🇯🇵Intro to Premodern Japanese Literature Unit 7 – Medieval Japanese Lit: Muromachi Period

Historical Context

• Muromachi period (1336-1573) marked by political instability and civil wars between rival clans
• Ashikaga shogunate established in 1336 but faced challenges from regional warlords (daimyō)
• Ōnin War (1467-1477) led to the collapse of centralized authority and rise of sengoku period
  • Characterized by widespread warfare and social upheaval
• Contact with Ming China and Joseon Korea increased, facilitating cultural exchange
• Zen Buddhism gained popularity among samurai class and influenced art and literature
• Development of tea ceremony, noh theater, and ikebana (flower arrangement) as aesthetic pursuits
• Economic growth and urbanization in later part of period despite political instability

Key Literary Genres

• Renga (linked verse) poetry became highly developed and popular
  • Collaborative form involving multiple poets composing alternating stanzas
  • Emphasized wit, allusion, and adherence to complex rules and conventions
• Noh theater emerged as a distinctive dramatic form
  • Combines music, dance, and poetic language to tell stories of legendary figures and supernatural beings
  • Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami in the 14th century
• Kyōgen (comic interludes) performed between noh plays to provide humorous relief
• Gunki monogatari (war tales) chronicled the exploits of famous warriors and battles
• Otogizōshi (prose narratives) often featured fairy tales, religious stories, and satire
• Zuihitsu (miscellaneous essays) reflected on personal experiences and observations
• Setsuwa (anecdotal literature) collections compiled stories of notable figures and events

Major Works and Authors

• Yoshida Kenkō's "Tsurezuregusa" (Essays in Idleness, c. 1330) is a classic work of zuihitsu
  • Offers insights on life's impermanence and the pursuit of simple pleasures
• Zeami's treatises on noh theater, such as "Fūshikaden" (The Flowering Spirit, c. 1400)
  • Outlines principles of noh performance and aesthetics
• "Heike monogatari" (The Tale of the Heike, c. 1371) is a famous gunki monogatari
  • Depicts the rise and fall of the Taira clan in the Genpei War (1180-1185)
• Ihara Saikaku's "Kōshoku Ichidai Otoko" (The Life of an Amorous Man, 1682) is a notable ukiyo-zōshi work
  • Portrays the romantic adventures of a wealthy merchant in the pleasure quarters
• Arakida Moritake's haikai poetry collections, such as "Moritake Zuihitsu" (c. 1520)
  • Helped popularize haikai as a more accessible and playful form of linked verse
• "Ise monogatari" (Tales of Ise, c. 945) continued to inspire poetic allusion and commentary
• "Sōgi Shōhokushū" (Sōgi's Selection of Noteworthy Verse, 1495) is a significant renga anthology

Themes and Motifs

• Mujokan (impermanence) and the fleeting nature of beauty, influenced by Buddhist thought
• Mono no aware (pathos of things) evoked a bittersweet appreciation for life's transience
• Exploration of love, desire, and the pursuit of aesthetic refinement in poetry and prose
• Celebration of nature's beauty and the changing seasons, often as metaphors for human emotions
• Nostalgia for the past glory of the imperial court and aristocratic culture
• Samurai ideals of loyalty, honor, and martial prowess in war tales and noh plays
• Buddhist concepts of karma, reincarnation, and the illusory nature of the material world
• Juxtaposition of the sacred and the profane, the high and the low, in literature and drama

Cultural Influences

• Zen Buddhism's emphasis on simplicity, austerity, and direct experience shaped aesthetic sensibilities
  • Influenced tea ceremony, ink painting, and rock gardens as art forms
• Confucian values of filial piety, loyalty, and social hierarchy reinforced in literature and theater
• Shinto beliefs in the sacredness of nature and the power of ritual infused poetic imagery and themes
• Chinese literature, particularly Tang dynasty poetry, served as models for Japanese writers
  • "Wakan rōeishū" (Collection of Japanese and Chinese Poems for Singing, 1013) was widely studied
• Korean ceramics, such as celadon and buncheong wares, were admired and collected by Japanese elites
• Portuguese and Spanish missionaries introduced Christianity and Western ideas in the mid-16th century
  • "Kirishitan monogatari" (Tales of the Christians, c. 1639) reflects this cultural encounter

Literary Techniques

• Honkadori (allusive variation) involved borrowing and reworking lines from classic poems
  • Created a rich web of intertextual references and associations
• Yūgen (profound grace) aesthetic emphasized subtlety, depth, and mystery in poetry and noh plays
  • Achieved through evocative language, symbolism, and understatement
• Mitate (poetic associations) used wordplay and metaphor to link disparate images or ideas
• Jo-ha-kyū (slow-breaking-rapid) structure in noh plays built dramatic tension and release
• Kakekotoba (pivot words) served multiple functions in a poem through punning and homophony
• Engo (related words) created semantic and sonic resonances between lines of a poem
• Honzetsu (ethereal beauty) celebrated the poignancy of fading beauty, as in cherry blossoms

Impact on Later Japanese Literature

• Haikai poetry of the Muromachi period paved the way for the development of haiku in the Edo period (1603-1868)
  • Matsuo Bashō and Yosa Buson were major haiku poets who built on earlier haikai traditions
• Ukiyo-zōshi (floating world tales) of the Edo period drew on the wit and wordplay of kyōgen and otogizōshi
  • Ihara Saikaku and Ejima Kiseki were notable ukiyo-zōshi authors
• Noh plays continued to be performed and studied as a classical art form in later periods
  • Influenced the development of kabuki theater in the Edo period
• Zuihitsu and personal essay writing remained popular in the Edo period and beyond
  • "Hōjōki" (An Account of My Hut, 1212) by Kamo no Chōmei was a celebrated example
• Yomihon (reading books) of the late Edo period adapted elements of gunki monogatari and setsuwa
  • Ueda Akinari's "Ugetsu Monogatari" (Tales of Moonlight and Rain, 1776) is a famous yomihon collection
• Modern Japanese writers continued to draw inspiration from Muromachi period literature
  • Akutagawa Ryūnosuke and Tanizaki Jun'ichirō adapted tales from "Konjaku Monogatarishū"

Connections to Other Art Forms

• Noh theater incorporated elements of bugaku (court dance), kagura (Shinto music), and sarugaku (acrobatic performances)
• Emaki (picture scrolls) combined prose narratives with painted illustrations
  • "Shigisan Engi Emaki" (Legends of Mount Shigi, late 12th century) is a notable example
• Byōbu (folding screens) and fusuma (sliding doors) featured paintings inspired by literary themes and scenes
• Tea ceremony developed in tandem with tea room architecture, ceramic tea bowls, and hanging scrolls
• Landscape gardens, such as Saihō-ji (Moss Temple) in Kyoto, evoked the beauty of nature celebrated in poetry
• Tsukumogami (animated household objects) appeared in otogizōshi tales and were depicted in paintings and netsuke (miniature sculptures)
• Renga poetry gatherings often took place in specially designed sukiya-style rooms
  • Characterized by rustic simplicity and use of natural materials like wood and paper