Essays In Idleness
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Essays In Idleness
is a collection of essays written by the Japanese monk Kenkō (兼好) between 1330 and 1332. The work is widely considered a gem of medieval Japanese literature and one of the three representative works of the zuihitsu genre, along with ''The Pillow Book'' and the '' Hōjōki''. Structure and content ''Essays in Idleness'' comprises a preface and 243 passages, varying in length from a single line to a few pages. Kenkō, being a Buddhist monk, writes about Buddhist truths, and themes such as death and impermanence prevail in the work, although it also contains passages devoted to the beauty of nature as well as some accounts of humorous incidents. The original work was not divided or numbered; the division can be traced to the 17th century. The work takes its title from its prefatory passage: What a strange, demented feeling it gives me when I realize I have spent whole days before this inkstone, with nothing better to do, jotting down at random whatever nonsensical thoughts ...
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Yoshida Kenko
Yoshida (written: 吉田 lit. "lucky ricefield") is the 11th most common Japanese surname. A less common variant is 芳田 (lit. "fragrant ricefield"). Notable people with the surname * Ai Yoshida, Japanese sailor *, Japanese idol, singer and model *, Japanese video game artist *, Japanese manga artist *, Japanese footballer *, Japanese rugby union player *, Japanese football *, Japanese singer * Asami Yoshida (other), multiple people *, Japanese rower *, Japanese artist *Baret Yoshida (born 1975), American mixed martial artist * Bill Yoshida (1921–2005), American comic book letterer *, Japanese puppeteer *, Japanese curler *, Japanese artist *, Japanese film director *, Japanese actor and singer *, Japanese javelin thrower *, Japanese baseball player *, Japanese artist *, 17th-century Japanese ''ukiyo-e'' artist *, Japanese cartographer *, Japanese cyclist *, Japanese judoka and mixed martial artist *, Japanese music critic and literary critic *, Japanese actress *, J ...
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Shōtetsu
Shōtetsu (, 1381–1459 CE) was a Japanese poet during the Muromachi period, and is considered to have been the last poet in the courtly waka tradition;Miner 1968, p.139; "Shotetsu is thought by some Japanese today to be the finest poet of the century; the twenty thousand poems of his personal collection, the ''Shōkonshū'', show that he was also one of the most prolific poets in the whole court tradition." a number of his disciples were important in the development of the renga art form, which led to the haiku. History He was born in 1381 in a minor fortified town in the then province of Bitchū (now Okayama) to a samurai of middling rank named Komatsu Ysukiyo. About ten years after his birth, Shōtetsu's family moved to Kyoto for unknown reasons. At approximately the age of 15 (by the Occidental count), he was sent to the religious center of Nara where he became an acolyte in an unspecified Buddhist temple. He would spend the next five years there studying, among other thin ...
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Early Middle Japanese Texts
Early may refer to: Places in the United States * Early, Iowa, a city * Early, Texas, a city * Early Branch, a stream in Missouri * Early County, Georgia * Fort Early, Georgia, an early 19th century fort Music * Early B, stage name of Jamaican dancehall and reggae deejay Earlando Arrington Neil (1957–1994) * Early James, stage name of American singer-songwriter Fredrick Mullis Jr. (born 1993) * ''Early'' (Scritti Politti album), 2005 * ''Early'' (A Certain Ratio album), 2002 * Early Records, a record label Other uses * Early (name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or surname * Early effect, an effect in transistor physics * Early, a synonym for ''hotter'' in stellar classification See also * * The Earlies, a 21st century band * Earley (other) * Earlie Earlie is a masculine given name which may refer to: * Earlie Fires (born 1947), American jockey * Earlie Thomas (1945–2022), American National Football League player * Earlie End ...
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Asiatic Society Of Japan
The Asiatic Society of Japan, Inc. (一般社団法人日本アジア協会” or “Ippan Shadan Hojin Nihon Ajia Kyokai”) or "ASJ" is a non-profit organization of Japanology. ASJ serves members of a general audience that have shared interests in Japan. Founded in 1872 as , ASJ is Japan's oldest learned society. The Honorary Patron is Hisako, Princess Takamado. The Representative Director and President as of September 2019 is H.E. Ambassador Yoshinori Kato. Overview The Asiatic Society of Japan's founders set into motion coordinated activities "to collect and publish information on subjects relating to Japan and other Asiatic Countries." They intentionally differentiated ASJ from its affiliated Royal Asiatic societies of the day by having established ASJ as a "Society for scholarly gentlemen" rather than a society of scholars. Nor was "Royal" to be used in ASJ's title, a measure to encourage Japanese people to join. Women also began to join within a few years. ASJ quickly bec ...
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George Bailey Sansom
Sir George Bailey Sansom (28 November 1883 – 8 March 1965) was a British diplomat and historian of pre-modern Japan, particularly noted for his historical surveys and his attention to Japanese society and culture. Early life Sansom was born in London, where his father worked as a naval architect, but was educated in France and Germany, attending both the University of Giessen and the University of Marburg. In September 1903, he passed the examination for the Diplomatic Service. Diplomatic service Sansom first arrived in Japan in 1904 and was attached to the British legation in Tokyo to learn the Japanese language. While he was working as private secretary to Sir Claude Maxwell MacDonald, the legation gained higher status by becoming an embassy, and Sansom was present during the negotiations for the renewal of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance in 1905. He spent the majority of his diplomatic career in Japan, working in consulates all over the country while also picking up the lan ...
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Donald Keene
Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japanese Literature at Columbia University, where he taught for over fifty years. Soon after the 2011 Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami, he retired from Columbia, moved to Japan permanently, and acquired citizenship under the name Kīn Donarudo (キーン ドナルド) which is essentially his birth name in the Japanese name order. This was also his poetic and occasional nickname, spelled in the ''ateji'' form . Early life and education Donald Lawrence Keene was born on June 18, 1922, in Flatbush, Brooklyn. His father was an international trade businessman while his stay-at-home mother raised both Keene and his elder sister. In July 1931, amid the economic crisis of the Great Depression, a 9-year-old Keene begged his father to allow him to accomp ...
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Kamo No Chōmei
was a Japanese author, poet (in the waka form), and essayist. He witnessed a series of natural and social disasters, and, having lost his political backing, was passed over for promotion within the Shinto shrine associated with his family. He decided to turn his back on society, took Buddhist vows, and became a hermit, living outside the capital. This was somewhat unusual for the time, when those who turned their backs on the world usually joined monasteries. Along with the poet-priest Saigyō he is representative of the literary recluses of his time, and his celebrated essay '' Hōjōki'' ("An Account of a Ten-Foot-Square Hut") is representative of the genre known as "recluse literature" (sōan bungaku). Early life Born with the name Kamo no Nagaakira, he was the second son of Kamo no Nagatsugu, ''sho-negi'' or superintendent, of the Lower Kamo ( Shimogamo) shrine. He was also known by the title Kikudaifu. The exact year of his birth is unknown, but thought to be either 115 ...
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Sei Shōnagon
, or , was a Japanese author, poet, and court lady who served the Empress Teishi (Sadako) around the year 1000, during the middle Heian period. She is the author of . Name Sei Shōnagon's actual given name is not known. It was the custom among aristocrats in those days to call a court lady by a nickname taken from a court office belonging to her father or husband.Keene 1999 : 412. derives from her father's family name " Kiyohara" (the native Japanese reading of the first character is , while the Sino-Japanese reading is ). refers to a government post, although her relationship to this post is unknown—neither her father nor either of her two husbands held such a post. has suggested that it may have belonged to a third husband, perhaps Fujiwara no Nobuyoshi.Keene 1999 : 412, citing (427, note 3) Tsunoda 1975 : 30-32. Her actual name has been a topic of debate among scholars, and the name is a possibility. Early life Little is known about her life except what can be ...
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Impermanence
Impermanence, also known as the philosophical problem of change, is a philosophical concept addressed in a variety of religions and philosophies. In Eastern philosophy it is notable for its role in the Buddhism, Buddhist three marks of existence. It is also an important element of Hinduism. In Western philosophy it is most famously known through its first appearance in Greek philosophy in the writings of Heraclitus and in his doctrine of Panta rhei (Heraclitus), ''panta rhei'' (everything flows). In Western philosophy the concept is also referred to as ''Becoming (philosophy), ''becoming''. Indian religions The Pali word for impermanence, ''anicca'', is a compound word consisting of ''"a"'' meaning non-, and ''"nicca"'' meaning "constant, continuous, permanent". While 'nicca' is the concept of continuity and permanence, 'anicca' refers to its exact opposite; the absence of permanence and continuity. The term is synonymous with the Sanskrit term ''anitya'' (a + nitya). The conc ...
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Death
Death is the end of life; the irreversible cessation of all biological functions that sustain a living organism. Death eventually and inevitably occurs in all organisms. The remains of a former organism normally begin to decompose shortly after death. Some organisms, such as '' Turritopsis dohrnii'', are biologically immortal; however, they can still die from means other than aging. Death is generally applied to whole organisms; the equivalent for individual components of an organism, such as cells or tissues, is necrosis. Something that is not considered an organism, such as a virus, can be physically destroyed but is not said ''to die'', as a virus is not considered alive in the first place. As of the early 21st century, 56 million people die per year. The most common reason is aging, followed by cardiovascular disease, which is a disease that affects the heart or blood vessels. As of 2022, an estimated total of almost 110 billion humans have died, or rou ...
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Buddhism
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or 5th century Before the Common Era, BCE. It is the Major religious groups, world's fourth-largest religion, with about 500 million followers, known as Buddhists, who comprise four percent of the global population. It arose in the eastern Gangetic plain as a movement in the 5th century BCE, and gradually spread throughout much of Asia. Buddhism has subsequently played a major role in Asian culture and spirituality, eventually spreading to Western world, the West in the 20th century. According to tradition, the Buddha instructed his followers in a path of bhavana, development which leads to Enlightenment in Buddhism, awakening and moksha, full liberation from ''Duḥkha, dukkha'' (). He regarded this path as a Middle Way between extremes su ...
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