In Praise of Solitude: Two Japanese Classics on Reclusion. Chiteiki by Yoshishige no Yasutane, and Hōjōki by Kamo no Chōmei

by Matthew Stavros, Yoshishige no Yasutane, Kamo no Chōmei

Early Japanese literature is replete with protagonists who exchange urbane comforts and lofty status for lives of solitude, well removed from the drama and dross of the city. This book presents two classics works of Japanese recluse writing from the 10th and 13th centuries. The first, Chiteiki (982), is the memoir of Yoshishige no Yasutane, a mid-level civil servant, deeply disillusioned by the urban decay of the imperial capital. Intent upon simulating the eremitic life, he builds a walled residence in the city’s south. Inside, he indulges romantic notions about a life apart, lost in the pleasures of literature and religious devotion. The second work, Hōjōki (c. 1213), is Kamo no Chōmei’s personal account of a life-long journey toward increasingly remote modes of living. This masterpiece of Japanese renunciate writing exemplifies a medieval Japanese ethos colored by a pervasive mindfulness about the evanescence of existence. Although both works are unmistakably inspired by a Buddhist worldview from a different place and time, their messages are universal.
These all-new translations of Chiteiki and Hōjōki are accompanied by the primary Japanese source texts, detailed scholarly annotations, and original maps and illustrations. The companion website provides digital resources and learning materials.

Genres: Japan

169 pages, Paperback

Published January 22, 2022

About the author

Matthew Stavros is a historian of Japan at the University of Sydney and former director of the Kyoto Consortium for Japanese Studies. He is the author of Kyoto: An Urban History of Japan's Premodern Capital (University of Hawai'i Press, 2014) and over a dozen articles on Kyoto’s architectural and urban history. His research focuses primarily on the material culture of premodern Japan and eastern Asia, with particular interest in cities, buildings, and monuments. He trained in architectural and urban history at Kyoto University and read history at Princeton University where he earned a PhD. He teaches modern and classical Japanese language, Japanese history and historiography, and more broadly on the histories and cultures of East Asia and Southeast Asia.

Learn more from www.mstavros.com and www.kyotohistory.com

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two beautiful poems still relevant after COVID-19 pandemic. With "In Praise of Solitude", Matthew Stavros translated in English two classics on reclusion. The first one is written by Yoshishige no Yasutane (933-1002) and the second one by Kamo no Chômei (1155-1216).

Matthew Starvos's introduction is useful. It brings the key concepts (as renunciation) to understand the similarities and differences between Chiteiki's et Hôjôki's works and their ways of retirement. His translation is pleasant to read and annotated. Some pages are brilliantly illustrated by Reginald Jackson.

[Deanna · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Praise of Solitude contains enjoyable translations of the Chiteiki and Hojoki that are both artful while maintaining clarity for a modern reader, but the word count was surprisingly low for a 169 page book. Having read the Penguin Classic Kenko and Chomei, where the Hokoji takes up 14 pages, I ordered this book for the Chiteiki and expected it to be the majority of the text, but it is an even shorter piece.
If you are studying classical Japanese language, you will like that the original text is on the pages next to the translation and that there are big spaces between sentences so that the translation can be easily matched to the Japanese text. However, for someone who does not study the language this grew the Hojoki from 14 to 97 pages where I can't read the odd pages and the even English pages are mostly blank.
It is a very well done book, there just isn't a lot of book in these pages.

"In their friends, people like to find affluence and a ready smile. Compassion and honesty, not so much. So why not make friends with music and nature instead: the moon; the flowers?" -Chomei

[illest_terminal · Rating 5 out of 5]

These two memoirs were tender, insightful, and sometimes chilling. They are beautifully translated and the original text is included along with some illustrations. While I'm not a history buff at all, I found these to be quite accessible. An interesting and helpful contextual reference follows the memoirs in this text. I recently finished Tanizaki's "In Praise of Shadows" and was taken by the architectural reflections in particular. This collection helped to satiate that curiosity and I've gained a greater interest in further exploring this history. Much thanks to the author's dedicated research.

[Jared Gulian · Rating 5 out of 5]

My love of Japanese recluse literature led me to this book. It contains both Chiteiki (written in 983 by Yasutane no Yoshishige) and Hōjōki (written almost 300 years later, in 1212, by Kamo no Chōmei). Chiteiki is a little essay which becomes a foundational text for the genre we now call "thatched-hut literature" (sōan bungaku 草庵文学). That genre becomes more fully realized 300 years later, in Hōjōki.

Here's my take on Chiteiki...

So there's this guy who lives in the Japanese capital, Kyoto. When he's about 50, he writes about how the city is changing. Some areas are going downhill and buildings are being abandoned, and other areas are being expanded. People are also building too close to the river, and flooding is a concern.

He has a mid-level bureaucratic job in the government (keeper of imperial records) and a wife and children, but he really loves the idea of going off to live in the mountains. Instead of actually becoming a hermit, he keeps the day job and tries to have the best of both worlds. How? Well...

He stays in Kyoto and builds a new home that has a bit of land and a wall all around it. There's a Buddhist shrine, a library building, a veggie garden, a pond with an island, and a little boat. This property has everything he loves about the world, and he calls it the Pond Pavilion. Even though it's not remote or rustic, he likes comparing it to "the mountain retreats of the Chinese sages of old" (from the intro). He titles his little essay 'Chiteiki,' which essentially means, 'Record of the Pond Pavilion.' A thousand years later, people are still reading it.

I sympathise with this guy, and the parallels between him and me are poignant, considering that 1,000 years lie between us. I too have a day job and a patch of land that contains everything I love about the world. I too love the idea of becoming a hermit, but there are people I love and I have a job.

I had already read Hōjōki (and reviewed it here on Goodreads separately), when I ordered 'In Praise of Solitude'. I actually learned about Chiteiki from the intro to Hōjōki. Since I love sōan bungaku so much, of course I had to get my hands on Chiteiki. Doesn't everyone obsess about medieval Japanese hermits?

I do have to say that Chiteiki doesn't really have much of the quiet moments and observations of nature that I appreciate so much about sōan bungaku. As a result, I didn't enjoy it nearly as much as Hōjōki. For me it felt like Yasutane no Yoshishige was perhaps still too attached to the world, as compared to the Kamo no Chōmei, who was a full-on Buddhist monk when he wrote Hōjōki. But this might just be me judging. (After all, like I said, I have a day job too. I get it.) Another thing to consider is that Kamo no Chōmei was essentially building on the foundational genre work that Yasutane no Yoshishige started, so Hōjōki is in many ways more mature as a result. (It's also worth noting that a Yasutane no Yoshishige became a monk about 4 years after writing Chiteiki.)

Anyway, In Praise of Solitude is definitely worth a read if you're interested in hermits and recluse literature. (Also, the intro to this book has taught me about a few more in the genre, so off I go...)