Mau, Christian Theodore (2014) Situating the Myōan Kyōkai: a study of Suizen and the Fuke shakuhachi. PhD Thesis. SOAS, University of London http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18260 Copyright © and Moral Rights for this thesis are retained by the author and/or other copyright owners. A copy can be downloaded for personal non‐commercial research or study, without prior permission or charge. This thesis cannot be reproduced or quoted extensively from without first obtaining permission in writing from the copyright holder/s. The content must not be changed in any way or sold commercially in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders. When referring to this thesis, full bibliographic details including the author, title, awarding institution and date of the thesis must be given e.g. AUTHOR (year of submission) "Full thesis title", name of the School or Department, PhD Thesis, pagination. Situating the Myōan Kyōkai: A Study of Suizen and the Fuke Shakuhachi Christian Theodore Mau Thesis submitted for the degree of PhD in Ethnomusicology 2014 Department of Music SOAS, University of London 2 Abstract This thesis examines the activities of the Myōan Kyōkai, which is based at Myōan Temple in Kyoto Japan. It identifies the Myōan Kyōkai as a community and examines the contexts in which members pursue their activities, which are all centred around the shakuhachi, a Japanese end-blown bamboo flute. The shakuhachi itself is most often associated with the Fuke sect of Zen Buddhism and its monks/priests of ‘emptiness and nothingness’ (Komusō). After almost two centuries of holding a virtual monopoly of the instrument, the sect was proscribed by the Japanese government in 1871. Of the sect’s three main temples, only one (Myōan Temple) survives, albeit by necessity in a somewhat modified form. Research questions revolve around the theme of community. What factors contribute to forming the Myōan Kyōkai into a community and then what sustains it as a community? This study identifies three interdependent components that each play some part in defining the Myōan Kyōkai as a community: music, history, and religion. Given that the shakuhachi continues to have such strong links to Zen Buddhism, it has seen contextual changes that often include the concert stage or see it performed in recital-type situations. This thesis seeks to situate the shakuhachi within this larger context back into its original settings in order to illuminate the use of the shakuhachi in an organised and institutionalised form as currently practiced in a Zen temple. 3 Table of Contents Declaration for PhD Thesis..........................................................................................2 Abstract........................................................................................................................3 List of Illustrations.......................................................................................................6 Contents of Accompanying CD...................................................................................6 Conventions Used in this Thesis..................................................................................7 Acknowledgments........................................................................................................8 CHAPTER 1 Introduction: Purpose of this Thesis and Context of this Research..........................10 1.1 Preamble: A flute with multiple identities......................................................10 1.2 Purpose of this thesis......................................................................................14 1.3 Context of this research..................................................................................17 1.3.1 Performance contexts.............................................................................18 1.4 This researcher’s position within the context.................................................21 1.5 Context and Scope: The Myōan Shakuhachi in the Present...........................30 1.6 Methodology..................................................................................................33 1.7 Outline............................................................................................................37 CHAPTER 2 Literature Review......................................................................................................41 2.1 Overview of the Literature.............................................................................41 2.2 Historical Treatments.....................................................................................45 2.3 Musicological Treatments..............................................................................57 2.4 Ethnographic Treatments................................................................................69 2.5 Religious Treatments......................................................................................71 2.6 Conclusion......................................................................................................77 CHAPTER 3 The shakuhachi and the Fuke Sect: A history overshadowed by doubts..................79 3.1 The Shakuhachi..............................................................................................80 3.2 Brief History of the Fuke-shū and Komusō leading to Myōan Kyōkai.........82 3.3 The downfall and proscription of the Fuke sect.............................................93 3.4 Crossing Class Lines: Path to Defeat or a Type of Victory?..........................95 3.5 Reemergence: Founding of the Myōan Kyōkai and Resurrection of Myōan Temple...................................................................................................................98 3.6 Conclusion: The Fuke sect re-invented and perpetuated as Myōan Kyōkai 103 CHAPTER 4 Musical Praxis I: Blowing Zen................................................................................111 4.1 Contexts of Blowing Zen.............................................................................113 4.2 Blowing Zen: A Look at the Suizen-kai (Blowing Zen Gathering).............115 4.2.1 Suizen-kai.............................................................................................119 4.2.2 Benkyō-kai...........................................................................................127 4.3 Kaiden-shiki.................................................................................................130 4.4 Tai-kai...........................................................................................................134 4.5 Unpacking Performance...............................................................................136 4.6 Combining Practice and Performance..........................................................144 4 4.7 Conclusion: From solitude to gathering and forming communities.............145 CHAPTER 5 Musical Praxis II: Introduction to the Repertoire...................................................151 5.1 Overview of the Repertoire..........................................................................151 5.2 Core Repertoire............................................................................................154 5.3 Levels and Steps leading to Kaiden/Dōshu..................................................160 5.3.1 Additional Repertoire...........................................................................168 5.4 Transmission: Textual and Oral Considerations...........................................170 5.5 Notational system.........................................................................................174 5.6 Conclusion....................................................................................................181 CHAPTER 6 Musical Praxis III: A Closer Look at the Repertoire...............................................183 6.1 Musical and Stylistic Tendencies.................................................................183 6.2 ‘Transcriptions’ of Honte Jōshi and Azuma Jishi.........................................193 6.2.1 Honte Jōshi...........................................................................................194 6.2.2 Azuma Jishi..........................................................................................195 6.3 Conclusion....................................................................................................196 CHAPTER 7 Situating the Myōan Kyōkai...................................................................................198 7.1 Myōan Kyōkai: Religious sect, club, society (or what)?.............................198 7.2 Who becomes a member?.............................................................................209 CHAPTER 8 Conclusion..............................................................................................................213 BIBLIOGRAPHY....................................................................................................219 DISCOGRAPHY.....................................................................................................230 APPENDIX 1 Roman to Japanese Transliteration of Key Words and Names........232 APPENDIX 2 Fingering Charts and Score Examples.............................................238 APPENDIX 3 Distribution of the membership.......................................................246 5 List of Illustrations Photo 1.1: Gate to Myōan Temple, Kyoto...................................................................9 Photo 1.2: Contemporary Komusō............................................................................20