Kamo no Chōmei
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Kamo no Chōmei (鴨長明, 1155 – 1216) was a Japanese author, poet (waka), and essayist. He experienced a series of disasters in his life, was passed over for promotion within his shrine, and lost his political backing as a result. He decided to turn his back on society and became a hermit, living outside the capital. This is unusual because most people in Japan at the time, when they turned their backs on the world, joined monasteries, which were separate social systems and structures. Chomei is fairly unique because he did not join another establishment, merely moving from one system to another, but instead truly left much of the world behind when he became a recluse. His writings based on his experience living alone have been referred to as "recluse literature" (sōan bungaku).
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[edit] Early Life
Born with the name Kamo no Nagaakira, he was the second son of Kamo no Nagatsu, sho-negi or the superintendent of the Lower Kamo (Shimogamo) shrine. He was also known by the title, Kikudaifu. From an early age, he studied poetry and music in a comfortable living environment. At the time, the Upper and Lower Kamo Shrines owned large amounts of property near the around the Kamo river in northeastern Kyoto, holding great power and being respected by the aristocracy. Also, the Kamo festival, occurring in the middle of the fourth month, was considered the most important Shinto event by the aristocracy. Chōmei was raised under these religious and material conditions.
In 1160, his father Nagatsu was promoted to junior fourth rank, lower grade, which ultimately led the seven-year old Chōmei to being moved up to fifth rank, junior grade, high positions within the Kamo shrine. However, ill health and political maneuvering led his father to retire in 1169, and in the early 1170’s he died. Expecting to fill the vacant role left by his father, Chōmei, then in his late teens, was passed over and instead his cousin received a promotion to this position. He lamented being overlooked through some of his poetry in Kamo no Chômei Shû, after his cousin took his father’s position.
While Chōmei was in his twenties, he moved to his paternal grandmother’s house. Though the reasons are unclear for his moving there, disinheritance may have been the cause. Since Chomei’s father was the youngest in the family, he inherited his mother’s residence. In his thirties, Chōmei states in [[Hōjōki]] that after losing “backing” in his paternal grandmother’s house, he was forced out, and he built a small hut near the Kamo river. Chōmei would live here until he became a recluse.
In ""Hōjōki"", Chōmei states that he could leave the world behind because he was not attached to society by marriage or offspring. As a court poet in constant contact with woman servants, it still remains unclear but not uncertain he had amorous relationships.
[edit] Poet Life
After his father’s death, Chōmei became more interested in poetry, and three poets were influential to his literary growth. His mentor Shōmyō (1112-1187) was of the Rokujō school, which did not receive as much recognition because of a lack of patrons from the Imperial household. As his proofreader, Shōmyō taught Chōmei the finer techniques and mannerisms of a court poet. Kamo no Shigeyasu, the head Shinto Priest of the Upper Kamo Shrine, was also instrumental in developing Chōmei’s skill as a poet, inviting him to his poetry contests. By Shigeyasu’s influence and support, Chōmei finished a book of poems called Kamo no Chômei Shû in 1181. Another important figure in the development of Chōmei’s poetry was the poet priest Shun’e. Through his poetry circle known as Karin’en (Grove of Poetry), an amalgam of people including Shinto Priests, Buddhist Priests, low to mid ranking courtiers, and women in the court shared their writings. The tales from these meetings filled a large part of Mumyōshō.
Music played a significant role throughout Chōmei’s life. His musical mentor Nakahara Ariyasu was instructive in his development, and Chōmei, known as Kikudaifu by his audience, was known for his skill. In an account by Minamoto Ienaga’s, Chōmei’s love for music was shown by the sorrow he felt when he had to return a biwa called tenari to the emperor.
In his thirties, Chōmei enjoyed moderate success in poetry contests and inclusion into anthologies, such as the Senzaishu. With inventive phrasing to describe nature, such as “semi no ogawa” to describe the Kamo river, Chōmei caused a bit of controversy. Entering the poem with this phrase into the Kamo shrine’s official poetry contest, he lost because the judge thought he was writing about a river that did not exist. But Chōmei insisted that the phrase had been used before and was written in the records of the shrine. Chōmei seemed to have offended his cousin, the one who took over Nagatsu’s position of sho-negi. This episode shows that Chōmei still held a grudge against his cousin for becoming the new sho-negi. To rub in the embarrassment, the poem with this phrase was later included in the [[Shinkokinshu]].
Chōmei reached a turning point in his mid-forties, and his patron, the cloistered emperor Go-Toba was instrumental in his support for his poetry writing. To create an anthology (Shinkokinshu) to rival create the [[Kokinshu]], Go-Toba organized the Imperial Poetry Office, filled with numerous elite courtiers and literati, among whom Chōmei was assigned as a lower level member. As a member of this organization, Chōmei enjoyed benefits that would otherwise not be given to him, including visits to the Imperial Garden to view the cherry blossoms in bloom. Though a talented poet and in an organization of the social elite, his inferior positions led his colleagues to look down on him. Chōmei worked for the Imperial Poetry Office until he decided to become a recluse in 1204.
[edit] Life as a Recluse
Chōmei’s specific reason for becoming a recluse is unclear, but a string of bad luck, specifically the death of his father and his inability to fill the position left behind by him, may have caused him to leave the court life. Spending the next five years in Ohara located at the foot of Mount Hiei, Chōmei saw his time here as a failure, so he moved to Hino, where he spent the rest of his life. The design of the hut built in Hino was inspired by the dwelling of the Buddhist recluse named Vimalakirti. References from the Vimalakirti sutra also appear in the Hōjōki. Though the exact dates of completion are not known, Chōmei wrote Mumyōshō, Hosshinshū, and Hōjōki while living as a recluse. Though Chōmei states in the Hōjōki that he never left his dwelling, a separate account states that he made one trip to Kamakura visiting the shogun, Minamoto no Sanetomo.
During his later life, Chōmei maintained a socio-historical perspective that was unheard of from court poets during the time. This different perspective in writing literature could be attributed to his lower social status relative to other poets during his time. The historical accounts of chaos in the capital in the first part of the Hōjōki shows Chōmei’s social interest, coinciding with the spread of Buddhism to the general populace. Chōmei’s fascination with his enclosed natural surrounding of his hut as well as the natural disasters within the capital form his unique microscopic as well macroscopic view of life during a violent period of transition. Attention to nature and self-reflection characterize the genre of recluse literature and Chōmei as its prominent practitioner.
The precise date of Chōmei’s death is known, the tenth day of the intercalary six-month of 1216, because he asked Zenjaku to complete a koshiki, so he could reach Buddhahood in the afterlife. This request shows Chōmei’s faithful practice of Buddhism till his death.
[edit] Works
- "Kamo no Chōmei Shū"
- Hōjōki (方丈記)
- Mumyōshō (無名抄)
- Hosshinshū (発心集)
[edit] References
- Kamo no Chomei. Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World. Trans. Yasuhiko. Moriguchi and David. Jenkins. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 1996.
- Kamo no Chomei. The Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of Heike. Trans. A.L. Sadler. Charles E. Tuttle Company: Tokyo, 1972.
- Pandey, Rajyashree. "Writing and Renunciation in Medieval Japan: The Works of the Poet-Priest Kam no Chomei."The University of Michigan Press, 1998.
- Shirane, Haruo. "Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology Beginnings to 1600." Columbia University Press, New York 2007.
