The "Zen Shakuhachi" Reality Research Web Pages

Highlighted Illustrations

INDIA

c. 2600 BCE:



Square seal depicting a nude male deity with three faces,
seated in yogic position on a throne.
Harappan Bronze Age Culture, c. 2600-1900 BCE.
Dimensions: 2.65 x 2.7 cm, 0.83 to 0.86 cm thickness.
Excavated at Mohenjo-daro, present-day Punjab, Pakistan.

Now in the Islamabad Museum.
Source: https://www.harappa.com/indus/33.html

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CHINA

Around 750 A.D.:



Musicians pictured in a wall painting in Cave 25, 'Yulin',
at Tun-huang on the Silk Road, in W. China.
The player at the top appears to be blowing a very long, quite thin flute that quite much

resembles the modern Chinese 6-holed 't'ung-hsiao', 洞簫, Jap.: 'dōshō'.
Source: Izumi Takeo, 2016, p. 5

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Around 970 A.D.:



Female Chinese musicians performing in the T'ang Emperor's palace, mid-8th century.
In the backgrouns to the right we see a musician blowing a medium long vertical flute
- maybe a 't'ung-hsiao', 洞簫, Jap.: 'dōshō'.
Scroll painting on silk attributed to the Chinese Imperial court painter Chou Wen-chü, ca. 970.
Source: Werner Speiser, 1961, p. 176

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JAPAN

Around 700 A.D.?:




Small sculpture of a bodhisattva playing a shakuhachi look-alike.
Discovered in 2009 during a restoration of the canopy overhanging the Shaka Triad being housed in the Hōryū-ji Kondō.
Source: Yatō Umiosa's Komusō website



Hōryū-ji Kondō, Nara - Photo: T.O. 1977






Hōryū-ji Kondō, Nara - Photo: T.O. 1977

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8th century A.D.:



Bodhisattva musician playing the shakuhachi, Tōdai-ji, Nara.
Detail of a large bronze lamp standing in front of the Great Buddha Hall.
One of the very few remains of the original 8th century temple.
Source: Wikipedia, Japan

c. 1470 to c. 1550: ERA of the 'KOMOSŌ' "Mat Monks"

1494:



'Komosō' "mat monk" in 'Sanjūni-ban shokunin uta-awase emaki'
Date of original: 1494. Kōsetsu-bon edition, detail.
Suntory Museum of Art, Tokyo.
Source: Wikipedia, Japan

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1521-1532:




Two 'komosō' playing vertical flutes in a Kyōto street
Detail of the folding screen 'Raku-chū raku-gai zu byōbu',
"Pictures from In and Around the Capital",
Machida-bon edition.
Dated to between 1521 and 1532.



Close-up detail of the folding screen 'Raku-chū raku-gai zu byōbu',
"Pictures from In and Around the Capital",
Machida-bon edition.
The National Museum of Japanese History, Sakura City, Chiba Prefecture

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1549

The Spanish Jesuit missionary Francis Xavier lands in Kagoshima and begins movement to spread Christian teaching in Japan.




Japanese portrait of Francis Xavier (1506-1552)
Kōbe City Museum, Kōbe, Japan

c. 1550 to 1628 or c. 1640?: ERA of the FUKE-KOMOSŌ

c. 1550-1560

普化僧 - FUKE-SŌ synonymous with KOMOSŌ: コモ 僧

節用集 - SETSUYŌSHŪ DICTIONARY VERSIONS: Guides to Character Readings



   

Details from the 'Ryūmon bunko no Setsuyōshū'
Library of Nara Women's University - precise date unclear

When, approximately, did the komosō of Medieval Japan adopt Fuke Zenji as their idol of shakuhachi asceticism?
A few late Muromachi Period versions of the popular dictionary Setsuyōshū", "Economical Collection" or "Collection [of Words] for Everyday Use", do actually present noteworthy evidence in that respect:




Readings for the kanji 'Komo-sō' and 'Fu-ke(-sō)'
in three different early versions of the 'Setsuyōshū'
- second half of the 16th century

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After 1560 - Late Muromachi Period:



'Komosō' playing a 'hitoyogiri' in a street (center)
Detail of section 4 of the folding screen
'Tsukinami fūzoku-zu byōbu'
"Screen with Genre Scenes of the Twelve Months"
Anonymous, late Muromachi Period (2nd half of 16th century). Tokyo National Museum





Do we actually see the 'komosō' above wearing a long sword, possibly made of wood (?),
the tip of which is protruding from his left side, appearing just beneath the bed roll
that he is carrying on his back?

Link to an online, inter-active website presenting the complete screen:
Tokyo National Museum - E-Museum online

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1574:



'Komosō' playing a vertical flute in a Kyōto street
Detail of the folding screen 'Raku-chū raku-gai zu byōbu',
"Pictures from In and Around the Capital",
Uesugi-bon edition. Commissioned by Oda Nobunaga.
The Yonezawa City Uesugi Museum, Yamagata Prefecture

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1597:



The 26 Christian Martyrs in Nagasaki. Painting by Eustaquio Maria de Nenclares, 1862.
On February 5, 1597, 26 Christians - missionaries and Japanese followers alike -
were crucified at Nishizaka in Nagasaki,
on the order of Toyotomi Hideyoshi, then the absolute ruler of Japan.

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1600:

The Sekigahara Battle



Source: WikiMedia

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Late Momoyama Period? (1573-1615) - Early 17th century?

 



Yet unidentified, so far undated, quite early 17th century 'komosō' picture.
Apparently part of a rather typical Azuchi-Momoyama Period gold-leaf decorated folding screen
with everyday scenes, dating from the early 1600's?

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OBS: Dated 1735, this picture is indeed a curiosity - sort of an "anachronism":



Very similar in theme and execution as the picture above, this is one of 12 illustrations on a folding screen being dated to 1735 and entitled 'Shokunin zukushi-e byōbu', 職人尽絵屏風,
"Pictures of People of Various Occupations in Their Workshops".
One would not term it "a copy", however, but rather an anachronism, as the shown mat-carrying 'komosō' type of mendicant flute-player had been replaced by the 'komusō' many decades before 1735.

The art historian Kazuko Kameda-Madar has described the screen in this article (link) at www.academia.edu:
"Pictures of People of Various Occupations in Their Workshops"

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1614-15:

The Siege of Ōsaka Castle



Source: WikiMedia

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1624-1630 - Early Kan'ei Period:



Two 'Fuke-komosō' in a painting of an Umbrella Maker & two Fuke-Komosō painted by Iwasa Matabei before 1630



Painting of an Umbrella Maker & two Fuke-komosō
by Iwasa Matabei, 1578-1650

An "important work of art" dating from the early Edo Period,
17th century, before 1630.

Owned by the Nezu Art Museum, Tōkyō.
Official however highly questionable museological title of the work:
傘張 り • 薦僧図

According to recognized Japanese sources quoted on the internet,
this picture was originally one out of 8 illustrations on an exquisite folding screen
by Iwasa Matabei known as the 'Ikeda byōbu', among other names:
"The Ikeda Folding Screen", 池田屏風.
Link to the web page in question: Cultural Heritage Online

Japanese art specialists do conclusively date the unique original folding screen
to the Kan'ei Period, 1624-1644 - not later than 1630.



Close view of two 'Fuke-komosō' in a painting of an Umbrella Maker & two Fuke-Komosō

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Very early Edo Period (early 17th century) komo-sō, 薦僧/菰僧, style mendicant miyo-giri shakuhachi,
三節切り尺八, flute player



This is a modern Japanese painting depicting an early 17th century 'Fuke-komosō' "Fuke Mat Monk"

- definitely not a 'komusō', 虚無僧 !!!

Web source - new link: Randokku blog

After 1628?, or from c. 1640?: ERA of the KOMUSŌ
- the "Lay Monks of the Non-dual & None-ness"

LAY MONKS of the NON-DUAL & NONENESS

1629:

The practice of fumi-e, 踏み絵 - the forced trampling of Christian images - is introduced and kept in constant national execution and effect through the year 1858.

The religious authorities of the Tokugawa shōgunate requires suspected Christians to step on images of Jesus Christ or the Virgin Mary in order to prove that they are not members of that outlawed religion.

 

Fumi-e: Jesus Christ & the Virgin Mary




Painting of a 'fumi-e' inquisitional ceremony by Keiga Kawahara, created sometime during 1800-1829.

Source: National Library of the Netherlands. Link: geheugenvannederland.nl

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Most probably 1630s-1640s:



Painting of three early 'komusō'?
Attributed to Iwasa Matabei, 1578-1650.
Possibly dating from the 1630s.

Owned by the Shingon Sect temple Tōya-san Fumon-ji Taishō-in near Matsudo City in NW. Chiba Pref. Source: Yamaguchi Masayoshi, 2005, p. 176.



Painting of three early 'komusō'?
Acc. to Kakizaki Shōhō this picture should date from the Genroku Period, 1688-1704.
If that were so, Iwasa Matabei, 1578-1650, cannot be the artist.

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Most probably 1630s-1640s:



Picture of an early 'komusō'? in a Kyōto street.
Detail of a yet not fully recognized and identified version
of a 'Raku-chū raku-gai zu byōbu'.
Possibly dating from the 1630s.
Source: Izumi Takeo, 2013, pp. 82-83.



You find the detail in the very bottom of the screen, right above the Japanese character, 'zu', 図.
The screen is a treasure of the Tanabe City Fine Arts Hall.
Source: Izumi Takeo, 2015, p. 81.

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Most probably 1630s-1640s:



Yet not fully identified and dated early 17th century 'komusō'? picture.
Possibly dating from the 1630s?
Exhibited at Matsudo City Museum, Matsudo-shi, NW Chiba Pref.



Detail



The above picture photographed at the Matsudo City Museum in Chiba
by Ronald Nelson, summer 2014.



Acc. to Bandō Jirō's weblog, however: From a (yet obscure!) 17th century art work entitled
Jidai fūzokuga-fuku", 時代風俗画幅, "Scroll with Pictures of Customs of the Day".

Postcard purchased by a companion of Bandō Jirō's at Matsudo City Museum in Autumn 2012

Link: Bandō Jirō's weblog

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1637-38 - THE SHIMABARA REBELLION

1637: Christian farmers, warriors, rōnin (masterless samurai) and others revolt against the authorities on the Shimabara Peninsula in Kyūshū.
When the uprising was put down in 1638, tens of thousands had been killed. All surviving rebels, numbering in the thousands, were decapitated.
Christianity was now strictly outlawed in Japan and informers were encouraged.




'Shimabara ran-zu byōbu'
"Folding screen depicting the rebellion at Shimabara".
Source: Wikipedia.

"LAY MONKS of the NON-DUAL & NONENESS"

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c. 1640-1645/1646: The term komu shizen, 虚無自然 is introduced.



Isshi Bunshu, 一絲和尚, a most renowned Rinzai Zen abbot whose master was the great Rinzai Zen master Takuan Sōhō (1573-1645), lived from 1608 to 1645 (or 1646).
Portrait preserved at the temple Hōjō-ji in Kameoka City, Kyōto Prefecture.

A letter from Abbot Isshi to a certain hermit named Sandō Mugetsu Anjū, 山堂無月庵主, presumably written shortly before Isshi's death in 1645/1646, presents the oldest known, surviving mention of the term 'komusō', 虚無僧, "Monk of the Non-Dual & None-ness".

Here is a carefully retouched scanning of a xerox copy of the original hand-scroll, supplied to me in April, 1985, by the Kōkoku Temple in Yura, Wakayama.

View a full reproduction of Abbot Isshi's Letter to the komusō Sandō Mugetsu as PDF file: 1 MB

Go to this webpage to study a full translation of Abbot Isshi's letter til Sandō Mugetsu:
Isshi Bunshu's Komu Shizen & Komusō Letter

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1658:

KYŌ WARABE by NAKAGAWA KIUN



Two wandering vertical flute players in a Kyōto street
Possible very early Edo Period 'komusō' -
"Lay Monks of the Non-Dual & None-ness"?
In: the 'Kyō warabe' by Nakagawa Kiun
The Remembering the Capital Archive, Kyōto

Source URL: Frame 13 in Volume 4 of the 'Kyō warabe'.
Source: The Remembering the Capital Archive, Kyōto.

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Probably no later than 1683:



A komusō playing a root-end shakuhachi in a Kyōto street
Detail from the 'Tohi zumaki', 都鄙図巻, "Town & Country Picture Scroll".
A very long and impressive picture scroll painted on silk. By Sumiyoshi Gukei, 1631-1705
Originally a treasure of the Konbu-in in Nara, now exhibited at (link) Tōkyō National Museum

Sumiyoshi Gukei was born and lived in Kyōto until 1683 when he moved to Edo,
present day Tōkyō, where he died in 1705.

In: Izumi Takeo, 2013, p. 93.

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1690:



Two 'komusō' playing long, thick root-end shakuhachi flutes
In: 'Jinrin kinmō zu-i', 1690 - Maki/Vol. 2
By Makieshi Genzaburō & Atsuo Masamune
The Library of Kyōto University
Link to Kyōto University's online presentation of this volume

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1695 - an entry about 'komosō', mat monks, in a Genroku Period encyclopedia:



A mendicant shakuhachi player wearing a pointed 'ami-gasa' straw hat
In: 'Kashiragaki zōho kimmō zu-i'
("Enlarged Elementary Encyclopedia with Illustrations"), 1695

A first edition, 'Kimmō zu-i', was published in 1666.
A third edition, 'Kashiragaki kinmō zu-i taisei', appeared in 1789.

Here, to the right of the flute player, the two kanji for 'komo-sō', 'mat monk',
are given. In the text block above, 'komo-sō' is explained
with the archaic terms of 'bo(n)ron', 'bo(n)ronji', 'kanji', and 'boro'.

The text concludes that a 'komo-sō' is using the shakuhachi for 'shugyō",
修行, "ascetic practice"
- which is, certainly, not only limited to Zen Buddhist traditions, however.

Shimane University Library Digital Archive #1316
Direct link: Volume 4-7, go to frame 8

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1768:



Book print of two 'komusō', 1768.
In: 'E-hon Azuma no hana', "Picture Book of Flowers of the East"
Illustration by Shigemasa Kitao, 1739-1820
Ritsumeikan University, Kyōto.



Source: http://www.rounanusi.jp/syakuhatisyouki/87mudai/86mudaitop.html

This is, so far, the oldest known 'komusō' picture the accompanying text of which
features the name of Fuke Zenji, 普化禅師, at the top, right.

The text at the top reads as follows:

Right side text:

尺八支那（しゃくはちハもろこし）の普化禅師にはじまり 本朝にては筑紫（つくし）の宮これを学び給ぶひけるにより 世々たへず行（おこなハ）るゝ。

"Shakuhachi began with Zen monk Fuke [P'u-k'o] in T'ang China [Morokoshi]. In our country [this dynasty] it was studied and taught in the Palace of the Nara Province [the Tsukushi Palace]."

Left side text:

名ある人ハ安田城長（やすだじやうなが）　大森宗勲（おおもりそうくん）等（とう）なり　今これを製 （ひらく）に　琴虎（きんこ）もって精（せい）とす。

"Famous people [who played it] were Yasuda Shironaga [Jônaga?], Ômori Sôkun and others. Nowadays it is being finely made strong with the use of 'kinko' [? lit. 'zither+tiger']."

Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson, 2017

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1789:



A shakuhachi player wearing a bee-hive-shaped 'tengai'
Do note that the Japanese characters to the left of the fluteplayer
reads 'komo-sō', not 'komo-sō'.

In: 'Kashiragaki zōho kinmo zu-i taisei'
('Enlarged Elementary Encyclopedia with Illustrations,
Complete edition'), Kansei 1, 1789, volume 4: "People".
Author: Nakamura Tekisai (1629-1702). Illustrator: Shimokawabe Shūsui.
The first edition, 'Kinmō zu-i', was published in 1666.
The second edition, 'Kashiragaki kinmō zu-i, appeared in 1695.

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1791:



Woodcut print of a 'komusō' receiving alms
In: 'Yamato meisho zue', 大和名所図絵, "Pictures from Famous Places in Japan"
Illustration by Takehara Shinkei, 1791
The National Museum of Denmark, Department of Ethnography, Copenhagen
Photo reproduction by John Lee.

Link to the Waseda University Library online archive - go to picture 43:
Woodcut print of a komusō receiving alms, 1791

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1806:



Wood cut print of a 'komusō'
No. 53, 'Kusatsu', in: 'Tōkaidō gojūsan tsugi',
"53 Stations of the Tōkaidō", 1806 edition.
Ukiyo-e print by Katsushika Hokusai, 1760-1849.

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1832:



Komusō in Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold's "Nippon", first published in 1832

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Possibly the late Edo Period during the 1800s:



Right section of the scroll. Click in the picture to enlarge and open in a new window.



Horizontal scroll depicting the Edo Period Myōan Temple in the Echigo Province. No date given.
Printed on the inside of the hardcover of Tomimori, 1979.
Left section of the scroll. Click in the picture to enlarge and open in a new window.

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Possibly the late Edo Period during the mid-1800s:



Gate of the Edo temple Ichigetu-ji in Machido, NW Chiba, during the 1800s.
In the illustrated news publication 'Fūzoku gahō', 風俗画報, No. 279, 1889.

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1860s? - The Final Days of the Edo Period komusō




Ichigetsu-ji komusō - late Tokugawa Period
Photograph in the collection of the Matsudo City Culture Hall, Tōkyō
Name of photographer unknown. In: Kikan hōgaku 5, 1975

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1860s?



Gate of the former Edo Period Myōan-ji in Eastern Kyōto
Source: Tomimori, 1979

With the abolition of the so called Fuke Sect of the komusō in late November, 1871 (Meiji 4),
all of its temples were closed and komusō mendicancy was prohibited.

Myōan-ji's precious statue of its legendary founder Kyochiku Ryōen Zenji was, together with various especially important Myōan-ji documents, entrusted to the Zennei'in, a small subtemple of the grand Tōfuku Zen temple in SE Kyōto.

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1861/1864:
"Japanischer Bettler als Klarinettbläser"
"A Japanese Beggar as Clarinet Player"
Komusō in Gustav A. Spieß, 1864, page 201

This is but the second oldest known Western picture of a performing shakuhachi-playing beggar lay monk. It was printed from an engraving based on an original photograph taken in 1861 somewhere in Nagasaki in SW Japan by either August Sachtler or John Wilson during the visit there of the official Prussian Expedition to Japan, 1860-61.

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1873:





Gate of the former Myōan-ji at Kitashirakawa Shimo-Ikeda-chō in Eastern Kyōto
In: Tomimori, 1979

THE MOVE

With the abolition of the "Fuke Sect" in late November, 1871 (Meiji 4),
all of its "temples" and haunts were ordered to be closed, the premises be sold off, while komusō mendicancy was prohibited.
Acc. to Kanagawa resident shakuhachi player Maekawa Kōgetsu, 前川耕月, updating his weblog in late April, 2018, the old Myōan-ji main gate was disassembled and moved to an elementary school in central Kyōto to be reassembled there.

Now, the old, worn Myōan-ji gate can be seen and appreciated within the precincts of the Yūzū Nenbutsu sect's mother temple Dainenbutsu-ji, 大念仏寺, in Hirano-ku, Ōsaka:




The old Myōan-ji gate reinstalled at Dainenbutsu-ji in Hirano-ku, Ōsaka. Photos: T.O.

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1890:




Higuchi Taizan - 1856-1914
Founded the Myōan Kyōkai and the Myōan Taizan-ha tradition of ascetic shakuhachi practice in 1890.
Time and photographer unknown.

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1903:



Oil painting by Sakaki Teitoku, 1858-1939: "Concert by Japanese and Western Instruments"
Nagasaki Prefectural Art Museum, Japan

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After 1890: 1910-1920? - Early modern Myōan kyōkai komusō



Myōan kyōkai komusō, possibly 1910-1920
Name of photographer unknown.
Source: pinterest.com

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Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin - 1904-1998

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1.8 foot Myōan Taizan-ha shakuhachi made by Ozawa Seizan
not later than early 1978. Photo by Christoffer Askman



Ozawa Seizan sensei, 1939-2012 - Spring 1978.
Photo: T.O.

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'MU-KU-TEKI SUI-ZEN'
"No Hole Flute - Blowing a Flute Non-dualistic Contemplation Practice"

Calligraphy signed 'Myōan Taizan', the 2nd present times
Myōan Temple chief monk Hirazumi Taizan, 平住台山, (a.k.a. Myōan Taizan),
inaugurated in 1952, died in 1984 (Shōwa 59).

Signature and stamps deciphered by Kosuge Daisetsu (Komusō kenkyūkai/Hosshin-ji),
and Sato Nakazato, Japan. A present to Torsten Olafsson
given by his teacher Ozawa Seizan in Summer, 1978

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Opening pages of a honkyoku folding book (ori-hon)
written by Matsumoto Kyozan, 松本虚三, dated 1985.

To the right: 'Suizen godō':
'Suizen Way of Buddhist Enlightenment'.

To the left the Sanskrit seed syllable 'A' (Jap.: 'A')
of the Buddha Mahāvairocana, or
Dainichi Nyorai, who resides in the center of the
Taizō-kai (Womb Realm) mandala (Skt.: Garbhadātu)
of Japanese Tantric Buddhism (Shingon).
© T.O.



Taizō-kai (Womb Realm) mandala - Tō-ji, Kyōto, 9th century
Source: Wikipedia, Japan



Vairocana Buddha (Jap.: Dainichi Nyorai) - Tōdai-ji, Nara, 8th c.
In Sino-Japanese Buddhism, Vairocana is seen as the embodiment
of the Buddhist concept of 'shunyata': "emptiness" - or rather: "non-duality".
Vairocana is a central figure in Japanese Shingon Buddhism.
Source: Wikipedia.



The Great Buddha Hall (Jap.: Daibutsu-den) - Tōdai-ji, Nara
in which the Great Vairocana Buddha is seated.
Source: Wikipedia, Japan

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