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Lecture Date Topic

1 Jan 18 Introduction
2 Jan 25 Origin and development of Zen Buddhism
Lunar New Year Feb 1 No Class
3 Feb 8 The acceptance and development of Zen in Japan
4 Feb 13 Japanese aesthetic values 1
5 Feb 22 Japanese aesthetic values 2
6 Mar 1 Traditional Japanese arts
Reading Week Mar 8 No Class
7 Mar 15 Influence on arts and literature
8 Mar 22 Influence on architecture and landscaping (Short Essay Due)

9 Mar 29 Zen and design

Ching Ming Festival Apr 5 No Class
10 Apr 12 Zen and lifestyle
11 Apr 19 Influence across the globe
12 Apr 26 Zen and contemporary aesthetics

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 Due March 22.
 800-1000 words (exclude footnotes and bibliography).
 Examine a traditional Japanese art form in relation to the
aesthetic values influenced by Zen Buddhism.

 E.g. Wabi-sabi in Japanese Tea Ceremony.

Wabi-sabi of Sen no Rikyu’s Tea Bowls.
Mono-no-aware in Bonsai Arts.
Discuss the aesthetic elements in a specific Noh play.

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 Outstanding – shows critical / research/ reflective elements,
novelty, correct understanding and historicity.
 Excellent – shows some research elements, originality,
correct understanding and historicity.
 Good – correct understanding of what is mentioned in the
lecture.
 Satisfactory – try your best to hand in something on time...
 Please submit on time.
 No plagiarism.
 Turnitin <30% (Paraphrase)
 Cite everything properly (with page numbers).
 Originality.

 4 or more academic sources. (for short essay, from Moodle

reading list).
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 Scholars have attempted general
comparisons of Eastern and
Western (classical) Art.
 Suzuki (1957:30) suggests:
 Oriental art depicts spirit,
 Western art depicts form.

 Watts (1957:174):
 Western art depicts nature in terms
of man-made symmetries and super
imposed forms, squeezing nature to
fit his own ideas.
 Descriptive, straightforward.
 Oriental art accepts the object as is,
and presents it for what it is, not
what the artist thinks it means.
 Meditative, open to interpretation.

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 Calligraphy
 Paintings

 Ceramics
 Kintsugi

 Haiku
 Novels
 Note: not exhaustive, just some
examples.
 Interwoven with (L4-5):
 Mono-no-aware (物の哀れ)
 Wabi-sabi (侘寂)
 Yūgen (幽玄)
 Ma (間)
 Shibui (渋い)
 Iki (粋)
 Jo-ha-kyū (序破急)
 Shu-ha-ri (守破離)
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 The tokonoma is typically decorated
according to the four seasons.
 With the sense of mono no aware.

 Calligraphic or pictorial scrolls.

 Together with flower arrangement.

 Usually 1 scroll is displayed.

 Compared to a pair in the Chinese
setting.
 Many categories.
 Auspiciousness (Red Fuji), religious
(Amaterasu, Shinto goddess...)
 Scrolls with “Zen” vibes are often
found in tea ceremony/ temples.

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 Kakejiku (掛軸, "hung scroll")
 The most important item in the
tokonoma.
 Calligraphy, Zen poems, verses ...
 Paintings ...

 Cha-kakejiku (茶掛, “tea scrolls”).

 Tea ceremony.
 Simplicity.
 Monochromatic.
 Antique (rustic).

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 Based on traditional calligraphy (書道, shodō) and
painting (墨絵, sumi-e) with ink & brush.
 Long history in China and Korea.

 Acts as a meditative practice.

 Initially monks practice calligraphy and painting as
training.
 Visual sermon.
 Convey philosophical ideas.
 Contemplation, meditation by viewing.

 Depicting natures, events and teaching from Zen

Buddhism.
 Focus on depicting the spirit.
 Rather than skills.

 3 main themes:
 “Zen-in-action”, parables, situation, and special
events.
 Portraiture of historical figures.
 Nature & landscape.

 Simplicity: Simple in style.

 Compared to other painting
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 The Way of Writing.
 The term originated in Tang dynasty.
 Very similar/ almost identical to the Chinese.
(Brush and ink...)

 Can be in any scripts

 Usually regular (楷書 kaisho) semi-cursive (行書
gyōsho) or cursive (草書 sōsho).
 Shingyōsō 真行草
 Shu-ha-ri (守破離, L5)
 Ancient scripts (篆書 tensho, 隷書 reisho).
 Hiragana and katakana.
 Specific brushes.
 English / Korean.

 To show fluidity.
 Free flowing, unbounded by convention.

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 Hitsuzendō (筆禅道, “way of Zen through brush”).
 Getting into a meditative state.

 The chance to write with the brush on a particular paper

is only once.
 Reminder of life is “only once”. (ichi-go ichi-e 一期一会)

 One must clear one's mind and letting the brush to flow
spontaneously.
 Focus on the present moment.
 “Non-thinking”, “Non-judgemental”, i.e. don’t think too much.
 This state of mind is know as mushin (無心, “no mind state”).

 “Self surrender” (tarikidō, 他力道, L5).

 Zen: Let the creation flows, without “thinking”.
 True creativity and beauty.
 E.g. The ensō (円相, "circular form").

 Rhythm of the stroke: jo-ha-kyū (序破急, L5)

 Start slowly, accelerates and finish swiftly.

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 In tea ceremony
 The calligraphy is usually a short
verse related to Zen teachings.
 Kōan (公案) is a paradoxical dialogue or
statement used in Zen practice for
meditation.
 When you meet the Buddha, kill him!
 Everyday is a good day.

 Related to the season.

 With mono no aware in mind.

 Before Japanese tea ceremonies, one

look at a work of shodō to clear one’s
mind.
 An essential step to prepare the
mind for a tea ceremony.

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 Suiboku-ga (水墨画) or sumi-e (墨絵).
 Use of brushes, black ink, and either
paper or silk.
 Express the purity and simplicity of the
eternal nature of the subject in an
“economic” way.
 Not creating the illusion of reality Dai Jin, 戴進 1388-1462
(photographic).
 Just depicting the object/ teachings
without excess.
 Unlike other schools which focus on
sophisticated techniques.
Mokuan, ?-1345
 Simplicity and coarse.
 May not be appreciated by everyone.
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 Generalized/ umbrella term.
 Northern School (北宗画)
 Professional, formal painters.
 Sophistication.
 Detail in composition, structure, realism,
and painting techniques.
 E.g. Li Tang 李唐（1066－1150）

 Southern School (南宗画)

 Known as nanga in Japan (南画, "Southern
painting"),
 Also called "literati painting" (Bunjin-ga, 文
人画).
 Simplicity.
 Not much detail, depicting the feeling, less
focused on technique.
 Scholar-bureaucrats.
 E.g. Su Shi 蘇軾 (1037-1101)

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 No single style of Chan painting.
 Lean towards the "literati painting“ style (Bunjin-ga, 文人画).
 Calligrapher are usually painters.

 Most notable of the early “Chan painters” in China were:

 Sui and Tang period,
 Guanxiu and Shike.

 Sung period,
 Muqi Fachang and Liangkai.

 The style is suggestive rather than literally

representational.
 Minimalist approach compared to other artist of that
era.
 Elegant simplicity in the many paintings and calligraphies.
 Usually consist of black ink on white paper or silk.
 With a few brushstrokes.

 Use of empty space (liubai 留白, ma 間, L5).

 Yūgen (misty, foggy, L5).
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 Guanxiu, (832 – 912)
 Tang dynasty.
 Famous monk, painter, calligrapher.
 The Sixteen Lohans (arhats).
 The best known of the lohan paintings
that are attributed to him are a series of
16 in the Tokyo National Museum.
 Legend: The arhats appeared in his
dream.
 Depicted as foreigners (Indian),
vagabonds, savage, refraining from
worldly desires.
 Influence later depiction of arhats.

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 Five Dynasties period (907-960)

 Important Chan painter after

Guanxiu.
 The Second Patriarch in
Contemplation (二祖調心圖).
 Tokyo National Museum.

 Huike (慧可, top) and Fenggan (豊干).

 The faces are painted in details
while clothes are drawn with simple
strokes became the standard for
later figure painting.
 Only lines and shades.

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 Liang Kai, (1140 -1210).
 Sung dynasty,

 Monk.
 Famous for originating the "sketch style" of
painting.
 Depict the subject or atmosphere with minimal
use of detail.
 The Sixth Patriarch Cutting Bamboo.
 Tokyo National Museum.

 But not popular among the Chinese during his

time.
 Refined and sophisticated technique were
appreciated.
 Too “coarse” for the Chinese taste.

 Most of Liang Kai works are now in Japan.

 They have been much prized and imitated
there.

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 Muqi Fachang, (1210?–1269?)
 Southern Sung.
 Monk.
 The Triptych: Guanyin, Crane, and
Gibbons and the Six Persimmons.
 Daitoku-ji (大徳寺), Kyoto.

 Muqi’s style was criticized as “sketchy,

unsophisticated, and coarse” and
“inappropriate to be displayed in
monasteries”.
 “Zen style” was not appreciated in
China, and thus not flourished.
 Many other styles/ schools in Chinese
paintings.
 His works were influential in Japan and
in the west.

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 Not particularly revered in China, however, they attracted the Japanese.

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 Muqi (Mokkei in Japan) received much more
attention in Japan.
 His works were extensively collected and brought
from China to Japan.
 One of the greatest Chinese Chan monk painters
whose many works are preserved in Japan.

 In Japan, perceived as the prominent Chinese

painter and culture transmitter (Tang & Sung
culture) honored by many Japanese painters
since the 14th century.
 Deeply influenced paintings in Japan.
Six Persimmons been regarded as
 Tied to other of Zen artworks with the idea of "the most quintessentially Zen
painting."
naturalism and spontaneous enlightenment.
 As “standards”.

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 Mokuan Reien (d.1345)
 Monk.
 Japanese painter of the late Kamakura
and early Muromachi periods.
 Brought Zen paintings from China to
Japan.
 Mokuan journeyed to China to study
Zen.
 He is considered one of the major
artists to introduce the Chinese style
suiboku (ink and wash) to Japan.
 He was identified as the “second Muqi”.

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 Higashiyama bunka
 East mountain culture.
 Higashiyama 東山.

 The 8th shogun Ashikaga

Yoshimasa 足利義政 (1436-90).
 Retired to his villa in the eastern
hill (東山 Higashiyama) of Kyoto.
 Turned into Ginkakuji 銀閣寺
(Jishouji 慈照寺) after his death.
 The center of the Higashiyama
culture.
 Simplicity and subtleness.
 (Wabi-sabi).

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 The Ami family Amiha 阿弥派 (3 Amis),
 Ink-paintings (sumi-e)
 Nōami 能阿弥 (1397-1471),
 Geiami 芸阿弥 (1431-85) and
 Sōami 相阿弥 (1455-1525).

 Became advisors and curators

(dōbōshū 同朋衆) of the Shoguns’ art
collection.
 Chinese Southern Sung style.
 Strongly affecting later aesthetic culture.

 They produced a catalogue of the

Chinese paintings in the collection
and wrote the first art criticism in
Japan Kundaikan sayū chōki 君台観左右
帳記.

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 Tenshō Shūbun (天章 周文, d.1444–
50)
 Japanese Zen Buddhist monk and
painter of the Muromachi period.
 He was influenced by Chinese
landscape painters Xia Gui and Ma
Yuan.
 Sung dynasty style.
 Famous works:
 Landscape of the Four Seasons.
 Reading in a Bamboo Grove.

 Teacher of Sesshū Tōyō.

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 Sesshū Tōyō (雪舟 等楊; 1420 –1506)
 Rinzai monk
 The most prominent Japanese master
of ink and wash painting from the
middle Muromachi period.
 Unkoku-rin school—or "School of
Sesshū".
 In the late Muromachi period, ink
painting had migrated out of the Zen
monasteries into the art world in
general.

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 Hakuin Ekaku (白隠 慧鶴 1686 -1769)
 One of the most influential figures in Japanese
Zen Buddhism, painting and calligraphy.
 An important part of Hakuin's practice of Zen
was his painting and calligraphy.
 Capture Zen values,
 As "visual sermons" that were extremely
popular among the laypeople of the time,
many of whom were illiterate.
 Today, paintings of Bodhidharma by Hakuin
Ekaku are sought after and displayed a the
world's leading museums.

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 Sengai Gibon (仙厓 義梵, 1750–1837).
 Rinzai monk.

 Well known for his controversial teachings and writings, and

his lighthearted paintings.
 Notable paintings depicts a circle, a square and a triangle.
 Often called "Maru-Sankaku-Shikaku", written as "○△□".
 Water, fire and earth element?
 The Universe?
 Hidden meaning?

 “My play with brush and ink is not calligraphy nor painting; yet
unknowing people mistakenly think: this is calligraphy, this is
painting.”
 Break free from convention and humorous.
 Spontaneity, from the mind “a play”.
 The shape just “flow” from of his mind.

 Once Sengai was told to write something auspicious, he wrote

“Grandfather dead, father dead, son dead, and grandchild
dead” (祖死父死子死孫死).
 Anyone will die. If this happens in sequence, this is auspicious,
because no one died young in the family.
 Auspiciousness depends on your view.
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 Note: Not all Japanese pottery /
ceramics are in the “Zen style”.
 Only some:
 Expressing Zen teaching.
 Expresses “wabi-sabi”.
 Some are “shibui” / “kawaii” (L5).

 The beauty of things as “imperfect,

impermanent, and incomplete”:
 Asymmetry, simplicity, rustic,
natural, unbounded by convention,
and brings tranquillity.

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 Ceramics
 Any material (other than metal) that is fixed into
shape by heating.

 Pottery
 Clay

 Earthenware
 600-1100℃
 Scratch, weak.
 Inexpensive.
 Porous

 Stoneware
 1100-1200 ℃
 Utilitarian wares.
 Daily use.

 Porcelain
 1200-1400 ℃
 Kaolin (Chinese clay).
 Smooth, tough, and translucence.
 Expensive.
 A challenge in technique.
 Keeping the temperature high.
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 During the Song dynasty (960–1279).
 Ru ware (汝窯)
 Celadon wares.
 Korean Celadon.

 Jun ware (鈞窯)

 Guan ware (官窯)
 Imperial Kiln
 Crackled glaze.

 Ding ware (定窯)

 Ge ware (哥窯)
 Crackled glaze.

 Highly valued by the samurai class in

Japan (before Rikyū).
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 Jian ware 建窯 (the Jian kiln during Tang
and Sung)
 Simple shaped stoneware, with a strong
emphasis on subtle effects in the glazes.
 In the Sung dynasty they achieved a high
prestige, especially among Buddhist
monks and in relation to tea-drinking.
 Brought to Japan during Sung period.
They were also highly valued in Japan,
where many of the best samples were
collected.
 Every piece is unique.
 The style of Jian ware has been much
recreated imitated over the last century.

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 Sen no Rikyu (千利休, 1522 -1591), is
considered the most profound influence
on the Japanese "Way of Tea".
 Worked for daimyo Toyotomi
Hideyoshi’s (豐臣秀吉 1537 – 1598).
 He was the first to emphasize several
key aspects of the ceremony:
 rustic simplicity, directness of approach
and honesty of self.
 These aspects of the tea ceremony and
aesthetics persist and influencing the
modern times.
 Tea drinking in a philosophical manner.
 Zen thoughts: undecorated and the
humble.

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 In the 14th century luxury tea
bowls from Sung China were
highly valued.
 Pottery from China is too
luxurious and extravagant for
daily use.
 Rikyū (千利休, 1522 -1591),
promoted tea bowls which
featured asymmetry, uneven
ash glaze, repaired, rustic, and
inexpensive.
 Rikyū also applied these values
to other pottery items, such as
vases.

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 Rikyu’s values influenced later generations’
view on pottery arts.
 “Raku first, Hagi second and Karatsu third”.
一楽二萩三唐津
 Raku ware 楽
 Sen no Rikyu ordered from Chōjirō (長次郎)
1516-1592?).
 Haji ware 萩
 Korean inspiration

 Karatsu ware 唐津
 Korean inspiration

 Tea bowls were highly prized by the samurai

class.
 Shibui (渋い, Lecture 5).

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 Six Ancient Klins
 Rustic quality made them popular for use in Japanese tea
ceremony.
 Chinese and Korean inspiration.
 Kokoro no fumi (心の文, "Letter of the heart")
by Murata Jukō 村田珠光.

 Bizen ware (備前焼, Bizen-yaki), produced in Bizen,

Okayama (L4)
 Echizen ware (越前焼, Echizen-yaki), produced in
Echizen, Odacho and Miyazaki, Fukui Prefecture
 Seto ware (瀬戸焼, Seto-yaki), produced in Seto, Aichi
Prefecture
 Shigaraki ware (信楽焼, Shigaraki-yaki), produced in
Kōka, Shiga, east of Lake Biwa (L4)
 Tamba ware, also known as Tachikui ware (丹波立杭焼,
Tamba-Tachikui-yaki), produced in Sasayama and
Tachikui in Hyōgo
 Tokoname ware (常滑焼, Tokoname-yaki), produced in
Tokoname, Aichi Prefecture
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 Pottery
 Anagama kiln (穴窯
cave kiln)
 Firing method.

 Originated and
China, brought to
Korea and Japan in
the 5th century)
 Fuelled with
firewood.
 1400 ℃ for 2 -12+
days.
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 The appearance of the vessels is determined by the
temperature and how it is arranged in the kiln.
 Yohen (窯変, kiln effects).

 Goma (胡麻, lit. "sesame seed")

 Placed near the firewoods. The charcoal ashes (ember) melt
in the heat and become a glaze that sticks to the surface.

 Sangiri (桟切り)
 The vessel is partially buried in sand in the kiln. The
exposed area turns blackish because the ashes that cover it
retards oxidation.

 Hidasuki (緋襷)
 The pattern results from rice straw wrapped around the
piece before firing in the kiln.

 Botamochi (牡丹餅)
 Placing other pieces on top during firing. Resulting in two,
three or five round marks, as if the marks of small balls of
rice cakes had been left on the surface.

 Fuseyaki (伏せ焼)
 Stacks pieces on top of each other or sideways. This creates
different colours at the top and bottom.

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 Kintsugi (金継ぎ “golden joinery”).
 The art of repairing broken pottery.
 Closely associated with vessels used for
tea ceremony.
 A Legend says Rikyū loved this.
 Collectors became so obsessed with
this “art” that they intentionally
smashing valuable pottery so it could
be repaired with the gold seams.
 Still occur today.

 Treats breakage and repair as part of

the history / beauty of an object,
rather than something to disguise.
 The “art of precious scars”.

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 Mending the areas of breakage
with lacquer (漆, urushi).
 Allow to dry (for weeks).
 Sanding...
 Apply lacquer to the crack again.
 Dusted with powdered gold or
silver.
 Food safety.

 Allow to dry (weeks).

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 The notion of wabi-sabi, an embracing of the
flawed or imperfection.
 Keeping an object around even after it has
broken.
 Highlighting the cracks and repairs as simply
an event in the life of an object.
 "Waste not, want not".
 Kintsugi can relate to the Japanese philosophy
of “no mind” (無心, mushin), which
encompasses the concepts of non-attachment,
acceptance of change, and different aspects of
human life.
 Embrace everything in your life with optimism.
 To one extreme, no “scar” in life is something
sad.
 Kintsugi on purpose.

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 Japanese short poetry.
 5/7/5 “on” (音, syllable)

 Became popular during Edo period.

 Rules of making or composing them are
simple, and almost anyone can compose
haiku poems.
 Seek to capture a mood, or bring about an
insight into the truth of human existence.
 Mindful of the present moment.

 The Four seasons and symbolism.

 Notable poets (the Great Four):
 Matsuo Basho (松尾芭蕉 1644- 1694).
 Yosa Buson (与謝蕪村 1716 –1784).
 Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶 1763 –1828).
 Masaoka Shiki (正岡子規 1867–1902).
 Interpret Zen in different ways.
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 Matsuo Basho (松尾芭蕉,1644 – 1694),
 Monk(?) and poet.
 Father: samurai.
 Draw inspiration from Zen Buddhism.
 Style: spiritual, resonance with nature.
 Sense of suffering (sadness) within loneliness, mono
no aware.
 Not colorful, silence, yūgen, mysterious...

 About the nature which could bring tranquillity.

Old pond...a frog leaps in....water’s sound
Moonlight slanting...through the bamboo grove...a cuckoo crying
 Not much poetic or rhetoric devices, but
 The state of the mind is important,
 Appreciate what we have,
 Pleasure from simplicity,
 Escape from suffering of the self.

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 Yosa Buson (与謝 蕪村, 1716- 1784).
 Poet and painter of the Edo period.
 Merchant class.
 Evenness of temper, artistic colour
and shape of things.
 Highlights a visual image clearly.
 Vivid and colourful.

The two plum trees...I love their

blooming!...one early, one later.
A bright harvest moon...rainwater has
collected...on the surface of the pond.

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 Kobayashi Issa (小林一茶 1763 –1828).
 Farmers class.

 More humorous and rustic.

 Packed with pathos, comedy and anger.
Mosquito at my ear...does it think I’m deaf?
Don’t kill that fly! Look—it’s wringing its
hands, wringing its feet!
All the time I pray to Buddha I keep on
killing mosquitoes.

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 Masaoka Shiki (正岡子規 1867–1902)
 Poet, author, and literary critic of the Meiji
period.
 A major figure in the development of modern
haiku poetry.
 Realistic observation of nature.
 Shasei (写生 “sketch from life”).
 Present things as they really are and should
write in the contemporary language.
I bite a persimmon...the bell tolls...Horyu-ji
Temple.

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 The Tale of Genji (L4)
 Mono no aware.

 3 notable authors (pre/post war):

 Tanizaki Jun'ichirō (谷崎潤一郎)
 Kawabata Yasunari (川端康成)
 Mishima Yukio (三島由紀夫)

 Murakami Haruki (村上春樹)

 Most popular Japanese author
nowadays.
 Lecture 11.

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 Contemporary literature with
Zen influences.
 In Praise of Shadows by
Junichiro Tanizaki.
 Influential not only in aesthetic
values.
 Promotes the concept of wabi-
sabi to Asia and the rest of the
world.
 Architecture, design, lifestyle...
 Many translated version.

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 In Praise of Shadows (陰翳礼讃, 1933) is an
essay collection on Japanese aesthetics.
 Novelist Junichiro Tanizaki (谷崎 潤一郎,
1886-1965).
 English translation:
 Thomas Harper and Edward Seidensticker
(1977).
 Gregory Starr (2017), with illustration.

 One of the greatest contemporary author,

shortlisted for the Noble Prize.
 Died during nomination.
 Kawabata Yasunari (川端康成) got the prize 3
yrs later.
 The essay consists of 16 sections that
discuss traditional Japanese aesthetics.

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 Cultural difference between the east and
the west.
 “Light” as opposed to “darkness”.
 The West, light symbolized beauty and
ideal.
 “Shine” and “Glitter”
 Brightly lit room.

 “Praising of shadows” shocked the west.

 Appreciation of shadow and subtlety (yūgen).
 “Rustic” and “Darkness”.
 If there is no “rustic” and “darkness” there is
no beauty.
 If the is no adversity in life, life is not
beautiful.

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 No just about Japanese culture,
 but a valuable key to oriental
wisdom and Zen aesthetics.
 Beauty and elegance of simplicity.
 Values of subtlety and restraint.
 Appreciation of “darkness” and
“rustic”.
"Tanizaki's insights about the emotional resonance
and beautiful complexity of darkness were critical in
my development as an architect, and continue to
inspire my work to this day." Sir David Adjaye,
architect
“Unlocks the code on so may elements of Japanese
architecture, industrial design and urban planning
that it is required reading for anyone who wants to
understand why Japan continues to adhere to its
own set of aesthetic standards." Tyler Brú lé, editor-
in-chief, Monocle magazine
Ruby City by David Adjaye 51
 16 short essays, 50 pages  The woman of old
 On construction  Beauty in the dark
 The toilet aesthetic  A world of shadows
 A different course  A cool breeze in total darkness
 A novelist’s daydreams  Final grumblings
 On paper, tin and dirt
 Candlelight and lacquerware
 Bowls of broth
 The enigma of shadows
 An uncanny silence
 Reflections in darkness
 Shadows on the stage

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 The concept of “toilet as beauty” is
uncommon in western thoughts.
 Toilets at Nara and Kyoto temples.
 The specific degree of dimness,
 the absolute cleanliness and quiet,
 the surrounding moss is wet from the
rain,
 the intimacy of the raindrops falling
from the leaves of the trees.
 Toilet an object of beauty,
 A place for contemplation and
meditation, ‘a place of spiritual repose’.
 Appreciation of everyday things,
transcends our perceptions.

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 The west loves “Shine and Glitter”.
 Polish silverwares.

x
 The east appreciates the “Platina”
of age.
 Appreciation of aging.
 It is natural and beautiful.
 Never polish the platina away.
 It add beauty.

 Enjoy life as is.

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 Kawabata Yasunari (川端康成, 1899 -1972).
 First Japanese to receive the Nobel Prize for
Literature.
 The Old Capital (古都), Snow Country (雪国),
Thousand Cranes (千羽鶴).
 Full of mono no aware elements.
 Beauty from the transience of things.
 Loneliness, the pathos of love, and the
ephemeral of beauty and love.
 Shinkankakuha style (新感覚派)
 Portraying feeling and experience.
 Subjective, direct, with intuitive sensation.
 Plots are not solid / structured objectively.
 Modernist literature.

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 “The train came out of the long tunnel into the
snow country.”
 Love triangle.
 Shimamura (島村) a wealthy, married middle-aged
man trying to escape from his marriage.
 Komako (駒子), a young geisha.
 Yoko (葉子), a young girl meet on the train.

 The story is about the entanglement of their

relationships, ended by a accidental death of
Yoko.
 Mono no aware in 3 levels:
 Human relationships.
 Life.
 Transience of nature. 56
 Love relationship is imperfect and impermanent.
 The love triangle of Shimamura was never satisfactory.
 Like the Tale of Genji.

 Youthfulness is impermanent.
 Komako grew old and changed. (so as personalities).
 From a young geisha practicing shamisen to working as a
courtesan.
 Life itself is limited.
 Death of Yoko from the a fire accident.

 Impermanence of the nature and beauty deteriorates

quickly.
 Tragic story.
 Wasted beauty, love in vain and decay.
 Another level: because death is not far away from us and
beauty diminishes quickly, value every moment of your life.
 Noh play “Yamanba” (L6).
 Love is suffering.

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 Mishima Yukio (三島 由紀夫, 1925 –
1970).
 An author, poet, playwright, actor,
model...
 Nominated for Nobel prize.
 But Kawabata got it.
 The Temple of the Golden Pavilion (金閣寺,
Kinkaku-ji)

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 Based on the Golden Pavilion Fire Incident (金閣寺
放火事件 1950).
 Mizoguchi, a young novice monk.
 Born physically unattractive and poor.
 Speech impairment and holds himself aloof from
others.
 He is obsessed to beauty and perfection.

 Obsessed with unattainable ideals.

 He is obsessed with the beauty of the Golden Temple.
 Burns down the famous building because he himself
cannot attain to its beauty.
 Attachment can really distort a person.
 “Idealistic” beauty is suffering.
 “Beauty, beautiful things, those are now my most
deadly enemies.”
 Evanescence and tragic beauty (mono no aware).

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 Influence on architecture and landscaping
 Short Essay Due (March 22)

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