was a

Japanese Japanese may refer to: * Something from or related to Japan, an island country in East Asia * Japanese language, spoken mainly in Japan * Japanese people, the ethnic group that identifies with Japan through ancestry or culture ** Japanese diaspor ...

author In legal discourse, an author is the creator of an original work that has been published, whether that work exists in written, graphic, visual, or recorded form. The act of creating such a work is referred to as authorship. Therefore, a sculpt ...

poet A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator (thought, thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems (oral t ...

(in the waka form), and

essayist An essay ( ) is, generally, a piece of writing that gives the author's own argument, but the definition is vague, overlapping with those of a Letter (message), letter, a term paper, paper, an article (publishing), article, a pamphlet, and a s ...

. 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 A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in communities or alone ( hermits). A monastery generally includes a place reserved for prayer which m ...

. Along with the poet-priest

Saigyō was a Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Biography Born in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start of the ag ...

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 Recluse literature refers to a Japanese literary movement that rose to its peak in the late Heian period. History The origins of the literary style known as Recluse Literature has roots in the Taoist movement in China, said to date back to the 3 ...

" (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 1153 or 1155, with 1155 being the generally accepted date. From an early age, he studied poetry and music in a comfortable environment. At the time, the Upper and Lower Kamo Shrines owned large amounts of property around the Kamo River, northeast of the ''

Heian The Japanese word Heian (平安, lit. "peace") may refer to: * Heian period, an era of Japanese history * Heian-kyō, the Heian-period capital of Japan that has become the present-day city of Kyoto * Heian series, a group of karate kata (forms) * ...

'' capital (Kyoto), holding great power and prestige among the aristocracy. The Kamo Festival ( Aoi Matsuri), occurring in the middle of the fourth month, was considered the most important Shinto event and is vividly depicted in literature of the time, most notably in Chapter Nine of ''

The Tale of Genji is a classic work of Japanese literature written by the noblewoman, poet, and lady-in-waiting Murasaki Shikibu around the peak of the Heian period, in the early 11th century. It is one of history's first novels, the first by a woman to have wo ...

''. Chōmei was raised under these religious and material conditions. In 1160, his father was promoted to junior fourth rank, lower grade, which ultimately led the seven-year-old Chōmei to being promoted to fifth rank, junior grade; these were high positions within the Kamo Shrine hierarchy. Ill health and political maneuvering led his father to retire in 1169, however, and in the early 1170s he died. Expecting to fill the vacant role left by his father, Chōmei, then in his late teens, was passed over, and instead his cousin was promoted to this position. In poems in ''Kamo no Chōmei-shū'', Chōmei lamented this development. When Chōmei was in his twenties, he moved to his paternal grandmother's house. Disinheritance may have been the reason. Since Chōmei's father had been the youngest in the family, he inherited his mother's residence. In his thirties, Chōmei states in '' Hōjōki'' that after losing “backing” in his paternal grandmother's house, he was forced out, built a small house near the Kamo River. Chōmei would live here until he became a recluse. In ''Hōjōki'', Chōmei states that he was able to leave the world behind because he was not attached to society by marriage or offspring. The ''Hōjōki'' is Chōmei's notebook while he lived "in a small hut" in a suburb of the capital Fukuwara. "His work contains, as well as an obviously first-hand description of Fukuwara, a striking account of material conditions in the capital in the years from 1177 to 1182."

Life as a poet

After his father's death, Chōmei became more interested in poetry, and three poets were influential to his literary growth. His mentor Shōmyō (1112-1187) was of the Rokujō school, which did not receive much recognition because of a lack of patrons from the Imperial household. As his mentor, Shōmyō taught Chōmei the finer techniques and styles of court poetry. Kamo no Shigeyasu, the head Shinto priest of the Upper Kamo Shrine, was also instrumental in developing Chōmei's skill as a poet, inviting him to his poetry contests. Through Shigeyasu's influence and support, Chōmei completed a book of poems called ''Kamo no Chōmei-shū'' ("Collection") in 1181. Another important figure in the development of Chōmei's poetry was the poet priest Shun'e. Through his poetry circle, known as ''Karin'en'' (Grove of Poetry), an amalgam of people, including Shinto and Buddhist Priests, low- to mid-ranking courtiers and women in the court, shared their writings. The tales from these meetings filled a large part of Chōmei's ''Mumyōshō''. Music played a significant role throughout Chōmei's life. His musical mentor, Nakahara Ariyasu, was instrumental in his development, and Chōmei, known as Kikudaifu by his audience, was noted for his skill. According to an account by Minamoto no Ienaga, Chōmei's love for music was revealed in the sorrow he felt when he had to return a

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime durin ...

(lute) called Tenari to the emperor. In his thirties, Chōmei enjoyed moderate success in poetry contests and inclusion into anthologies, such as the '' Senzaishū''. With inventive phrasing to describe nature, such as "semi no ogawa" to describe the Kamo river, Chōmei caused a bit of controversy. Entering the poem, with this phrase, into the Kamo Shrine's official poetry contest, he lost because the judge thought he was writing about a river that did not exist. Chōmei insisted, however, that the phrase had been used before and was included in the records of the shrine. Chōmei seems to have offended his cousin, who had assumed Nagatsugu's position of ''sho-negi''. This episode shows that Chōmei still held a grudge against his cousin for becoming the new sho-negi. To rub in the embarrassment, the poem with this phrase was later included in the '' Shin Kokinshū''. Chōmei reached a turning point in his mid-forties. His patron, the cloistered emperor Go-Toba, supported his poetry writing. To create an anthology (''Shinkokinshū'') to rival the '' Kokinshū'', Go-Toba organized the Imperial Poetry Office, filled with numerous elite courtiers and literati, among whom Chōmei was assigned as a lower level member. As a member of this organization, Chōmei enjoyed benefits that would otherwise not have been given to him, including visits to the Imperial Garden to view the cherry blossoms in bloom. Chōmei worked for the Imperial Poetry Office until he decided to become a recluse in 1204.

Life as a recluse

Chōmei's specific reasons for becoming a recluse are unclear, but a string of bad luck, specifically the death of his father and his inability to fill the position left behind by him, may have caused him to leave court life. He spent the next five years in Ohara, at the foot of

Mount Hiei is a mountain to the northeast of Kyoto, lying on the border between the Kyoto and Shiga Prefectures, Japan. The temple of Enryaku-ji, the first outpost of the Japanese Tendai (Chin. Tiantai) sect of Buddhism, was founded atop Mount Hiei by ...

, but considered his time here as a failure, and so he moved to Hino, in the hills southeast of the capital, where he spent the rest of his life. The design of the hut he built in Hino was inspired by the dwelling of the Buddhist recluse

Vimalakirti Vimalakīrti ( ' "stainless, undefiled" + ' "fame, glory, reputation") is a bodhisattva and the central figure in the ',Kōshiki for him.

Works

*'' * * *

Notes

References

* *Kamo no Chomei. ''Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World.'' Trans. Yasuhiko. Moriguchi and David. Jenkins. Berkeley: Stone Bridge Press, 1996. *Kamo no Chomei. ''The Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of Heike.'' Trans. A.L. Sadler. Tokyo: Charles E. Tuttle Company, 1972. * * *Pandey, Rajyashree. ''Writing and Renunciation in Medieval Japan: The Works of the Poet-Priest Kamo no Chōmei''. The University of Michigan Press, 1998. *Shirane, Haruo. ''Traditional Japanese Literature: An Anthology Beginnings to 1600''. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007.

External links

Chasing a Recluse: Kamo no Chōmei
* In Spanish
Kamo no Chomei: ermitañismo y soledad
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kamo no Chomei 1150s births 1216 deaths 12th-century Japanese poets Buddhist poets Kannushi Japanese Buddhists Japanese hermits Kamo clan 12th-century Shintoists