should understand this point sence associated with the image “mushi,” the in- and create a verse like this.”28 sect. The writer of Shibuuchiwa, therefore, com- mented on the verse: “I never knew of an insect Ichu’s reply revealed the purpose of the Dan- that eats meals or drinks wine. This must be an rin’s embracing the Zhuangzi. By finding the extraordinary bug. If the speaker never saw or hon’i of the fictional depiction and wild images heard of such insect either, I would say this is a in the Zhuangzi, the Danrin poets tried to break total fabrication. It is merely the speaker’s fib.”25 the fossilized poetic associations and invent new The Teimon’s criticism reflects the orthodox poetic significance, which was otherwise prohib- point of view that a poem is a means to convey ited by the conventional signifying system. the truth of things. Fabrication, therefore, is con- As a well-known classic, the Zhuangzi also sidered to be against the nature of poetry and equips the Danrin with a handy source of refer- harmful to its quality. To this criticism from the ence to attach poetic essence to the vernacular Teimon, Ichu writes: words, that is, to transform newly invented haigon into a mediating sign, which translates the In the “Autumn Floods” chapter of the surface meaning of the verse into the intended Zhuangzi, there is the following pas- significance and provides the context of the po- sage: “The Kui26 said to the millipede, etic dialogue. A verse from Soin’s Kabashira hyakku, for example, uses a peculiar place name:

24 Shibuuchiwa, p. 42.

25 Shibuuchiwa, p. 43. don: Columbia University Press, 1968. Hence- forth abbreviated CWC.), p. 183. The romaniza- 26 Burton Watson in his translation of the tion of the translation has been altered. Zhuangzi explains that Kui is a “being with only one leg. Sometimes it is described as a spirit or a 27 Watson, CWC, p. 183. strange beast, sometimes as a historical person- age--the music Master Kui.” See his The Com- 28 Shibuuchiwa hento, p. 61. plete Works of Chuang Tzu (New York and Lon-

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utsuke no yamaji The mountain path in an unknown place name based on personal pref- Mount Emptiness, erence is a serious flaw. Annoyed by Soin’s lib- kayoiji no tsuyu And a drop of dew on eral use of place name, the author of Shibuuchiwa the passing road.29 says: “I have never heard of this ‘famous place.’ This, again, must have been made up according The use of famous place names, meisho ฬ to the speaker’s own opinion.”31 ᚲ, together with honka ᧄ᱌ (classic verses that Laughing at this accusation, Ichu replies: became the foundation of allusive variations) and honzetsu ᧄ⺑ (classic texts used as foundation You don’t even know what Mount sources of allusive variations)30, is one of the Emptiness means by now? In the frequently used intertextual devices which dem- Zhuangzi there is ‘Not-Even-Anything onstrates the authority of the classic reference in Village ή૗᦭ਯㇹ’and ‘the Field of Japanese poetry. In the traditional poetics, the Broad-and-Boundless ᐢ⩨ਯ㊁’ The “famous place” does not simply mean a famous Zhuangzi also writes about places like site such as a tourist attraction. It refers to the ‘north of the Red River and in the hills places famous in literary history, places to which of Kunlun ⿒᳓ਯർፓፚਯਐ’ but many poems have been dedicated; hence specific there are no such mountains or fields. hon’i have been attached. The use of a place ‘Mount Emptiness’ is the same kind of name, therefore, is limited to the famous places image. You should understand that the defined by the classical works and expected to entire verse is to express what is meant embody certain hon’i. “Mount Emptiness” in by the word Emptiness.”32 Soin’s poem, however, is a fictional place name. From the conventional point of view, the use of Not-Even-Anything Village and the Field of Broad-and-Boundless are both fictional places

29 depicted in the first chapter of the Zhuangzi. Shibuuchiwa hento, IV, p. 69. Rather than the literal meaning of the names, 30 these metaphorical images signify a boundless The concept of honzetsu is closely related to world that transcends all worldly existences. honka. While honka refers to the classic texts of Ichu’s reply shows that metaphorical expressions Japanese poetry, honzetsu includes almost all like Not-Even-Anything Village and the Field of other types of canonical works, such as the early Broad-and-Boundless in the Zhuangzi has already Japanese narratives, Chinese poems and classics, become common knowledge among the Danrin proverbs, etc.. If a word with hon’i functions as a school poets and this shared knowledge is the mediating sign, honka and honzetsu are mediating basis of their understanding of Soin’s verse. He texts, which, when quoted in a poem or alluded to, ridicules the author of Shibuuchiwa for his not provide rich associations with another text or knowing these famous words of the Zhuangzi, texts, setting an authoritative code of reading pointing out that the essence of the entire poem based on the normative tradition or convention. lies in the place name mediating the two texts. Honka and honzetsu are particularly helpful to the Like the metaphorical images in the Zhuangzi, short forms of Japanese verses; it amplifies the “Mount Emptiness” reveals the intended meaning poetic expression through an intertextual con- of the verse--the existential emptiness and tran- struction. While honka and honzetsu are com- sience. monly used by different haikai, the Danrin is par- From the examples above we can see that the ticularly interested in using the Zhuangzi as a Danrin poets’ taking the Zhuangzi as the authori- major source of mediating texts. The Danrin poets not only draw upon the Zhuangzi to generate hon’i of images and words, but also directly use 31 Shibuuchiwa, p. 48. the Zhuangzi as honzetsu to construct new poetic essence. 32 Shibuuchiwa hento, p. 69.

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tative source of the hon’i of haikai is not an acci- A well-known gugen in the Zhuangzi, dental choice. It first has to do with the Japanese “Zhuang Zhou’s dream” relates the following poetic tradition that gives ultimate authority to story: classics. To the Danrin poets who sought a classic Once Zhuang Zhou dreamt he was a authority, the Zhuangzi is an appropriate choice: butterfly, a butterfly flitting and flutter- its free spirit, imaginative expressions, evocative ing around, happy with himself and do- images and deliberate reversal of meaning fit ing as he pleased. He didn’t know he their needs perfectly. Moreover, the Zhuangzi was Zhuang Zhou. Suddenly he woke asserts an aesthetic attitude that sees beautiful up and there he was, solid and unmis- qualities in ordinary and even “low” beings. This takable Zhuang Zhou. But he didn’t attitude makes it immediately possible to provide know if he was Zhuang Zhou who had the vernacular haikai language with “wonderful dreamt he was a butterfly, or a butterfly meaning,” or poetic essence. In addition, the dreaming he was Zhuang Zhou.34 Zhuangzi as a Chinese classic has been known in Japan since the Nara period. Though never so Comparing Kigin’s entry and the passage much emphasized as by the haikai poets, the from the Zhuangzi, it is clear that the essence of Zhuangzi has the status of classic and popularity butterfly as a seasonal word is infused with the among educated people. These qualities readily meaning of the gugen in the Zhuangzi. To dem- make it a useful referential source for the group onstrate the use of the image, Kigin provides composition of comic linked verse. Thus, the some verses in the entry. One of them is as the Zhuangzi is chosen as an effective mediating following: source to fill up the void in haikai’s signifying system. chiru hana ya Scattering blossoms: kocho no yume The dream of a butterfly— The Essence of Haikai Image and the hyakunenme A hundred years in a Zhuangzi gleam.

Among many images that carry hon’i from An informed reader can easily recognize that the Zhuangzi, the butterfly is the most the essence of the images, as well as that of the well-known and frequently used. Even before the entire verse, are situated in the intertext of the Danrin’s assertion, its association with the Zhuangzi. The butterfly links to dream through Zhuangzi had already been part of the normative the gugen on Zhuang Zhou’s dream and these essence of the image. When defining the hon’i of two images as mediating signs form the primary the seasonal words in haikai, Kigin writes the metaphor: the transient reality can hardly be dis- following under the entry “butterfly:” tinguished from a brief dream. This essence derived from the Zhuangzi is favorably presented in Butterfly: The scene of a butterfly the poetry of the Danrin as well. One of Soin’s alighting on rape blossoms, napping poems reads: among the flowers with no worries, or its appearance as it flutters its feathery chocho no yumeji ya The road in the dream wings, dancing like snowflakes whirling. of the butterfly-- Also, it is assoc iated with Zhuang do ni mayou ran It must have lost its Zhou’s dream, suggesting that one hun- Way.35 dred years pass as a gleam in the butterfly’s dream.33

34 Watson, CWC, p. 49. The romanization of the 33 Teimon haikaishu (Tokyo: Nihon Haisho name has been altered. Taikei Kankokai, 1926), p. 426. 35 Monodaneshu ‛⒳㓸, KHT, III, p. 453.

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As in the poem cited above, in this verse The Danrin school favours the content link. The “butterfly” and “dream” are paired, pointing to way of joining also has its hon’i, in which the the canonical text upon which the poem is con- conventionalized associations of words, images, structed. Interestingly, Soin makes a parody of and themes are the core. Zhuangzi’s gugen through the use of a pun in The existence of hon’i in linking is very im- the poem. The word do in Japanese can signify portant to a group composition, because it forms both the “road” in the ordinary meaning and “the the basis of the shared knowledge that helps to Way” as the universal principle in the Daoist, create an extemporaneous sequence. But, when a Buddhist, and Confucian teachings, but the pres- haigon is used as the central image or theme, the ence of the mediating sign, “butterfly,” suggests a conventional association of words, images, and reading of the word in the Daoist context. By us- themes are no longer available to form the link. ing the pun combined with the butterfly’s dream, In order to bridge this gap in linking, the Danrin the poem casts a comic version of its model poets borrow the asobi ㆆ䈶--the non-pragmatic, gugen: the butterfly--the transformed self of carefree, and iconoclastic attitude--of the Zhuang Zhou (Zhuangzi)--has lost his Way, the Zhuangzi to renew the principles regarding the Do, in his dream. Soin’s verse makes perfect link. After the verse about the hungry bug, Soin sense either with or without the model text. Yet, has a joined verse as the following: only with the normative essence of the other text, Soin’s deceptive transfer of the butterfly’s dream creates a comedy, the haikai spirit the Danrin noasobi ni Outing to the fields -- poets much valued. kakeri mawarit Running around matashitewa Once and again. The Essence of Haikai Linking and the Zhuangzi Teimon’s Shibuuchiwa considers this verse as an inappropriate tsukeku, arguing that since The Danrin poets not only uses the Zhuangzi there are no established connection of either the as a cardinal source of hon’i to enrich their poetic words or the contents between this and the pre- expressions, but also to increase the possibilities ceding poem. In other words, the linking of the of joining verses together in a linked sequence. In two verses is not based on the traditional hon’i. renga and haikai, how to relate a joined verse, To disprove the Teimon’s accusation, Ichu, again, tsukeku ઃฏ to its preceding verse, maeku, is a refers to the Zhuangzi. He says: “Regarding the complicated art. There are many different types intended essence of joining, ‘Running of linking, but the major ways of joining verses around/Once and again’ is connected to ‘I want to together, as described by the Shomon poets, are eat my meal,’ and ‘Outing to the fields’ relates to three types: connection by words (kotoba-zuke ‘An insect is crying.’ Also, without changing ⹖ઃ), connection by contents ( kokoro-zuke ᔃ anything, the combination of the two verses --the ઃ), and connection by scent (nioi-zuke ൬ઃ).36 insect, at its outing to the fields, is running around and crying for a meal--reflects the hon’i of Zhuangzi’s gugen I have just mentioned. There 36 Matsuo Basho has typically associated the is nothing inappropriate.”37 As seen earlier, the Teimon haikai with the “word link” and the Dan- gugen Ichu cites is full of wild imagination and rin haikai with the “content link.” He character- free fabrication, and when citing the gugen Ichu izes the haikai of his own school, the Shomon, asserts that “haikai should take this as its own with “scent link.” “Scent link” relies neither on normative essence.” Here Ichu applies this liberal classical lexical associations nor on content con- spirit of creation to their method of linking. Ev i- nections. Instead, the joined verse is linked to the previous verse by shared mood or atmosphere. For an in-depth discussion on the methods of Poetry of Basho (Stanford: Stanford University linking in haikai, see Haruo Shirane, Traces of Press, 1998), pp. 82-115. Dreams, Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the 37 Shibuuchiwa hento, p.62.

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dently, by referring to the Zhuangzi the Danrin (xiaoyaoyou ㅖ㆝ㆆ, shoyoyu in Japanese) and poets not only immensely expanded their signi- “Natural and non-interference” (ziran wuwei ⥄ fying system but also enjoyed much greater free- ὼήὑ, shizen mui in Japanese). dom in creating novel links. Note that the sig- The Shomon’s early poems that draw on the nificance of this new way of linking is not limited Zhuangzi reflect Danrin tastes. A hokku contest to its novelty. By associating their way of linking entitled Inaka no kuawase ↰⥢䈱ฏว (Hokku with the Zhuangzi, the Danrin introduced the contest in the boondocks, 1680), for example, asobi spirit into the essence of linking, adding contains a number of poems that make explicit or philosophical overtone to the witty verse play. implicit allusions to the Zhuangzi. One of them However, the Danrin’s use of the Zhuangzi had limitations. Their understanding of the says: Zhuangzi was limited main ly to its unrestrained Riding on a kite expressions and a few notions from the famous tobi ni notte haru wo okuru ni To see the spring off-- gugen stories. As one might expect, the verses shirakumo ya The white clouds.38 they produced with reference to the Zhuangzi did not have enduring appeal, although some of them While appearing to be an imaginary portrait left very novel impressions. of a late spring scene, this verse makes a hidden Nonetheless, the Danrin’s attempt to use the allusion to the “Free and Easy Wandering” chap- Zhuangzi to regenerate the existing signifying ter in the Zhuangzi, which creates an image of a system inspired later haikai poets. Matsuo Tosei Peng bird that soars in the vast sky with great ᧻የ᩶㕍 (Matsuo Basho ⧊⭈), who studied freedom. Although the poem does not use any with both the Teimon and the Danrin masters and word directly from the Zhuangzi, Basho’s com- later founded his own group, the Shomon school, ments on the poem reveal their connections: attained a deeper understanding of the poetic “Riding on a kite and wandering freely in the possibilities suggested by the Daoist classic boundless infinity, the joy expressed in the verse through his observation of Chinese poetic tradi- of the right group is indeed boundless.” 39 tion. In Basho’s poetry the Zhuangzi as an inter- In the Zhuangzi, “free and easy wandering” text is organically integrated in the poet’s lyrical is a figurative description of the state of ultimate depiction of his aesthetic experience, creating a freedom, and to achieve this state is considered to world at once expressive and profound. be the culmination of joy. Apparently, Basho’s criterion is based on this essence of the Zhuangzi The Essence of the Haikai Experience and the and he praises the verse because it creates an at- Zhuangzi mosphere reminiscent of what is described in the “Free and Easy Wandering” chapter. As in the The Shomon school became prominent dur- verses of the Danrin school discussed earlier, ing a time when “Chinese style” became very here the intended metaphor is established through popular among haikai poets. Different from the its intertextual reference to the Zhuangzi. But Teimon and the Danrin, who borrowed the instead of citing key images and words directly Zhuangzi for didactic or rhetorical purpose, from the model text, the reference in this poem is Basho and his followers found correspondences concealed in an imaginary scene. To understand between the Daoist principles and the Chinese poetic tradition, particularly the relationship between the Daoist spirit and the recluse traits in Chinese poetry. From the beginning, Basho and 38 Komiya Toyotaka ዊች⼾㓉, et al, comp., his disciples drew upon a staggering body of Kohon Basho zenshu ᩞᧄ⧊⭈ో㓸 (Tokyo: Chinese sources in their works, and Basho’s allu- Kadokawa Shoten, 1962-69. Henceforth abbrevi- sions and citations showed a salient inclination ated KBZ), VII, p. 362. towards the reclusive taste that could be charac- teristically described with the key notions of the 39 Inaka no kuawase, KBZ, VII, p. 362. Zhuangzi, namely, the “free and easy wandering”

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this kind of mediating sign, a good knowledge of kori nigaku Ice -- bitter-tasting-- the Zhuangzi is required. Indeed, at this time, the enso ga nodo wo Just enough to moisten Shomon poets already knew the Daoist classic uruoseri The throat of the very well, as Hattori Ransetsu (1654-1707), a mole. 43 major poet of the Shomon school, proudly wrote in his preface to the Inaka no kuawase: “Master While the verse is easily comprehensible as a Tosei’s comments encapsulated the quintessence humorous sketch of the hardship of Basho’s life of Zhuang Zhou’s thought. It could make the at the hut, the peculiar choice of the haigon, the eloquent Lin Xiyi speechless.”40 Yet, at this mole, draws the reader’s attention and causes him stage, the Shomon’s adoption of Daoist ideas was feel unsatisfied with a mimetic reading. This pe- still on a conceptual level, not far beyond that of culiar image, in fact, is not a description of an the preceding Danrin school. This tendency was animal that happened to be in the sight of the changed by Basho’s observation of the spirit of speaker. As has frequently been pointed out, it is free and easy wandering as the quintessence of an allusion to a gugen in the Zhuangzi. According Chinese poetic tradition; the great haikai master to the gugen, Yao, the legendary monarch, wants asserted this spirit with both his poetry and his to cede the empire to recluse Xu You ⸵↱. Xu life. says: In the early winter of 1680, Basho moved from one area of Edo to a thatched hut on the You govern the world and the world is al- less-developed east bank of the Sumida River in ready well governed. Now if I take your the Fukagawa district. Hirota calls this dwelling a place, will I be doing it for a name? But “site for Basho to put free and easy wandering name is only the guest of reality -- will I be into practice.”41 Although not in the exact sense doing it so I can play the part of a guest? of a believer’s practice of his religion, Basho’s When the tailorbird builds her nest in the move to Fukagawa was a sincere effort to pursue deep wood, she uses no more than one the poetic ideals of eccentricity and unconven- branch. When the mole drinks at the river, he tionality (fukyo 㘑⁅ and furyu 㘑ᵹ), which, as takes no more than a bellyful. Go home and he saw, were embodied in the aesthete-recluse forget the matter, my lord. I have no use for tradition of China and Japan and highlighted by the rulership of the world.44 the spirit of free and easy wandering.42 The poems in Minashiguri ⯯ᩙ (Empty chestnut, About this passage, Lin Xiyi’s annotation 1683), a collection of haikai published after explains: “That Xu You does not want to play the Basho’s move to Fukagawa, clearly reflect this part of a guest means he does not let outer things pursuit. The following poem from that collection dominate him. The ‘tailorbird’ and the ‘mole’ are is Basho’s portrayal of his hut life: metaphors Xu You uses for himself, implying that he, like the mole, is contented with what he has.”45 As indicated by Lin’s explanations, the

40 Inaka no kuawase, p. 375. 43 KBZ, I, p. 72. The poem is a hokku in the collection. 41 Hirota, Basho no geijutsu, p. 323. 44 Watson, CWC, pp. 32-33. 42 For a fuller discussion of the relationship of the Daoist idea and the reclusive traits in Chinese 45 Lin Xiyi, Zhuangzi Juanzhai kouyi (J. Soji poetry, see Peipei Qiu, “Poetics of the Natural: A Kensai kogi, Kyoto edition, 1627. Henceforth Study of Taoist Influence on Basho.” Ph. D. abbreviated ZJK.), 1/8a & b. The work is re- dissertation, Columbia University (Ann Arbor: printed in Nagasawa Kikuya, comp.,Wakokubon UMI, 1994), pp. 83-109. shoshi taisei ๺ೞᧄ⻉ሶᄢᚑ (Tokyo: Kyuko Shoin, 1976), IX and X. It has been noted by both

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metaphor of the mole evokes a preference for kuwanomi ya The mulberries -- simplicity and spiritual freedom, which carries hananaki cho no Without flowers, they are the essence Basho seeks when using the word in the butterfly’s his hokku. Thus, the “mole” functions not merely yosutezake Hermit wine. as an element in the picture or reality, but also as a mediating sign that signifies the specific hon’i. In this poem, the familiar association be- With this mediating sign, all the other details are tween “butterfly” and “dream” is replaced with a translated, and the humour of the tableau takes on novel combination: “butterfly” is combined with philosophical depth: the mole is in fact the eccen- the “mulberries,” a seasonal word for summer tric self-image of the speaker, who, following the and an image of the countryside, creating a aesthete-recluse tradition, finds perfect happiness close-up shot of a peaceful moment of rural life. in the solitary and humble life. At first glance the allusion seems to have com- Basho’s allusion above demonstrates a fun- pletely faded in the rural scenery, but the occur- damental difference from that of the Danrin rence of the last image, yosutezake ਎ᝥ䈩㈬, or school: while forming an intertextual construct the hermit wine, alerts the reader to consider the that amplifies the poetic significance, it also ex- meaning of the first lines in light of the recluse presses the speaker’s emotive experience that taste. Yosutezake is not a commonly used word. It resonates with the tradition represented by the is a compound made of two nouns: yosute, re- model text. In this meaning, Basho’s use of the nouncing the world, and sake, wine. With a ret- classic is not only referential, but also lyrical. It roactive reading, the intertextual context surfaces restores lyricism to haikai, which, in the hands of and adds layers of signif icance to the seemingly the Danrin, had become a kind of intellectual simple poem. An informed reader will realize that game. This quality of Basho’s poetry owes much each of the first two images is loaded with sig- to his unique way of life as a hut-dweller and a nificance accumulated in previous texts. The im- constant wayfarer. As a sincere artist he lived a age “mulberries” has long been used in Chinese life in the way he wanted to portray in his art. poetry to signify rustic country life. Since the Of course, not all of Basho’s verses which foremost Chinese recluse poet Tao Qian 㒻ẜ refer to the Zhuangzi are expressive, but, in his (365-427) uses the image in his famous poem mature works, whenever an intertextual reference “Returning to Gardens and Fields to Dwell” (Gui is used, the poet skillfully fuses it with his own yuantian ju Ꮻ࿦↰ዬ), the mulberry tree has aesthetic experience so that the intertextual con- been used as a typical image to signify the life struct and the expressive/descriptive mode form a and taste of a recluse. More specifically, it is a natural unity. Basho seems to have deliberately symbol of the setting in which a lofty recluse avoided using those “worn-out” expressions cited finds home. In waka tradition, too, the image is from the Zhuangzi, such as the butterfly in always associated with pastoral scenes. Since Zhuang Zhou’s dream, perhaps because they Basho’s works often make direct quotations from make it more difficult to achieve natural unity. Tao Qian’s poetry, his depiction of the mulberries But when he does make an allusion to a as the hermit wine here is apparently a careful well-known gugen, he shows his mastery in choice that evokes the association between his melting it naturally in his poetic world. The fol- immediate experience of the hut life and the long lowing poem is also from Minashiguri. recluse tradition. The transfer of the significance of the first image leads to an intertextual reading of the second one, suggesting the possible interpretation of butterfly as a special sign from the Nonomura and Hirota that Basho’s allusion per- gugen about Zhuang Zhou’s dream. In this con- haps draws not only on the Zhuangzi, but also on text, the butterfly becomes an agent of the phi- Lin’s explanations. See Nonomura’s annotation losophical perception of the fleeting nature of to Minashikuri, KBZ, III, p. 232, and Hirota, reality. It is to this butterfly that the retreat from Basho no geijutsu, pp. 311-313. the transient world is preferable, and the mulber-

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ries at a hermit’s yard are tasty like delicious wine. From the opening sentence, the haibun seems As seen above, the spirit of free and easy to resist deciphering according to the normal wandering had a remarkable impact on the the- meaning of the words. The reader is forced to matic tendency of the Shomon school in the determine the implications either by guessing or 1680s. Along with the maturity of his poetic style by searching for references. If we agree that po- in the 1690s, Basho consciously applied the Dao- etry is meant to express concepts and things by ist principles in his critical theories. His critical indirection, this paragraph is no doubt poetry, for thought in this period placed much emphasis on its language deliberately avoids directness and naturalness, a tendency closely related to the clarity. Daoist hallmark of the Natural. Stressing natu- It has been repeatedly pointed out that ralness in poetic expression, his hokku and linked Basho’s peculiar description of his body at the verses tended to use fewer allusions and quota- beginning of the paragraph is inspired by the tions. But his prose poems, the haibun େᢥ Zhuangzi. In the second chapter of the Zhuangzi, (haikai prose) and kikobun ♿ⴕᢥ (travel ac- there is a similar description: counts), still frequently make references to honzetsu, and the Zhuangzi was among the sources The hundred joints, the nine openings, he draws upon the most. Perhaps one reason for the six organs, all come together and this is because the intertextual signifier is essen- exist here (as my body). . . . It would tial to indicate the poetic quality of a haibun, seem as though there must be some since a haibun has no conventionally fixed form True Lord among them. But whether I that sets it apart from ordinary narratives. One of succeed in discovering his identity or Basho’s famous travel accounts, Oi no kobumi not, it neither adds nor detracts from his 47 ╅䈱ዊᢥ (Manuscript in my knapsack), for Truth. example, begins with the following paragraph: Using the Zhuangzi as a reference, the reader In my body, which has one hundred realizes that the phrase, “the hundred bones and bones and nine openings, exists some- nine openings,” though not the exact words of the thing I have called furabo 㘑⟜ဌ. I Zhuangzi, serves as a mediating text that calls for a retroactive reading. In this context the reader must have meant that my body resem- can also realize that the furabo indicates the true bles spun silk that is easily torn in the identity of Basho, just like the “True Lord” in the wind. From long ago, this furabo has body of Zhuangzi. Furabo, which has been loved the “eccentric poem,” and at last, translated differently into “wind-swept spirit,”48 made this its life’s task. Sometimes it “Gauze-in-the-Wind-Priest,”49 and has become tired and ready to abandon it; other times it has become so proud that it feels superior to others. Then, “right” and “wrong” would conflict in- side it, leaving its body with no peace. At one time it wanted to establish itself through worldly pursuits, but its poetry 47 stopped it; for a while it also wanted to Watson, CWC, p. 38. devote itself to learning and become a 48 scholar, but again its hope was shattered Nobuyuki Yuasa, trans., Basho: The Narrow by its art. In the end, being incapable Road to the Deep North and Other Travel and talentless, it has been bound to a Sketches, (Harmondsworth: Penguin Press, 1966), single line of poetry.46 p. 71.

49 Donald Keene, World Within Walls (New 46 Oi no kobumi, KBZ, VI, p, 75. York: Grove Press, Inc., 1976), p. 92.

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“wind-blown-hermit,”50 etc., is a creature that is wind and rain, we can see that vanishing along easily broken, is devoid of worldly values and with nature’s course is not presented as a tragic willingly submits itself to nature’s force, the wind. experience in Basho’s world. Instead, he high- In Basho’s works there is another metaphorical lights the total acceptance of nature’s working image the poet likes to use as his self-portrait--the and the ultimate peace of being one with nature. plantain tree. Plantain, the word in Japanese is This spirit is the essence of free and easy wan- basho ⧊⭈, represents the same qualities as that dering. It is also the hon’i the poet tries to convey of Furabo. In his prose poem “On Replanting the in his poetic prose. Plantain Tree,” Basho describes the plantain tree In the retrospective discourse that follows his as the following: depiction of furabo, the poet deliberately sets his eccentric way of life apart from that of a diligent Shaken by the wind, the leaves wave scholar. The statement of “being incapable and as a phoenix’s tail. Torn in the rain, they talentless, he has been bound to a single line of look like a green dragon’s ears. The poetry” may sound illogical to Western readers. new leaves grow rapidly each day, as This simultaneously self-depreciating and what Zhang Hengqu has wished for his self-praising tone, however, is characteristic in learning, and as if they are eager to un- traditional Chinese and Japanese writings, and the roll under master Huaisu’s writing glorification of incapability and uselessness brush. But I don’t follow these two represents Daoist values. Thus, with the Daoist models. I simply enjoy my le isure time classic and the related literature as the intertextual in the shade; I love these plantain leaves reference, this seemingly ambiguous and gloomy for the ease with which they are torn in narrative is turned into poetry, a lyrical portrait of the wind and the rain.51 the speaker’s poetic self. As seen in the examples discussed above, the The attitude toward life as symbolized by the Edo period haikai poets’ interests in the Zhuangzi plantain leaves is clearly Daoist. Zhang Hengqu had much to do with the tradition of Japanese ᒛᮮᷯ (1022-1077), a celebrated Song Confu- poetry that emphasized the authority of the classics. Following this classical tradition, the haikai cian scholar, and Huaisu ᙬ⚛ (634-707?), a poets borrowed the old to invent the new, and it famous priest and calligrapher, were both model was in this context that they used the Zhuangzi as scholars who achieved success through hard work. an authoritative reference to justify comic linked It is said that when seeing the rapid growth of the verse and to regenerate its poetic essence. From plantain leaves, Zhang wrote a poem to express the Danrin to the Shomon, the continuous efforts his wish for his learning to grow as fast as the of the haikai poets achieved success, and the po- plantain tree. Huaisu’s name was related to the etic essence invented through the intertextuality plantain because he used plantain leaves as paper between haikai and the ancient Daoist classic to practice writing skills. But Basho declares that helped turn the witty comic linked verse into a he will follow neither of them; what he prefers is profound poetry. the life of non-doing--to enjoy his leisure time in the shade of the plantain leaves. Noting the beautiful images Basho chooses to describe the appearance of the plantain leaves broken in the

50 Richard B. Pilgrim, “The Religio-Aesthetic of Matsuo Basho,” in The Eastern Buddhist, 10 (1977) p. 38.

51 Basho o utsusu kotoba ⧊⭈䉕⒖䈜⹖, KBZ, VI, pp. 504-505.