Komusō
   HOME
*





Komusō
The (also romanized or ) were a group of Japanese mendicant monks of the Fuke school of Zen Buddhism who flourished during the Edo period (1603–1867). were characterized by a straw basket (a sedge or reed hood known as a ) worn on the head, manifesting the absence of specific ego but also useful for traveling incognito. They were also known for playing solo pieces on the (a type of bamboo flute). These pieces, called ("fundamental pieces"), were played during a meditative practice called , in return for alms, as a method of attaining enlightenment, and as a healing modality. During the Meiji period (1868–1912), the Japanese government formally abolished the Fuke sect. Documentation of the musical repertoire of the performers survived, and it has been revived in the 21st century. History According to a legend dating from 1795, a Japanese priest returned from China in the middle of the 13th century and purportedly brought the with him, though this is considered t ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Fuke-shū
or Fuke Zen was, according to the legend, a distinct and ephemeral derivative school of Zen Buddhism that originated as an offshoot of the Rinzai school during the nation's feudal era, lasting from the 13th century until the late 19th century. There are however no historical records to support this. Fuke-shū traced its philosophical roots to the eccentric Zen master Puhua (J. ''Fuke''), as well as similarities and correspondences with the early Linji school, one of the Five Houses of Chan, and previous Chan Buddhism traditions, particularly Huineng's "Sudden Enlightenment", in Tang China. The connection to the Zen master Puhua has not been established in historical records, except for a text that was published in 1795 but is most likely a made-up story in order to institutionalize the monks of the Fuke sect. Fuke monastics or ''komusō'' were noted for playing the shakuhachi as a form of meditation known as suizen ("blowing meditation"), an innovation from the earlier zaz ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Puhua
Zhenzhou Puhua (Chinese: traditional: 鎮州普化, simplified: 普化, pinyin: ''Zhenzhou Pǔhuà''; Japanese: ''Jinshu Fuke'', honorifically ''Fuke Zenji'' (lit. "Zen master Fuke")—allegedly ca. 770–840 ''or'' 860), also called P'u-k'o, and best known by his Japanese name, Fuke, was a Chinese Chán (Zen) master, monk-priest, wanderer and eccentric, mentioned in the ''Record of Linji'' (J. ''Rinzai-roku'' 臨剤録). Fuke was used to create a legend for the komusō samurai-monks that appeared in Edo-period Japan. They used their self-named Fuke Zen to establish a constructed connection to Japanese Rinzai Zen Buddhism in the 17th or 18th century. The legend is written in the ''Kyotaku Denki'' (虚鐸伝記), first published in 1795 together with a "Japanese Translation" of the "original" in literary Chinese (''kanbun''). The original text may have been written in the middle of the 17th century, but there are no historic texts to support this. For the komusō (虚無僧) ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Honkyoku
''Honkyoku'' (本曲, "original pieces") are the pieces of shakuhachi music collected in the 18th century by a Komuso of the Japanese Fuke sect Kinko Kurosawa. It was believed that these pieces were played by the members of the Fuke Sect. The Fuke sect was a Japanese sect of masterless samurai (Ronins) self called komusō "Lay Monks of the Non-Dual & None-ness". According to Japanologist Torsten Olafsson ''"Having become masterless samurai in a time of peace and having had to join the growing groups of flute-playing beggars to survive, like the komosō:, those rōnin did no longer enjoyed the privileges and relative security of belonging to any ordinary families, or households, that could be inspected, approved, and registered every year under the new "Danka System", as a result in 1640 they organized themselves as sincere members of some kind of a "new" native Buddhist movement that played the shakuhachi' It is believed that after the crushing of the revolt of ronins around Sh ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kasa (hat)
A is any one of several traditional Japanese hats. These include and . Grammar and etymology is the correct way to pronounce the word when it stands alone. causes to change to when it is preceded by another word specifying the type of hat, as in . shares its etymology with the Japanese word for "umbrella" (also pronounced , but written as ). Types of A number of different styles of exist. Varieties of were used throughout most all levels of Japanese society. Some types of include: * : a wickerwork made of shaven bamboo or wood. * : a wickerwork . An is a straw hat of the type traditionally worn in some Japanese folk dances. * : a deep wickerwork . * : a type of commonly worn by samurai and (foot soldiers). The samurai class in feudal Japan, as well as their retainers and footsoldiers, used several types of made from iron, copper, wood, paper, bamboo, or leather. almost always had crests on them. * : typically a conical with a flat top, often worn by . * ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Shakuhachi
A is a Japanese and ancient Chinese longitudinal, end-blown flute that is made of bamboo. The bamboo end-blown flute now known as the was developed in Japan in the 16th century and is called the .Kotobank, Fuke shakuhachi.
The Asahi Shimbun
Kotobank, Shakuhachi.
The Asahi Shimbun
A bamboo flute known as the , which is quite different from the current style of , was introduced to Japan from China in the 7th century and died out in the 10th century.
[...More Info...]       [...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Rakusu
A is a traditionally Japanese garment worn around the neck of Zen Buddhists who have taken the precepts. It can also signify Lay Ordination. It is made of 16 or more strips of cloth, sewn together into a brick-like pattern by the student during their period of preparation for their jukai or ordination ceremony. There is no set standard, but the most common application of rakusu color is for the front of the rakusu to be black for priests and brown for teachers. The back of the rakusu is left white. The teacher will traditionally write the student's new Dharma name and occasionally their lineage. History The rakusu is a miniature version of a standard kāṣāya worn around the neck like a bib. The rakusu is a garment possibly of Chinese origins, potentially dating back to the periods of the Buddhist persecutions from which the Chán Buddhist tradition emerged as the strongest sect. The Buddha's original outer robe was a rectangular robe in the ratio of 6 by 9. The Bud ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Obi (sash)
An is a belt of varying size and shape worn with both traditional Japanese clothing and uniforms for Japanese martial arts styles. Originating as a simple thin belt in Heian period Japan, the developed over time into a belt with a number of different varieties, with a number of different sizes and proportions, lengths, and methods of tying. The , which once did not differ significantly in appearance between men and women, also developed into a greater variety of styles for women than for men. Despite the kimono having been at one point and continuing to appear to be held shut by the , many modern are too wide and stiff to function in this way, with a series of ties known as , worn underneath the , used to keep the kimono closed instead. are categorised by their design, formality, material, and use, and can be made of a number of types of fabric, with heavy brocade weaves worn for formal occasions, and some lightweight silk worn for informal occasions. are also made from m ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Kimono
The is a traditional Japanese garment and the national dress of Japan. The kimono is a wrapped-front garment with square sleeves and a rectangular body, and is worn left side wrapped over right, unless the wearer is deceased. The kimono is traditionally worn with a broad sash, called an , and is commonly worn with accessories such as zōri sandals and socks. Kimono have a set method of construction and are typically made from a long, narrow bolt of cloth known as a , though Western-style fabric bolts are also sometimes used. There are different types of kimono for men, women, and children, varying based on the occasion, the season, the wearer's age, and – less commonly in the modern day – the wearer's marital status. Despite the kimono's reputation as a formal and difficult-to-wear garment, there are types of kimono suitable for both formal and informal occasions. The way a person wears their kimono is known as . Though previously been the most common Japanese garm ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


Shaku (unit)
or Japanese foot is a Japanese unit of length derived (but varying) from the Chinese , originally based upon the distance measured by a human hand from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the forefinger (compare span). Traditionally, the length varied by location or use, but it is now standardized as 10/33 m, or approximately . Etymology in English entered English in the early 18th century,Oxford English Dictionary, Volume XV page 148 Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the English Language, 1986 a romanization of the Japanese Go-on reading of the character for . Use in Japan The had been standardized as since 1891. This means that there are 3.3 () to one meter. The use of the unit for official purposes in Japan was banned on March 31 1966, although it is still used in traditional Japanese carpentry and some other fields, such as kimono construction. The traditional Japanese bamboo flute known as the ( and ) derives its name from its length of one and eight . ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Shogunate
, officially , was the title of the military dictators of Japan during most of the period spanning from 1185 to 1868. Nominally appointed by the Emperor, shoguns were usually the de facto rulers of the country, though during part of the Kamakura period, shoguns were themselves figureheads, with real power in hands of the Shikken of the Hōjō clan. The office of shogun was in practice hereditary, though over the course of the history of Japan several different clans held the position. The title was originally held by military commanders during Heian period in the eighth and ninth centuries. When Minamoto no Yoritomo gained political ascendency over Japan in 1185, the title was revived to regularize his position, making him the first shogun in the usually understood sense. The shogun's officials were collectively referred to as the ; they were the ones who carried out the actual duties of administration, while the Imperial court retained only nominal authority.Beasley, William G ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Sengoku Period
The was a period in History of Japan, Japanese history of near-constant civil war and social upheaval from 1467 to 1615. The Sengoku period was initiated by the Ōnin War in 1467 which collapsed the Feudalism, feudal system of Japan under the Ashikaga shogunate. Various samurai warlords and Japanese clans, clans fought for control over Japan in the power vacuum, while the emerged to fight against samurai rule. The Nanban trade, arrival of Europeans in 1543 introduced the arquebus into Japanese warfare, and Japan ended its status as a Tributary system of China, tributary state of China in 1549. Oda Nobunaga dissolved the Ashikaga shogunate in 1573 and launched a war of political unification by force, including the Ishiyama Hongan-ji War, until his death in the Honnō-ji Incident in 1582. Nobunaga's successor Toyotomi Hideyoshi completed his campaign to unify Japan and consolidated his rule with numerous influential reforms. Hideyoshi launched the Japanese invasions of Korea (159 ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]  


picture info

Tokugawa Shogunate
The Tokugawa shogunate (, Japanese 徳川幕府 ''Tokugawa bakufu''), also known as the , was the military government of Japan during the Edo period from 1603 to 1868. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Tokugawa-jidai''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 978.Nussbaum"''Edo-jidai''"at p. 167. The Tokugawa shogunate was established by Tokugawa Ieyasu after victory at the Battle of Sekigahara, ending the civil wars of the Sengoku period following the collapse of the Ashikaga shogunate. Ieyasu became the ''shōgun,'' and the Tokugawa clan governed Japan from Edo Castle in the eastern city of Edo (Tokyo) along with the ''daimyō'' lords of the ''samurai'' class.Nussbaum"Tokugawa"at p. 976. The Tokugawa shogunate organized Japanese society under the strict Tokugawa class system and banned most foreigners under the isolationist policies of ''Sakoku'' to promote political stability. The Tokugawa shoguns governed Japan in a feudal system, with each ''daimyō'' administering a ''han'' (f ...
[...More Info...]      
[...Related Items...]     OR:     [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Baidu]