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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Soryo No Naka: Saigyo No Shukke To Homososharu Yokkyu To Waka, Jack C. Stoneman
Soryo No Naka: Saigyo No Shukke To Homososharu Yokkyu To Waka, Jack C. Stoneman
Faculty Publications
Among the many theories that attempt to explain Saigyo’s (1118-1190) sudden and dramatic transformation from samurai to Buddhist monk at the age of twenty three, the most controversial is what I am terming “the homosexuality theory.” At the time Saigyo, or Sato Norikiyo, as he was known before his tonsuring, left his family and career to become a monk, he was in the employ of Retired Emperor Toba (1103-1165) as a member of the Northern Guard (hokumen no bushi), an elite group of bodyguards and personal companions. According to the homosexuality theory, Saigyo became a monk in order …
Chusei Waka Ni Okeru Nijiteki Shizen To Yaseiteki Shizen: Saigyo, Jakunen No 'Yamazato' Zotoka O Chushin Ni / 中世和歌に於ける二次的自然と野性的自然ー西行・寂然の「山里」贈答歌を中心に, Jack C. Stoneman
Chusei Waka Ni Okeru Nijiteki Shizen To Yaseiteki Shizen: Saigyo, Jakunen No 'Yamazato' Zotoka O Chushin Ni / 中世和歌に於ける二次的自然と野性的自然ー西行・寂然の「山里」贈答歌を中心に, Jack C. Stoneman
Faculty Publications
Can we find in the poem exchanged between Saigyo and Jakunen, a monk of the Heian period (794-1185), hints for a new perspective on ecocriticism, Japanese literature, and the relationship between cities and the natural environment, which we are facing today? The poems are a valuable source for considering the relationship between humans and cities, between secondary nature and wild nature, and between nature as experienced by hermits in the distant past and the world of waka poetry today.
Why Did Saigyo Become A Monk? An Archeology Of The Reception Of Saigyo's Shukke, Jack C. Stoneman
Why Did Saigyo Become A Monk? An Archeology Of The Reception Of Saigyo's Shukke, Jack C. Stoneman
Faculty Publications
Though it is still impossible to know the exact reasons why the samurai and poet Saigyō西行 (1118-1190) became a Buddhist monk in the winter of 1140, there is value in asking the question one more time--not in an effort to find a definitive answer, but to see what answers have been offered and what those answers tell us about the reception of his poetry and persona. His decision to become a monk remains the great mystery of his life, and a central focus of both popular imagination and scholarly inquiry over the last eight centuries. In the process of attempting …
Between Monks: Saigyo's Shukke, Homosocial Desire, And Japanese Poetry, Jack C. Stoneman
Between Monks: Saigyo's Shukke, Homosocial Desire, And Japanese Poetry, Jack C. Stoneman
Faculty Publications
Among the many theories that attempt to explain Saigyo’s (1118-1190) sudden and dramatic transformation from samurai to Buddhist monk at the age of twenty three, the most controversial is what I am terming “the homosexuality theory.” At the time Saigyo, or Sato Norikiyo, as he was known before his tonsuring, left his family and career to become a monk, he was in the employ of Retired Emperor Toba (1103-1165) as a member of the Northern Guard (hokumen no bushi), an elite group of bodyguards and personal companions. According to the homosexuality theory, Saigyo became a monk in order …
So Deep In The Mountains: Saigyo's Yama Fukami Poems And Reclusion In Medieval Japanese Poetry, Jack C. Stoneman
So Deep In The Mountains: Saigyo's Yama Fukami Poems And Reclusion In Medieval Japanese Poetry, Jack C. Stoneman
Faculty Publications
Examining a set of poems exchanged by the monks Saigyō and Jakuzen, the author argues for their importance as records of a crucial moment in the development of religious reclusion imagery in waka. The author focuses on Saigyō, demonstrating how he created a new poetic space marked by a deepening of the tropes of sōan and yamazato, yielding a previously unarticulated realm of expression for his rigorous ideal of mountain seclusion. As “grass huts” and “mountain homes” became more commonly associated with hermits monks such as Saigyō, many of whom in fact spent the majority of their lives …
Constructing Saigyo: Poetry, Biography, And Medieval Reception, Jack C. Stoneman
Constructing Saigyo: Poetry, Biography, And Medieval Reception, Jack C. Stoneman
Faculty Publications
The late Heian-period poet/monk Saigyō (西行1118-1190) has long been considered one of the most talented of Japan’s waka poets. His poetry and his legend have found their place in elite and popular culture, spanning social class as well as multiple fields of cultural production, such as poetry, travel literature, painting, woodblock prints, nō and kabuki, and Buddhist tales, to name a few. This study aims to present the reader with a critical analysis of Saigyō, his poetry, and his legend by answering several key questions. Who was the historical Saigyō that lived from 1118 to 1190? How did he become …