夏目漱石 初期の漢詩 : 叙景表現を中心として : 第二章 第五節 花の「色」

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  • ナツメ ソウセキ ショキ ノ カンシ : ジョケイ ヒョウゲン オ チュウシン ト シテ : ダイニショウ ダイゴセチ ハナ ノ 「 イロ 」
  • Natsume Sōseki’s Early Works of Chinese Poetry : Focusing on Scenic Descriptive Expressions : Chapter II, Section 5 “Colors of flowers”

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In this continuing series of papers, I have been mainly discussing the scenic descriptive expressions in Chinese poetry written by Sōseki before his study in the West (from 1900). In this second chapter, I discuss his expression of color, an issue that is also emphasized in his Bungakuron (Criticism of Literature). In the fifth section of this chapter, I focus on “flowers”, which have a strong presence in his novels, and investigate the expression of their colors. There are 58 instances of “flower” in Sōseki’s poems, which can be divided into two classes depending on whether or not they are given specific names. In this section, I consider the meaning of “flowers” in Sōseki’s poetry by focusing on those without specific names. Individually named flowers (such as “peach,” “plum,” “rape blossoms,” etc.) will be discussed in the next section. If, for the sake of convenience, we use the frequency of expressions as an index for unspecified flowers, the most common expression is “falling flowers,” which appears 4 times, followed by the following 5 expressions, each of which appears twice: “wildflowers” 野花, “graceful flowers” 幽花, “elegant flowers” 閑花, “spring flowers” 春花, and “flower red” 花紅. There are 11 expressions that occur only once, such as “floating flowers” 蘋花, “blurred flowers” 烟花, “flying flowers” 飛花, etc. A wide variety of flowers can be recognized, but the 5 expressions that are used twice each demonstrate a certain uniqueness; in particular, “wildflowers” 野花, “graceful flowers” 幽花, and “elegant flowers” 閑花 are worthy of special attention. Firstly, I consider these three expressions, and finally turn to the most common one, “falling flowers” 落花. As a result of studying “wildflowers” 野花 and “graceful flowers” 幽花, I argue that both are related to Tao Yuanming’s poetry of retreat. Although there are differences in the directness of expression and depth of thoughts between the two, they can be interpreted as representations of Sōseki’s desire to live in seclusion. I also point out that the expression “graceful flowers” 幽花 in particular embodies Sōseki’s aesthetic view and is a symbol of his longing for seclusion. The Chinese character 閑 (kan) in “elegant flowers” 閑花 does not have a negative meaning, such as killing time, but rather has a positive value of being in a state of tranquility, and is almost synonymous with the Chinese character 幽 (yū). The expression “elegant flowers” 閑花 refers to beautiful flowers that quietly bloom away from the hustle and bustle, just like “graceful flowers” 幽 花. However, the use of 閑 (kan) produces expressions related to poetry or the act of writing poetry, which is an element not found in 幽 (yū). I have demonstrated that the source of this observation is in the “calm and serene” 閑適, which originated with Bai Juyi. The “calm and serene” 閑適 is one of the four categories (satire, tranquility, sentimentality, and other) of self-selected poetry anthologies planned by Bai during his relegation to Jiangzhou 江州. This is poetry that expresses the emotions that can be enjoyed in a free environment, including in a private situation away from official duties and in a life of retirement (in Bai’s work “Genkyū ni atauru no sho” 元九に与ふるの書). Tomohisa MATSUURA explains that the most important thing in Bai’s poetry is the Chinese character teki 適, and kan 閑 is the precondition for that. As a contrasting example, he argues that Tao’s poetry is focused on kan 閑 (“Tao Yuanming and Bai Juyi Theory: Lyricism and Explanation”). Turning to Sōseki’s poems, kan 閑 is found in 38 examples, but teki 適 in only 2, so Sōseki clearly had the same interest in kan 閑 as Tao did. It is nothing less than a desire to live in seclusion, and Sōseki also thought that this state of life would stimulate his poetic spirit and deepen his poetic thoughts. It can be said that the relationship between kan 閑, including “elegant flowers” 閑花, and poetry is a reflection of that. The expression “flower” is basically a season word of “spring”, but “falling flowers” 落花 expresses the change of the season and is filled with the feeling of regret for springtime. However, it can be found that the expression “falling flowers” 落花 in Sōseki’s poetry has not only the above mentioned quality, but also a religious nature, especially of Zen style, and leads on to the Tao 道 that he pursues. The influence of Tao’s poetry can be recognized here as well, and the representation of the love for nature and the desire to live in seclusion are repeated, but, at the same time, Zen kōan 公案 and historical events related to Zen priests are used in no small part. In his later years, this tendency was especially notable, and his interests, including “falling flowers” 落花, are strongly influenced by the Zen taste of pursuing “real nature” 本来面目. As a result, not only humans but also all other living things, including “flowers,” fully embody their edification mechanism and enrich their life, which should be said to be for a fleeting moment. It is clear that Sōseki’s desire to live in seclusion, or the Tao 道, is not based on mere fantasy, but on the idea of a desire for an original life that should be free and unrestricted. So far, I have focused on expressions of “flowers” for convenience, but when I examined the form “<flower> (subject) + predicate,” the most common was “flower falling” (5 examples). It is also noted that the most common expression is “falling flowers.” This tells us where Sōseki’s interest in “flowers” was, and Zen style had an influence there. Furthermore, the point at which human life ends, namely the gaze toward death and the extinction of life, which is the last of the stages “birth, age, sickness and death,” may always lie at the heart of Sōseki’s interest in “flowers.” “Falling flowers” is the embodiment of this, and helps to develop a unique state of life. In the above, I have studied the characteristics and meanings of the “flowers” without specific names in Sōseki’s poetry, including “wildflowers” 野花, “graceful flowers” 幽花, “elegant flowers” 閑花, and the most common “falling flowers” 落花. All of them have important meanings in Sōseki's poetry, both in terms of quality and quantity, and prove to contribute to the originality of the poetry.

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