Reclusion and Poetry : Reading Kamo no Chomei's "Hojoki" and "Hosshinshu"

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Other Title
  • 遁世と詩歌 : 鴨長明『方丈記』『発心集』の遁世観と詩歌観
  • トンセイ ト シイカ カモ ノ チョウメイ ホウジョウキ ホッシンシュウ ノ トンセイカン ト シイカカン

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Description

Kamo no Chomei is well known as a Japanese medieval recluse. This paper is aimed at reading his essays "Hojoki" and "Hosshinshu", and tries to rethink the relation between his reclusive life and poetry. The concept of reclusion for him was not necessarily related to how far he was removed from the capital nor what he did in his hermitage. Rather, the question was his state of mind, the extent to which his mind was detached from the usual worldly context and interest (kyokai or kyogai) such as social, political, and economical, of which people's circumstances consist and by which their daily cognitions are led. On the other hand, according to his notion of transience (mujo), nothing is certain other than the fact that people sense and feel various things and move their hearts variously. Thus, what was crucial in his reclusive life was how he could deal with his mind and heart. In those respects, poetry was for him one of the most important elements on which to base his reclusive life, because poetry, it has been admitted, does not have any worldly purpose nor interest at all; it is barely to express how people's hearts are moved.

Journal

  • Aesthetics

    Aesthetics 58 (2), 15-28, 2007

    The Japanese Society for Aesthetics

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