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Matsuo Bashō

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Writers and critics

   A statue of Bashō in Hiraizumi, Iwate.
   Enlarge
   A statue of Bashō in Hiraizumi, Iwate.

   Matsuo Bashō (松尾 芭蕉, Matsuo Bashō^ ? 1644— 28 November 1694) was the
   most famous poet of the Edo period in Japan. During his lifetime, Bashō
   was renowned for his works in the collaborative haikai no renga form;
   today, he is recognized as a master of brief and clear haiku.

Early life

   Bashō's supposed birthplace in Iga Province.
   Enlarge
   Bashō's supposed birthplace in Iga Province.

   Bashō was born Matsuo Kinsaku in roughly 1644, somewhere near Ueno in
   Iga Province. His father may have been a low-ranking samurai, which
   would have promised Bashō a career in the military but not much chance
   of a notable life. However, in his childhood Bashō became a servant to
   Tōdō Yoshitada, who shared with Bashō a love for haikai, a sort of
   cooperative poetry that began with the 5-7-5 syllable format (now known
   as haiku) and continued with a 7-7 addition by another poet. Both Tōdō
   and Bashō gave themselves haigo, or haikai pen names; Bashō's was Sōbō,
   and he was also given the samurai name of Matsuo Munefusa. In 1662 the
   first extant poem by Bashō was published; in 1664 two of his hokku were
   printed in a compilation, and in 1665 Bashō and Yoshitada composed a
   one-hundred-verse renku with some acquaintances.

   Unfortunately, Yoshitada's sudden death in 1666 brought Bashō's
   peaceful life as a servant to an end. No records of this time remain,
   but it is believed that Bashō gave up the possibility of samurai status
   and left his home. Biographers have proposed various reasons and
   destinations, including the fanciful possibility of an affair between
   Bashō and a Shinto miko named Jutei. Bashō's own references to this
   time are utterly vague; he recalled that "at one time I coveted an
   official post with a tenure of land", and that "there was a time when I
   was fascinated with the ways of homosexual love", but there is no
   indication whether he was referring to real obsessions or even
   fictional ones. He was even conflicted over whether to become a
   full-time poet; by his own account, "the alternatives battled in my
   mind and made my life restless." In any case, his poems continued to be
   published in anthologies in 1667, 1669, and 1671, and he published his
   own compilation of various authors, Seashell Game (貝おほひ, Kai Ōi^ ?), in
   1672. In roughly the spring of that year he moved to Edo to further his
   study of poetry.

Rise to fame

   In Edo, Bashō's poetry was quickly recognized for its simple and
   natural style. He gave himself the haigo of Tōsei and by 1680 he had a
   full-time job teaching twenty disciples who published The Best Poems of
   Tōsei's Twenty Disciples (桃青門弟独吟二十歌仙, Tōsei-montei Dokugin-Nijukasen^
   ?), advertising their connection to Tōsei's talent. That winter, his
   disciples built him a rustic hut and planted a banana tree (芭蕉, bashō^
   ?) in the yard, giving Bashō a new haigo and his first permanent home.
   He wrote hokku in tribute to the Emperor:

          kabitan mo / tsukubawasekeri / kimi ga haru

                the Dutchmen, too, / kneel before His Lordship-- / spring
                under His reign. [1678]

   With this success, however, grew dissatisfaction and loneliness. He
   began practicing Zen meditation but apparently it did not soothe his
   fears. In the winter of 1682 the hut burned down, and his mother died
   early in 1683. He then travelled to Yamura to stay with a friend. In
   the winter of 1683 his disciples gave him a second hut in Edo, but his
   spirits did not improve. Instead, after publishing another compilation,
   Shrivelled Chestnuts (虚栗, Minashiguri^ ?), he left Edo in 1684 on the
   first of four major aimless wanderings.

   Travelling in medieval Japan was immensely dangerous, and at first
   Bashō expected to simply die in the middle of nowhere or be killed by
   bandits. As the trip progressed, his mood improved and he became
   comfortable on the road. He met many friends and grew to enjoy the
   changing scenery and the seasons. His poems took on a less
   introspective and more striking tone as he observed the world around
   him:

          uma wo sae / nagamuru yuki no / ashita kana

                even a horse / arrests my eyes--on this / snowy morrow
                [1684]

   The trip took him from Edo to Mount Fuji to Ueno and Kyoto. He met
   several poets who called themselves his disciples and wanted his
   advice; he told them to disregard the contemporary Edo style and even
   his own Shrivelled Chestnuts, saying it contained "many verses that are
   not worth discussing." He returned to Edo in the summer of 1685, taking
   time along the way to write more hokku and comment on his own life:

          toshi kurenu / kasa kite waraji / hakingara

                another year is gone / a traveller's shade on my head, /
                straw sandals at my feet [1685]

   When Bashō returned to Edo he happily resumed his job as a teacher of
   poetry at his Bashō Hut, although privately he was already making plans
   for another journey. The poems from his journey were published as
   Account of a Weather-beaten Skeleton (野ざらし紀行, Nozarashi kikō^ ?). In
   early 1686 he composed one of his best-remembered hokku:

          furuike ya / kawazu tobikomu / mizu no oto

                the old pond / a frog jumps in-- / water's sound [1686]

   Apparently this poem became instantly famous: by April the poets of Edo
   gathered at the Bashō Hut for a haikai no renga contest on the subject
   of frogs that seems to have been a tribute to Bashō's hokku, which was
   placed at the top of the compilation. Bashō stayed in Edo, continuing
   to teach and hold contests, with an excursion in the autumn of 1687
   when he travelled to the countryside for moon watching, and a longer
   trip in 1688 when he returned to Ueno to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
   As long as he stayed in his eponymous hut, Bashō would constantly be
   worrying about inviting over too many visitors and his perceived
   "idleness". At the same time, he enjoyed his life and had a subtle
   sense of humor, as reflected in his hokku:

          iza saraba / yukimi ni korobu / tokoromade

                now then, let's go out / to enjoy the snow... until / I
                slip and fall! [1688]

Oku no Hosomichi

   Bashō's private planning for another long journey culminated on 16 May
   1689, when he left with his student Kawai Sora on a trip to the
   Northern Provinces. Bashō and Sora headed north to Hiraizumi, which
   they reached on June 29. They then walked to the western side of the
   country, touring Kisakata on July 30, and began hiking back at a
   leisurely pace along the coastline. He completed the log of his
   journey, The Narrow Road to Oku (奥の細道, Oku no Hosomichi^ ?), in 1694.
   It is often considered his finest achievement, including hokku such as:

          araumi ya / Sado ni yokotau / amanogawa

                The rough sea / stretching out towards Sado / the Milky
                Way (1689)

   Bashō, with his apprentice Kawai Sora, started his journey from Edo on
   May 16, 1689, or Genroku 2, May 27. He traveled a total of 600 ri, or
   2400 kilometers, in 150 days, walking in the northeastern areas of
   Japan, and came back to Edo in 1691. By the time he came to Oogaki,
   Gifu, he had completed Oku no Hosomichi.

Later life

   In the winter of 1691, Bashō returned to Edo to live in his third Bashō
   hut, again provided by his disciples. This time, he was not alone; he
   took in a nephew and his female friend, Jutei, who were both recovering
   from illness. He had a great many visitors.
   Bashō's grave in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture.
   Enlarge
   Bashō's grave in Ōtsu, Shiga Prefecture.

   Bashō continued to be uneasy with his job. He wrote to a friend that
   "disturbed by others, I have no peace of mind". He continued to make a
   living from teaching and appearances at haikai parties until late
   August of 1693, when he shut the gate to his Bashō Hut and refused to
   see anybody for a month. Finally, he relented after adopting the
   principle of karumi or "lightness", a semi-Buddhist philosophy of
   greeting the mundane world rather than separating himself from it.
   Bashō left Kyoto for the last time in the summer of 1694, and spent
   time in Ueno and Kyoto before coming to Osaka. He became sick with a
   stomach illness and died peacefully, surrounded by his disciples.

Influence and literary criticism

   Rather than sticking to the formula of kigo (季語, kigo^ ?) which remain
   popular in Japan even today, Bashō aspired to reflect real human
   emotion in his hokku. Even during his lifetime, the effort and style of
   his poetry was widely appreciated; after his death, it only increased.
   Several of his students compiled quotations from him about his own
   poetry, most notably Mukai Kyorai and Hattori Dohō.

   During the 18th century, appreciation of Bashō's poems grew more
   fervent, and commentators such as Ishiko Sekisui and Moro Nanimaru went
   to great length to find references in his hokku to historical events,
   medieval books, and other poems. These commentators were often lavish
   in their praise of Bashō's obscure references, some of which were
   probably literary false cognates. In 1793, Bashō was deified by the
   Shinto bureaucracy, and for a time criticizing his poetry was literally
   blasphemous.

   It was not until the late 19th century that this period of unanimous
   passion for Bashō's poems came to an end. Masaoka Shiki, arguably
   Bashō's most famous critic, tore down the long-standing orthodoxy with
   his bold and candid objections to Bashō's style. However, Shiki was
   also instrumental in making Bashō's poetry accessible to leading
   intellectuals and the Japanese public at large. He invented the term
   haiku (replacing hokku) to refer to the freestanding 5-7-5 form which
   he considered the most artistic and desirable part of the haikai no
   renga.

   Critical interpretation of Bashō's poems continued into the 20th
   century, with notable works by Yamamoto Kenkichi, Imoto Nōichi, and
   Ogata Tsutomu. The 20th century also saw translations of Bashō's poems
   into languages and editions around the world.

Trivia

     * One of the most famous hokku attributed to Bashō (Matsushimaya Aa
       Matsushimaya Matsushimaya, extolling the wordless beauty of
       Matsushima Bay) was actually written by a late Edo period poet,
       Tawarabo.

     * A haiku by Bashō is quoted by the main character in "Teddy", a
       short story by J. D. Salinger.

     * Several haiku by Bashō are quoted in Ian Fleming's novel You Only
       Live Twice.

     * 1960's musician Robbie Basho, who released many album's on John
       Fahey's famed Takoma record label, was brought up Daniel R.
       Robinson by his adopted parents. Upon discovering the poetry of
       Matsuo Basho he decided to change his name to Robbie Basho. The
       current German guitar player Steffen Basho-Junghans incorporated
       the Basho into his name after becoming interested in the poetry of
       Matsuo Basho through the music of Robbie Basho.

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