Japanese Culture: Identity and Tradition

It's influence traditionally and also in modern times.

Aware / mono no aware
The beauty of pathos, poignancy, sensitivity to things, the capacity to be moved emotionally by things.
An inherent pathos/poingancy of life. Inherently fleeting, insubstantial (and therefore lonely) nature.
It is this that in the beginning Japanese poets saw as the highest form of Aesthetic impression.

Waka (classical, court poetry) this is the central element / aesthetic of the tale of Genji.

In oldest use an exclamation of surprise or delight, but then gradually becomes a reaction tinged with melancholy/poignancy/sadness.

In the Manyooshuu, mid 8th century) it is most commonly used to express the emotion evoked in poets on hearing the melancholy call of birds and animals.

Kokinshuu (905), perceive the brevity of life by observing nature.

"to the quiet and the ephemeral beauty of a dew touched garden in the morning"
This sensitivity to things as central to the refined elegance (miyabi) which was the key element in the life / behaviour of the courtier and court lady.

My early medieval period (late 12th, early 13th) the association of aware with sadness and loneliness (sabi) had become particularly strong.

Aware/ mono no aware the most fundamental aesthetic concept in Japanese culture.

Yuugen
The beauty of mystery and depth, profundity, the mystery and profundity of existence.

Suggestion / understatement / intimation / symbolism gesturing towards great depth. Towards things that cannot be grasped or expressed in language. Towards the eternal or spiritual.

Associated not only with Noh theatre, but also poetry. Monochrome / ink painting, Zen gardens, the Tea Ceremony and te arts of the medieval period. But most chiefly associated with the Noh theatre.

Manifested in Noh through
It's a symbolic theatre, not based on direct realism. Through stillness and minimalist movements of the actor. This is because it is meant to prompt the viewer into a consideration of the profound.

Developed primarily out of a shift in the late Heian / early Kamakura periods towards placing the highest value in poetry on lingering on emotion or resonance (yojoo), depth and mystery through suggestion.

[There are some beautiful examples in the slides. ]

Wabi / Sabi
The two are
Wabi - Lack, deprived, poverty stricken.
Sabi - loneliness, the desolate, oldness and agedness, fadedness.

Associated with most of the art forms and artistic practices of the medieval period (kamakura, Muromachi) but in particular, as sabi, with poetry (renga and haiku [primarily bashoo].

The wabi aesthetic in the Tea Ceremony.
-Simple, aesthetic, unpretentious beauty.
Lack of adornment of utensils, chashitsu and the practice of the ceremony itself.
Evokes elemental, pure beauty. An elemental beauty. Transcendent.

Imperfect, irregular beauty.

Austere, irregular beauty.
Rigourous simplicty and lack of adornment in the tea utensils.

Overview -- Essays in Idleness (つれずれぐさ）
Kamakura - Muromachi Period

Aware, Yuugen, wabi/sabi. These three concepts are interconnected.

These three are the most important aesthetics in Japanese culture, and have played the most significant role.

How is tradition constructed?

How is it that elements central to tradition
The 'classics' are not immutable. They are constructed that they reflects the
They are constructed by history.
What makes it a classic, or great - eligible to be deemed in a cultural tradition, is how it is conceived and how value in it is generated, how it is reproduced and constructed in different ways.
Any work in any genre is constantly being reproduced and re created from the instant it is created.

There was this literary hierarchy of 'value', ranging from the highest of Chinese literature to the bottom - monogatari.

Learning and culture in general was all about Chinese learning.
This was demoted around the medieval period, and then further demoted at the coming of the Meiji restoration, when western literature was put on the highest rung.

In the kokinshuu, the preface was written in native language, in an attempt to raise the regard for the Japanese language.

I'm going to have to spend all day tomorrow in the library researching my Tea Ceremony Essay.

It's influence traditionally and also in modern times.

Aware / mono no aware
The beauty of pathos, poignancy, sensitivity to things, the capacity to be moved emotionally by things.
An inherent pathos/poingancy of life. Inherently fleeting, insubstantial (and therefore lonely) nature.
It is this that in the beginning Japanese poets saw as the highest form of Aesthetic impression.

Waka (classical, court poetry) this is the central element / aesthetic of the tale of Genji.

In oldest use an exclamation of surprise or delight, but then gradually becomes a reaction tinged with melancholy/poignancy/sadness.

In the Manyooshuu, mid 8th century) it is most commonly used to express the emotion evoked in poets on hearing the melancholy call of birds and animals.

Kokinshuu (905), perceive the brevity of life by observing nature.

"to the quiet and the ephemeral beauty of a dew touched garden in the morning"
This sensitivity to things as central to the refined elegance (miyabi) which was the key element in the life / behaviour of the courtier and court lady.

My early medieval period (late 12th, early 13th) the association of aware with sadness and loneliness (sabi) had become particularly strong.

Aware/ mono no aware the most fundamental aesthetic concept in Japanese culture.

Yuugen
The beauty of mystery and depth, profundity, the mystery and profundity of existence.

Suggestion / understatement / intimation / symbolism gesturing towards great depth. Towards things that cannot be grasped or expressed in language. Towards the eternal or spiritual.

Associated not only with Noh theatre, but also poetry. Monochrome / ink painting, Zen gardens, the Tea Ceremony and te arts of the medieval period. But most chiefly associated with the Noh theatre.

Manifested in Noh through
It's a symbolic theatre, not based on direct realism. Through stillness and minimalist movements of the actor. This is because it is meant to prompt the viewer into a consideration of the profound.

Developed primarily out of a shift in the late Heian / early Kamakura periods towards placing the highest value in poetry on lingering on emotion or resonance (yojoo), depth and mystery through suggestion.

[There are some beautiful examples in the slides. ]

Wabi / Sabi
The two are
Wabi - Lack, deprived, poverty stricken.
Sabi - loneliness, the desolate, oldness and agedness, fadedness.

Associated with most of the art forms and artistic practices of the medieval period (kamakura, Muromachi) but in particular, as sabi, with poetry (renga and haiku [primarily bashoo].

The wabi aesthetic in the Tea Ceremony.
-Simple, aesthetic, unpretentious beauty.
Lack of adornment of utensils, chashitsu and the practice of the ceremony itself.
Evokes elemental, pure beauty. An elemental beauty. Transcendent.

Imperfect, irregular beauty.

Austere, irregular beauty.
Rigourous simplicty and lack of adornment in the tea utensils.

Overview -- Essays in Idleness (つれずれぐさ）
Kamakura - Muromachi Period

Aware, Yuugen, wabi/sabi. These three concepts are interconnected.

These three are the most important aesthetics in Japanese culture, and have played the most significant role.

The Tea Ceremony
Originated in China (as much of what we look at did) but it was cultivated especially by Japan.

Technically speaking it's not an art form as such, it's a practice, a living art, if you like. But it has no written or visual aspect of it.

Tea was brought to Japan from China, right at the beginning of contact with China.

Not only as a beverage, but also a social pastime of the people of the court.

The popularity decreases, but Zen Buddhism preists at the end of the 12th century bring it back into popularity with renewed contact with China. This was because of it's health attributes - to mind and body, and as a stimulant during long mediation sessions (to keep them alert and awake). 禅　means to meditate.

Powdered tea was developed for this purpose.

By the 13th and 14th centuries, consumption spreads over all classes, and in the 14th century tea judging contests arise as a pastime amongst the samurai elite.

The display of initially primarily elite scrolls

During the 15th century rules were codified:　茶室
Based on study rooms in Zen temples. This was the appropriate place to gather for tea. The consumption of tea becomes an aesthetic practice.

The 16th century saw the development of the tea room that we see today. Tatami room (small) with a recess for displaying a single aesthetic arangement. (Flower, hanging). And maybe a recess for boiling the tea. Sometimes with a low "crawling" entranceway.

The tea room is austere, natural, rather than showing displays of wealth etc.
The wabi-cha aesthetic here - taking this to the extreme, we have what we see today.

Use native, rough textured pottery, unadorned, minimal utensils. 4.5 - 6 mats in the tea room. The room is unadorned except for the simplest of hanging or arrangement.

It's a ritualised practice of the consumption of tea for an aesthetic and spiritual experience. There's an appreciation of the objects of the objects in the room. The bamboo whisk, and the bowl etc. Each utensil is there for not only it's practical use but also it's aesthetic appreciation.

The entire process is scripted.

It's powdered tea, so it needs to be whisked.
Contemplating the tea bowl
Contemplating the flower on display.

The actual tea drinking is a miniscule amount of time compared to everything else.

There is only one bowl used, so each othe guests iff number(guests) > 1.

There is a host figure who does the preparation and the serving and the cleaning up.

Guests bring a serviette

The Wabi aesthetic - the concept of beauty associated with austereness, simplicity, poverty... more on that later.

The process is also about meditation. Practice is a key element in Zen. Not just Zazen, which is sitting mediation. Pracice itself is also viewed as a form of meditation.
Wabi - lack, lacking things, deprived, poverty-stricken.
Tea Ceremony isn't the only art form which employs it.
-Simple, unpretentious beauty.
Manifested in utensils, and the room itself.
Purity. The beauty of purity. Elemental beauty - not complicated.
Transcendant beauty, The lack of ornamentality.
Imperfect, irregular beauty.
Wooden pillars, cracks in the bowl. Bumps, etc aren't smoothed out.

We have a concept of beauty that rises from the irregularity and appreciation of natural untouched things.
things un worked by human hands.

Austere, stark beauty
Tranquility
Purity
A cold, 'withered' beauty (contrast to vivid or striking beauty - fullness of development and colour and completeness.)
Simple beauty

The tea ceremony as a spiritual practice.
Tea drinking was still around before Zen Buddhism arrived, but was re introduced in the Kamakura period by Zen Budddhist priests and monks.

The chief emphasis of Zen Buddhism - attain enlightenment through meditation
Other sects are more Salvationist like Christianity and Islam, where faith is placed in Jesus Christ / God. Whereas with Zen it is attained through contemplation. Through eradication of the self through meditation.
That can be anything from sweeping the floor, to anything really. Can be considered a form of meditation.

The tea ceremony as a spiritual practice
naturalness , irregularity, imperfection maps over the humility and harmony of the natural world.

The goal is to become to loose awareness of the self, and become one with the cosmos. It doesn't happen every time of course, but that's the goal.

[] Is there anywhere to do it in メルボルン？