Hyakunin Isshu, Poem 95
Translation and comments by Ad Blankestijn
(version September 2022)
though I am unworthy,
shield the people
of this wretched world,
my ink-black sleeves,
as I now live on wooded Mt Hiei
okenaku
ukiyo no tami ni
ou kana
waga tatsu soma ni
sumizome no sode
うき世の民に
おほふかな
わがたつそまに
墨染の袖
Jien 慈円 (1155-1225)
In that case the poem could have been written in 1192 when Jien became High Prelate of Enryakuji, the main Tendai temple on Mt Hiei. However, as the poem has been included in the Senzaishu which was compiled in 1188, such a dating is not possible.
Notes
- okenaku: "although I am inadequate", an expression of modesty.
- ukiyo no tami: "the folk of this wretched world"
- waga tatsu soma ni: Mt Hiei, literally "in these wooded hills," a quote from a poem by Saicho, the founder of Tendai Buddhism.
- sumi: a pun (kakekotoba), meaning both "to live" and "to dye one's clothes black" (as a priest).
- sumizome no sode: the black clothes worn by Buddhist priests.
The Poet
Jien (1155 - 1225) was the son of Fujiwara no Tadamichi (poem 76). His brother was the future regent Fujiwara no Kanezane. Jien became a Tendai monk early in his life, entering Shorenin at age eleven. He eventually rose to the rank of Daisojo or High Prelate, the leader of Tendai Buddhism. As waka poet, Jien took part in many poetic events sponsored by Emperor Go-Toba and was a member of the poetic circle of his nephew Yoshitsune (poem 91) and Teika. His personal poetry collection has been preserved and he is the second-best represented poet in the Shinkokinshu (after Saigyo). He has 267 poems in the Senzaishu and other imperial anthologies. He is also famous for his historiographic work, the Gukansho, in which he attempted to apply Buddhist principles such as "mappo" to the analysis of Japanese history. He held a pessimistic view of his age, claiming that it was a period of the disintegration of civilization.
[Enryakuji's main hall, Konponchudo, "on wooded Mt Hiei"]
Visiting
Enryakuji, the headquarters of Tendai Buddhism on Mt Hiei, to the northeast of Kyoto, is huge. It was founded in 788 as a simple meditation hut by Saicho (767-822), and from the beginning, was first and for all a center of scholarship. It brought forth a long line of famous priests and thinkers and also acted as the incubation center for most new types of Buddhism. Honen, Shinran, Eisai, Dogen and Nichiren all studied on Mt. Hiei, before discovering their own direction. The Light of the Law, symbolically kept burning in a lantern in Enryakuji's main hall, has been shining through the ages.
Saicho had studied the teachings of the Tiantai School, a Chinese Buddhist movement named after the mountain on which the main monastery is located, and in 804 he decided to make the perilous journey to China to apprentice with monks on Mount Tiantai. When he returned to Japan in 805, he possessed all the historical and philosophical knowledge of the Tiantai school. His hut on Mt Hiei grew into a large temple from which he spread Tendai teachings and trained monks. When the Japanese capital was moved to neighboring Heiankyo, present-day Kyoto, in 794, it became the city's protective temple.
What Saicho introduced to Japan was not just the Tiantai doctrine, based on the Lotus Sutra and the idea that every person possesses the Buddha nature in embryo. He also taught elements of Zen, esoteric mikkyo, and vinaya. The tendency to combine elements of different movements was continued by Saicho's successors Ennin and Enchin.
Enryakuji consists of three precincts: the Toto or Eastern Precinct, where the main temple stands, and which includes the massive Konponchudo, Enryakuji's Main Hall, and the Daikodo or Great Lecture Hal as well as the temple museum; the more quiet Saito or Western Precinct; and the little visited Yokawa area, which is four kilometers further north. See the website of the Hieizan Biwako Panoramic Route for ways of access.
References: Pictures of the Heart, The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image by Joshua S. Mostow (University of Hawai'i Press, 1996); One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each, by Peter MacMIllan (Penguin Classics); Traditional Japanese Poetry, An Anthology, by Steven D. Carter (Stanford University Press, 1991); Hyakunin Isshu by Inoue Muneo, etc. (Shinchosha, 1990); Genshoku Hyakunin Isshu by Suzuki Hideo, etc. (Buneido, 1997); Chishiki Zero kara no Hyakunin Isshu, by Ariyoshi Tamotsu (Gentosha); Hyakunin Isshu Kaibo Zukan, by Tani Tomoko (X-Knowledge); Ogura Hyakunin Isshu at Japanese Text Initiative (University of Virginia Library Etext Center); Hyakunin Isshu wo aruku by Shimaoka Shin (Kofusha Shuppan); Hyakunin Isshu, Ocho waka kara chusei waka e by Inoue Muneo (Chikuma Shoin, 2004); Basho's Haiku (2 vols) by Toshiharu Oseko (Maruzen, 1990); The Ise Stories by Joshua S. Mostow and Royall Tyler (University of Hawai'i Press, 2010); Kokin Wakashu, The First Imperial Anthology of Japanese Poetry by Helen Craig McCullough (Stanford University Press, 1985); Kokinshu, A Collection of Poems Ancient and Modern by Laurel Rasplica Rodd and Mary Catherine Henkenius (University of Tokyo Press, 1984); Kokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1994); Shinkokin Wakashu (Shogakkan, 1995); Taketori Monogatari-Ise Monogatari-Yamato Monogatari-Heichu Monogatari (Shogakkan, 1994).
Illustration: Wikipedia. Photo Konponchudo: own work.
Hyakunin Isshu Index