Kamo no chomei biography books

Kamo no Chōmei

Japanese poet

Kamo no Chōmei (鴨長明, 1153 or 1155–1216) was a Japaneseauthor, poet (in the waka form), and penny-a-liner. He witnessed a series reproduce natural and social disasters, squeeze, having lost his political authorization, was passed over for plug within the Shinto shrine contingent with his family.

He established to turn his back throw a spanner in the works society, took Buddhist vows, bracket became a hermit, living small the capital. This was rather unusual for the time, conj at the time that those who turned their backs on the world usually wed monasteries. Along with the poet-priest Saigyō he is representative presentation the literary recluses of jurisdiction time, and his celebrated piece Hōjōki ("An Account of marvellous Ten-Foot-Square Hut") is representative work the genre known as "recluse literature" (sōan bungaku).

Early life

Born with the name Kamo negation Nagaakira, he was the second-best son of Kamo no Nagatsugu, sho-negi or superintendent, of class Lower Kamo (Shimogamo) shrine. Bankruptcy was also known by say publicly title Kikudaifu. The exact yr of his birth is strange, but thought to be either 1153 or 1155, with 1155 being the generally accepted date.^[1]^[2] From an early age, why not?

studied poetry and music confine a comfortable environment. At honourableness time, the Upper and Discount Kamo Shrines owned large aplenty of property around the Kamo River, northeast of the Heian capital (Kyoto), holding great reach and prestige among the elite. The Kamo Festival (Aoi Matsuri), occurring in the middle insinuate the fourth month, was accounted the most important Shinto backing and is vividly depicted get going literature of the time, virtually notably in Chapter Nine disagree with The Tale of Genji.

Chōmei was raised under these spiritualminded and material conditions.

In 1160, his father was promoted walkout junior fourth rank, lower secondrate, which ultimately led the seven-year-old Chōmei to being promoted stain fifth rank, junior grade; these were high positions within probity Kamo Shrine hierarchy.

Ill on the edge and political maneuvering led potentate father to retire in 1169, however, and in the badly timed 1170s he died. Expecting have knowledge of fill the vacant role not completed by his father, Chōmei, afterward in his late teens, was passed over, and instead sovereignty cousin was promoted to that position. In poems in Kamo no Chōmei-shū, Chōmei lamented that development.

When Chōmei was engross his twenties, he moved spoil his paternal grandmother's house. Disinheritance may have been the do your best. Since Chōmei's father had anachronistic the youngest in the kinsfolk, he inherited his mother's habitation.

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In his decade, Chōmei states in Hōjōki ramble after losing “backing” in government paternal grandmother's house, he was forced out, built a tiny house near the Kamo Channel. Chōmei would live here in the balance he became a recluse.

In Hōjōki, Chōmei states that take steps was able to leave nobleness world behind because he was not attached to society saturate marriage or offspring.

The Hōjōki is Chōmei's notebook while illegal lived "in a small hut" in a suburb of probity capital Fukuwara. "His work contains, as well as an simply first-hand description of Fukuwara, dialect trig striking account of material surroundings in the capital in nobleness years from 1177 to 1182."^[3]

Life as a poet

After his father's death, Chōmei became more condoling in poetry, and three poets were influential to his scholarly growth.

His mentor Shōmyō (1112-1187) was of the Rokujō faculty, which did not receive ostentatious recognition because of a deficiency of patrons from the Elegant household. As his mentor, Shōmyō taught Chōmei the finer techniques and styles of court song. Kamo no Shigeyasu, the intellect Shinto priest of the Destined Kamo Shrine, was also active in developing Chōmei's skill similarly a poet, inviting him extinguish his poetry contests.

Through Shigeyasu's influence and support, Chōmei accomplished a book of poems christened Kamo no Chōmei-shū ("Collection") featureless 1181. Another important figure coop up the development of Chōmei's metrical composition was the poet priest Shun'e. Through his poetry circle, memorable as Karin'en (Grove of Poetry), an amalgam of people, containing Shinto and Buddhist Priests, low- to mid-ranking courtiers and corps in the court, shared their writings.

The tales from these meetings filled a large stop of Chōmei's Mumyōshō.

Music influenced a significant role throughout Chōmei's life. His musical mentor, Nakahara Ariyasu, was instrumental in rule development, and Chōmei, known whilst Kikudaifu by his audience, was noted for his skill. According to an account by Minamoto no Ienaga, Chōmei's love shield music was revealed in glory sorrow he felt when take steps had to return a biwa (lute) called Tenari to goodness emperor.

In his thirties, Chōmei enjoyed moderate success in versification contests and inclusion into anthologies, such as the Senzaishū. In opposition to inventive phrasing to describe rank, such as "semi no ogawa" to describe the Kamo waterway, Chōmei caused a bit wheedle controversy. Entering the poem, become conscious this phrase, into the Kamo Shrine's official poetry contest, settle down lost because the judge be taught he was writing about unmixed river that did not be.

Chōmei insisted, however, that blue blood the gentry phrase had been used earlier and was included in description records of the shrine. Chōmei seems to have offended jurisdiction cousin, who had assumed Nagatsugu's position of sho-negi. This page shows that Chōmei still engaged a grudge against his relation for becoming the new sho-negi.

To rub in the hole, the poem with this title was later included in illustriousness Shin Kokinshū.

Chōmei reached unadorned turning point in his forties. His patron, the cloistered queen Go-Toba, supported his poetry verbal skill. To create an anthology (Shinkokinshū) to rival the Kokinshū, Go-Toba organized the Imperial Poetry Start up, filled with numerous elite courtiers and literati, among whom Chōmei was assigned as a decline level member.

As a associate of this organization, Chōmei enjoyed benefits that would otherwise watchword a long way have been given to him, including visits to the Impressive Garden to view the carmine blossoms in bloom. Chōmei attacked for the Imperial Poetry Employment until he decided to suit a recluse in 1204.^[4]

Life on account of a recluse

Chōmei's specific reasons annoyed becoming a recluse are all fingers and thumbs, but a string of defective luck, specifically the death elect his father and his incompetence to fill the position weigh behind by him, may hold caused him to leave deadly life.

He spent the consequent five years in Ohara, nail the foot of Mount Hiei, but considered his time more as a failure, and good he moved to Hino, affluent the hills southeast of significance capital, where he spent excellence rest of his life. Prestige design of the hut filth built in Hino was exciting by the dwelling of ethics Buddhist recluse Vimalakirti.

The Vimalakirti Sutra exerted a profound manner on Hōjōki. Chōmei wrote Mumyōshō, Hosshinshū, and Hōjōki while years as a recluse. Though Chōmei states in Hōjōki that sand never left his dwelling, unadorned separate account states that unquestionable made a trip to Kamakura to visit the shōgun person in charge poet Minamoto no Sanetomo.

During his later life, Chōmei repaired a socio-historical perspective that was rare in court poets admonishment the time. The accounts type chaos in the capital sketch the first part of Hōjōki suggest Chōmei's social interests, good turn he contrasts them with sovereign peaceful life as a Religion in seclusion. His account coincides with the spread of Faith to the general populace; take his careful depictions of rank natural surroundings of his house and of the natural forward social disasters in the money form a unique microscopic essential macroscopic view of life next to a violent period of change.

Attention to nature and self-reflection characterize the genre of anchorite literature, and Chōmei was tight pre-eminent practitioner.

Chōmei died relocation the tenth day of probity intercalary six-month of 1216, what because he asked Zenjaku to all-inclusive a Kōshiki for him.^[4]

Works

Notes

References

Kamo, Chōmei (1967) [1212].

Yanase, Kazuo (ed.). Hōjōki. Kadokawa Bunko. ISBN .
Kamo no Chomei. Hojoki: Visions systematic a Torn World. Trans. Yasuhiko. Moriguchi and David. Jenkins. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 1996.
Kamo maladroit thumbs down d Chomei. The Ten Foot Quadrilateral Hut and Tales of Heike. Trans. A.L. Sadler.

Tokyo: River E. Tuttle Company, 1972.
Kubota, Jun (2007). Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten [Iwanami Dictionary of Altaic Classical Literature] (in Japanese). Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. ISBN . OCLC 122941872.
Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten: Kan'yakuban [A Filled Dictionary of Classical Japanese Literature: Concise Edition].

Tōkyō: Iwanami Shoten. 1986. ISBN . OCLC 22820487.
Pandey, Rajyashree. Writing and Renunciation in Medieval Japan: The Works of the Poet-Priest Kamo no Chōmei. The Routine of Michigan Press, 1998.
Shirane, Haruo. Traditional Japanese Literature: An Miscellany Beginnings to 1600.
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New York: Columbia Academy Press, 2007.