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Saikaku
was a Japanese poet and creator of the " floating world" genre of Japanese prose (''ukiyo-zōshi''). Born as Hirayama Tōgo (平山藤五), the son of a wealthy merchant in Osaka, he first studied haikai poetry under Matsunaga Teitoku and later studied under Nishiyama Sōin of the Danrin school of poetry, which emphasized comic linked verse. Scholars have described numerous extraordinary feats of solo haikai composition at one sitting; most famously, over the course of a single day and night in 1677, Saikaku is reported to have composed at least 16,000 haikai stanzas, with some sources placing the number at over 23,500 stanzas. Later in life he began writing racy accounts of the financial and amorous affairs of the merchant class and the demimonde. These stories catered to the whims of the newly prominent merchant class, whose tastes of entertainment leaned toward the arts and pleasure districts. Biography Ihara Saikaku was born in 1642 into a well-off merchant family in Osa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ukiyo-zōshi
is the first major genre of popular Japanese fiction, written between the 1680s and 1770s in Kyoto and Osaka. ''Ukiyo-zōshi'' literature developed from the broader genre of ''Kanazōshi, kana-zōshi'', books written in the ''katakana'' vernacular for enjoyment, and was initially classified as ''kana-zōshi''. The term "''ukiyo-zōshi''" first appeared in 1710 in reference to amorous or erotic works, but the term later came to refer to literature that encompassed a variety of subjects and aspects of life during the Edo period with the most common being that of the ordinary townsperson. Books of this genre included ''ukiyo-e'' illustrations often made by the most prominent artists at the time. The most prominent author of ''ukiyo-zōshi'' was Ihara Saikaku, whose works were not regarded as high literature at the time, but became popular and were key to the development and spread of the new genre. Saikaku was preceded by and worked at the same time as many other authors such as Shoge ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Homosexuality In Japan
Records of men who have sex with men in Japan date back to ancient times. Western scholars have identified these as evidence of homosexuality in Japan. Though these relations had existed in Japan for millennia, they became most apparent to scholars during the Tokugawa (or Edo) period. Historical practices identified by scholars as homosexual include , and . The Japanese term is the Japanese reading of the same characters in Chinese, which literally mean "male colors". The character () has the added meaning of "lust" in both China and Japan. This term was widely used to refer to some kind of male-to-male sex in a pre-modern era of Japan. The term is also used, especially in older works. During the Meiji period ''nanshoku'' started to become discouraged due to the rise of sexology within Japan and the process of westernization. Modern terms for homosexuals include , , , or , , / and . Pre-Meiji Japan Historically, the Shinto religion "had no special code of morals a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Great Mirror Of Male Love
''The Great Mirror of Male Love'' (男色大鏡 ''Nanshoku Ōkagami''), with the subtitle ''The Custom of Boy Love in Our Land'' (本朝若風俗 ''Honchō Waka Fūzoku'') is a collection of homosexuality stories by Ihara Saikaku, published in 1687. The collection belongs to Ihara's Ukiyo, floating world genre of Japanese literature (浮世草子 Ukiyo-zōshi), and contains eight sections; each section contains five chapters, making 40 chapters in total. Contents ''The Great Mirror of Male Love'' has two parts: the first four sections (first 20 chapters) embody romantic relationships between warriors and monks; the next four sections center about the Kyoto-Osaka theatres, dealing with male loving stories about the kabuki actors. The stories are usually about Homoeroticism, homoerotic relationships between an adult male and an adolescent youth; the ethical constraints are very much like that of a man and a woman. In the first four sections, the samurai senior lovers are the image of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Life Of Oharu
is a 1952 Japanese historical fiction film directed by Kenji Mizoguchi from a screenplay by Yoshikata Yoda. It stars Kinuyo Tanaka as Oharu, a one-time concubine of a ''daimyō'' (and mother of a later ''daimyō'') who struggles to escape the stigma of having been forced into prostitution by her father. ''The Life of Oharu'' is based on various stories from Ihara Saikaku's 1686 work ''The Life of an Amorous Woman''. The film was produced by the Shintoho Company and executive produced by Isamu Yoshiji, with cinematography by Yoshimi Hirano. The production designer was Hiroshi Mizutani and Isamu Yoshi was the historical consultant. Plot The story opens on Oharu as an old woman in a temple flashing back through the events of her life. It begins with her love affair with a page, Katsunosuke, the result of which (due to their class difference) is his execution and her family's banishment. Oharu attempts suicide but fails and is sold to be the mistress of Lord Matsudaira with the hop ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Life Of An Amorous Woman
is a novel depicting the "floating world" of Edo period Japan, written by and published in 1686. Plot summary A man of the world who lives in the capital city Kyoto travels to , a suburban district of Kyoto, with some friends. They meet an old woman who lives in a grass hut and listen to the story of her life experiences. She was born as the daughter of a family of court nobles, but lost her privileged status and fell through the ranks of both the nobility and the pleasure quarters; first as the mistress of a , then as a courtesan Courtesan, in modern usage, is a euphemism for a "kept" mistress or prostitute, particularly one with wealthy, powerful, or influential clients. The term historically referred to a courtier, a person who attended the court of a monarch or other ..., and then finally as a common streetwalker. At each stage, the woman tried to free herself from the situations she found herself in, but was trapped by her own nature causing her to fail. Adaptation ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kenji Mizoguchi
was a Japanese film director and screenwriter, who directed about one hundred films during his career between 1923 and 1956. His most acclaimed works include ''The Story of the Last Chrysanthemums'' (1939), ''The Life of Oharu'' (1952), ''Ugetsu'' (1953), and '' Sansho the Bailiff'' (1954), with the latter three all being awarded at the Venice International Film Festival. A recurring theme of his films was the oppression of women in historical and contemporary Japan. Together with Akira Kurosawa and Yasujirō Ozu, Mizoguchi is seen as a representative of the "golden age" of Japanese cinema. Biography Early years Mizoguchi was born in Hongō, Tokyo, as the second of three children, to Zentaro Miguchi, a roofing carpenter, and his wife Masa. The family's background was relatively humble until the father's failed business venture of selling raincoats to the Japanese troops during the Russo-Japanese War. The family was forced to move to the downtown district of Asakusa and gave Mi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nishiyama Sōin
was a '' haikai-no-renga'' poet of the early Tokugawa period. R H Blyth called Sōin "one of the Fathers of Haiku". Influence and importance Sōin founded the Danrin school of haikai poetry, which aimed to move away from the serious 'bookishness' popular in Japanese poetry at the time and become more in touch with the common people, infusing a spirit of greater freedom into their poetry. Their poems explored the floating world of popular urban amusements in a fully colloquial style. Sōin's haikai (comical renga) became the transition between the light and clever haikai of Matsunaga Teitoku and the more serious and aesthetic renku of Matsuo Bashō. Disciples Among the most important members of his school were Ichū, a versatile figure who also painted and wrote waka, and Saikaku.L Zolbrod, ''Haiku Painting'' (1982) p. 7 See also *Haiga is a style of Japanese painting that incorporates the aesthetics of ''haikai''. ''Haiga'' are typically painted by haiku poets (''ha ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Danrin School
The Danrin school (談林派) is a school of haikai poetry founded by the poet Nishiyama Sōin (1605 to 1682). The name literally means 'talkative forest' – in other words a ‘Literary Forest’. Origins The school arose in reaction against the serious "bookishness" and concern for traditional culture popular in Japanese poetry at the time, under the influence of Matsunaga Teitoku and the Teimon school. In place of their formalism and didacticism, the new school looked to humour and low comedy for fresh inspiration,as well as to becoming more in touch with the common people, and therefore infusing a greater spirit of freedom into their poetry. Themes and language The Danrin school favored plain language, everyday subjects, and the use of humor, often mocking or debunking the elegance of court waka. Its members explored people's daily life for sources of playfulness, but while opening up the world of haiku to fresh influences, they ran the risk of ending up with mere frivolit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1693 Deaths
Events January–March * January 11 – 1693 Sicily earthquake: Mount Etna erupts, causing a devastating earthquake that affects parts of Sicily and Malta. * January 22 – A total lunar eclipse is visible across North and South America. * February 8 – The College of William & Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia is granted a Royal charter. * February 27 – The publication of the first women's magazine, titled ''The Ladies' Mercury'', takes place in London. It is published by the Athenian Society. * March 27 – Bozoklu Mustafa Pasha becomes the new Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire, after Sultan Ahmed II appoints him as the successor of Çalık Ali Pasha. April–June * April 4 – Anne Palles becomes the last accused witch to be executed for witchcraft in Denmark, after having been convicted of using powers of sorcery. King Christian V accepts her plea not to be burned alive, and she is beheaded before her body is set afire. * April 5 – The Order of Saint Louis ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Edo Period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characterized by economic growth, strict social order, isolationist foreign policies, a stable population, perpetual peace, and popular enjoyment of arts and culture. The period derives its name from Edo (now Tokyo), where on March 24, 1603, the shogunate was officially established by Tokugawa Ieyasu. The period came to an end with the Meiji Restoration and the Boshin War, which restored imperial rule to Japan. Consolidation of the shogunate The Edo period or Tokugawa period is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's regional '' daimyo''. A revolution took place from the time of the Kamakura shogunate, which existed with the Tennō's court, to the Tok ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1642 Births
Year 164 ( CLXIV) was a leap year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Macrinus and Celsus (or, less frequently, year 917 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 164 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * Emperor Marcus Aurelius gives his daughter Lucilla in marriage to his co-emperor Lucius Verus. * Avidius Cassius, one of Lucius Verus' generals, crosses the Euphrates and invades Parthia. * Ctesiphon is captured by the Romans, but returns to the Parthians after the end of the war. * The Antonine Wall in Scotland is abandoned by the Romans. * Seleucia on the Tigris is destroyed. Births * Bruttia Crispina, Roman empress (d. 191) * Ge Xuan (or Xiaoxian), Chinese Taoist (d. 244) * Yu Fan Yu Fan (, , ; 164–233), court ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tuttle Publishing
Tuttle Publishing, originally the Charles E. Tuttle Company, is a book publishing company that includes Tuttle, Periplus Editions, and Journey Editions.Tutttle Publishing: About us Retrieved on April 17, 2010.Grant, T. (1997): ''International directory of company histories'' (Vol. 86, 2nd ed., pp. 404–405). Chicago, IL: Saint James Press. () A company profile describes it as an "International publisher of innovative books on design, cooking, martial arts, language, travel and spirituality with a focus on China, Japan and Southeast Asia."The London Book Fair: Tuttle Publishing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
