|
ca. 1685-1690: The Yōshū fu-shi
& Jinrin kinmō zu-i - Evidence of Kyōto Myōan-ji
妙安寺 - MYŌAN-JI
雍州府志
1682-1686: YŌSHŪFU-SHI - Records of the Kyōto Area
雍州府志 巻四
寺院門上
妙安寺
在 蓮華王院 南 而為禪刹。
"Records of the Kyōto Area, Volume 4
Temples & Shrines, Part 1
Myōan-ji is located south of the Rengeō-in,
蓮華王院, "Hall of the Lotus King" [the Sanjūsangen-dō], and it is a Zen temple."
The descriptive text continues like this, in Max Deeg's translation (Deeg, 2007, p. 26):
"In the recent past there was a strange monk called Roan. Nobody knows where he comes from. At his time he was very close to master Ikkyū of the Daitoku-ji,
Ryūgoku-zan 龍寶山. He had a predilection for the practice of the wind-holes (that is: flutes) and he loved to blow the shakuhachi.
He called himself 'the ascetic wind-hole' (fūketsu-dōsha 風穴道者).
Originally he lived in the district of Uji 宇治 in the (hermitage) Kyūkō-an
吸江菴.
He also lived in this temple (Myōan-ji) for a while. As people say, this is the main temple of the komusō."
"
This may be regarded as the earliest known written reference to the Kyōto Myōan Temple in South Eastern Kyōto (Higashiyama Area)
although the name is written with different characters.
The famous Sanjūsangen-dō, 三十三間堂, with its 1001 golden Kannon statues is situated
just south of the present Shichi-jō Avenue in the Higashiyama area.
However, there is general consensus that not long afterwards and until 1871 the Kyoreizan Myōan-ji was rather located a short distance to the North,
in the close neighbourhood of the famous Edo Period Dai-butsu, 大仏, "Great Buddha",
of the Tendai temple Hōkō-ji, 方広寺, right north of the Toyokuni Shrine.
Other close neighbours in this area are the present-day Kyōto National Museum to the South and the Myōhō-in to the East.
10 volumes by Kurokawa Dōyū, died 1691.
Source: Yamaguchi, 2005, p. 82.
Trsl. Torsten Olafsson, 2013.
托鉢修行 - TAKUHATSU SHUGYŌ
根竹尺八 - KONJIKU SHAKUHACHI
人倫訓蒙図彙
1690 - JINRIN KINMŌ ZU-I
"An Illustrated Dictionary of Human Matters", or: "An Illustrated Vocabulary of Human Relations"
Two 'komusō' playing root-end shakuhachi
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
In: Ueno, 2002, p. 219
This is the so far possibly oldest known surviving picture showing 'komusō'
performing 'taku-hatsu',
托鉢,
or: 'being entrusted with a bowl'
(practicing ascetic religious mendicancy) at the gate of a house.
Their flutes are certainly of the heavy 'kon-jiku',
根竹, or "root-end" type.
Do note that the figure to the left is clad in the traditional dress of a Buddhist monk whereas the figure on the right is wearing
the - apparently representive - outfit of the early 'komusō'.
The text accompanying. and sort of "explaining". the picture in Volume 2 of this encyclopedia is to be located but a few pages after the picture page itself - in frame 48 of the online edition:
Close to the upper right corner of the page to the right you see this text section with the heading 'Shakuhachi':
Here the original wording presented as online digital Japanese kanji ideographs:
尺八
其長一尺八寸のゆえに尺八と号す。
楊貴妃の哀音を表すとかや。
玄宗帝の作なり。
唐土の僧普化和尚、これを愛せらる。
今、虚毛僧は此末流なり。
In English:
"Because its length is 1 foot 8 inches, it is called shakuhachi.
Maybe it expresses the sad voice of the Willow Princess ... ?
It originates in an occult, noble sect.
The Chinese T'ang Dynasty monk Fuke liked it [a lot].
Today, the Kyomōsō are the descendants [of his]."
Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson, 2018.
|
|
