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Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World
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The single great work of literary witness in medieval Japan, Hojoki is a short social chronicle prompted by a series of calamities that overtook old Kyoto in the late 12th century. By building a rude home in the forest and eliminating desire, poet and Buddhist priest Chomei believed he would be spared the anguish that had befallen the townspeople. Yet at the end we find th
...more
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Paperback, 96 pages
Published
July 1st 1998
by Stone Bridge Press
(first published 1212)
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Below the crimson skies shivers the last leaf,
Sings the blue bird, songs of a lonely tree
I wonder where, swallowed by the spring rain,
Floats the leaf, to claim a spotted grave
The sounds from Hojoki deeply permeate,
Heart of a one-room hut, poetry and music rhyme
Nestled within an early bud, what do I see?
Glimpses of Lotus Sutra, one man’s pilgrimage.
Five deciding elements of nature persuading the humble origin of the supreme fruition of man conceptualising the ephemeral life, the sensibility of ma ...more
I've read (listened to) this book by accident. I started playing the audiobook for Narrow Road to the Interior: And Other Writings but this short little gem came first. I've never heard of the author before but I am glad I stumbled across him. Kamo no Chōmei is a medieval Japanese writer,poet and essayist who takes the Buddhist vows becoming a monk.
“The flowing river never stops and yet the water never stays the same. Foam floats upon the pools, scattering, re-forming, never lingering long. So ...more
“The flowing river never stops and yet the water never stays the same. Foam floats upon the pools, scattering, re-forming, never lingering long. So ...more
- Calligraphy by Hon'ami Kōetsu (1558–1637), Underpainting attributed to Tawaraya Sōtatsu (died ca. 1640), Poem by Kamo no Chomei (ca. 1154 – 1216)
If we follow the ways of the world, things are hard for us; if we refuse to follow them, we appear to have gone mad.
As I understand it, Hojoki is read by every Japanese student in school and had a great influence on much that was subsequently written in Japanese. It is one of the key texts of the Japanese culture. Written by Kamo no Chomei in 1212 d ...more
Gentle prose. The beginning reminds me of The Book of Ecclesiastes, warning the reader that all is vanity, one doesn't know what nature will do to your prized possessions.
...more
This book is part of my beautiful 2018 MACHALO READING CHALLENGE (AKA MMFBCE™): End of the World
If you entrust yourself
to the care of others
you will be owned by them.
If you care for others
you will be enslaved
by your own solicitude.
If you conform to the world
it will bind you hand and foot.
If you do not, then
it will think you mad.
And so the question,
where should we live?
And how?
Where to find
a place to rest a while?
And how bring
even short-lived peace
to our hearts?
This slender book contains a translation of Kamo-no-Chomei's thirteenth-century classic poem Hojoki along with an excellent historical and critical introduction, explanatory notes, and some nice ink paintings by Kyoto-based artist Michael Hofmann.
The theme of the poem will be immediately familiar to any reader with the most rudimentary acquaintance with Japanese poetry. A Buddhist poet reflects on the sorrows and vanity of ordinary life and retires to live in the wilderness, where he spends his ...more
The theme of the poem will be immediately familiar to any reader with the most rudimentary acquaintance with Japanese poetry. A Buddhist poet reflects on the sorrows and vanity of ordinary life and retires to live in the wilderness, where he spends his ...more
Mediocre. About the only good part is the opening paragraph, and even that, I think it is cliched. I'm sure the symbolism of a river was popular in his time already. Chomei is a lay monk, and I think his understanding of impermanence is shallow, only in his head.
Please don't judge Japanese classics by this book! If you like reading essays, try Essays in Idleness: The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko (written by another lay monk) or The Pillow Book (written by a court lady). If you want to know about the ...more
Please don't judge Japanese classics by this book! If you like reading essays, try Essays in Idleness: The Tsurezuregusa of Kenko (written by another lay monk) or The Pillow Book (written by a court lady). If you want to know about the ...more
Thanks to Capsguy for this. For a text that is 800 years old it has major relevance to today. A kind of Buddhist ode to downsizing and I can certainly relate. I wish I could read Japanese, I'm sure there are nuances in the language that translate even more poetically.
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Sometimes I go to the capital
and am aware
I look like a begging monk.
But when I return
I pity those who seek
the dross of the world.
If you doubt my words,
consider the fish and birds.
Fish do not hate the water.
But then, none can know
the happiness of the fish
unless he is one.
Birds love the woods.
If you are not a bird
you will not know its truths.
A quiet life is much the same.
How would anyone know it
without living it?
and am aware
I look like a begging monk.
But when I return
I pity those who seek
the dross of the world.
If you doubt my words,
consider the fish and birds.
Fish do not hate the water.
But then, none can know
the happiness of the fish
unless he is one.
Birds love the woods.
If you are not a bird
you will not know its truths.
A quiet life is much the same.
How would anyone know it
without living it?
i love love love
This is an amazing little gem, and its applicability for today is amazing! If you can find this, please spare the twenty or so minutes it would take for reading this, it truly is something to help put you back into reality.
"well into my sixth decade,"
He is my age. Introspective.
Starts with the most familiar opening lines in Japanese literature:
The flowing river
never stops
and yet the water
never stays
the same.
Foam floats
upon the pools,
scattering, re-forming,
never lingering long.
So it is with man
and all his dwelling place
here on earth.
...more
He is my age. Introspective.
Starts with the most familiar opening lines in Japanese literature:
The flowing river
never stops
and yet the water
never stays
the same.
Foam floats
upon the pools,
scattering, re-forming,
never lingering long.
So it is with man
and all his dwelling place
here on earth.
...more
Hard to define this essay as it's a translation. The feeling I've got is that there is much more than meets the eye if you read the original and you understand the Buddhist practice of the time.
The feeling is very familiar and it connects directly with Zen and Taoism flowing from China during the Tang dynasty. Non surprisingly Chomei was a well-regarded poet at the time and well versed in Tang poetry like Bai Juyi's poems and essays.
I didn't like Soseki's prolog though. I think he misses the po ...more
The feeling is very familiar and it connects directly with Zen and Taoism flowing from China during the Tang dynasty. Non surprisingly Chomei was a well-regarded poet at the time and well versed in Tang poetry like Bai Juyi's poems and essays.
I didn't like Soseki's prolog though. I think he misses the po ...more
My favourite translation.
If you conform to the world
it will bind you hand and foot.
If you do not, then
it will think you mad.
And so the question
where should we live?
And how?
Where to find
a place to rest a while?
And how bring
even short-lived peace
to our hearts?
The author of these words, Kamo no Chomei, had reason to long for peace. He had survived fire, whirlwind, famine, earthquake, and political upheaval. By 1212, he described himself as “an old silkworm spinning one last cocoon.” He built a modest hut of only ten square ...more
it will bind you hand and foot.
If you do not, then
it will think you mad.
And so the question
where should we live?
And how?
Where to find
a place to rest a while?
And how bring
even short-lived peace
to our hearts?
The author of these words, Kamo no Chomei, had reason to long for peace. He had survived fire, whirlwind, famine, earthquake, and political upheaval. By 1212, he described himself as “an old silkworm spinning one last cocoon.” He built a modest hut of only ten square ...more
Review edited from personal comments to friends
After some hesitation, I decided that the medieval Japanese classic “Record of a Ten-Foot Square Hut” (Hōjōki) would be a perfect choice to complete my GoodReads Reading Challenge of 52 books in 2019. My curtained bed area in hospital is a little more generous than his 4.5 tatami mats 四畳半 or 3.3 sq m—they lengthened the bed for me!
Can’t see though how Chōmei managed to find room for two fairly large musical instruments, a biwa and koto (lute and zit ...more
After some hesitation, I decided that the medieval Japanese classic “Record of a Ten-Foot Square Hut” (Hōjōki) would be a perfect choice to complete my GoodReads Reading Challenge of 52 books in 2019. My curtained bed area in hospital is a little more generous than his 4.5 tatami mats 四畳半 or 3.3 sq m—they lengthened the bed for me!
Can’t see though how Chōmei managed to find room for two fairly large musical instruments, a biwa and koto (lute and zit ...more
In middle (ish) of the Tale of Heike and saw this was concurrent and found a couple translations online. Not that I didn't 'believe' what was happening in Heike, but I also know the Tale is questionably historic. I was taken back a little to read some of the same events happening in the Hojoki. I mean, I guess that's exactly why you read up on source material - to get that element of realism.
It also had an immediacy that Heike does not always have - the beginning of the Hojiki has some stark de ...more
It also had an immediacy that Heike does not always have - the beginning of the Hojiki has some stark de ...more
Written in 1212, Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World is a perennial work of wisdom. Kamo-no-Chomei is a monk, a poet and a chronicler of the Heian Period, and this work is as much a historical account as it is poetry and fable.
As with all translations of poetry, it is a herculean task to capture both the technical features as well as the meaning in its original, uncompromised and intended form without diminishing the work in any way. This translation appears to have accomplished both to a satisfacto ...more
As with all translations of poetry, it is a herculean task to capture both the technical features as well as the meaning in its original, uncompromised and intended form without diminishing the work in any way. This translation appears to have accomplished both to a satisfacto ...more
An enjoyable book, really, I liked it, it has pathos and philosophy, but...
This is apparently a Japanese classic. It seems to me Japanese art and culture has some parallels with Japanese food.
When you live in the West, Japanese food seems quite appealing, based on an occasional visit to a Japanese restaurant; but living here, you realise how unsatisfying and lacking in nourishment it is when eaten all the time - the Japanese are half-starved, preventable birth defects are too common and the elde ...more
This is apparently a Japanese classic. It seems to me Japanese art and culture has some parallels with Japanese food.
When you live in the West, Japanese food seems quite appealing, based on an occasional visit to a Japanese restaurant; but living here, you realise how unsatisfying and lacking in nourishment it is when eaten all the time - the Japanese are half-starved, preventable birth defects are too common and the elde ...more
I only read the beginning essay, "The Ten Foot Square Hut," which is too short to publish on its own. Easily read in an hour or less, with some interesting accounts of medieval Japanese history, as well as insights on living simply. This guy was the original Thoreau, and way more hardcore. He lived in a TEN-SQUARE-FOOT house! Henry David ain't got nothing on that.
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I'm sure that there is much to be appreciated by reading this work in the original Japanese that is inevitably lost in translation. But still the quality of the writing comes through on several levels. I can't say that about most works that are close to a thousand years old. First I loved the imagery, which starts with death and destruction through fire, earthquake, plague and starvation, all of which is a metaphor for Mr. Chomei's own deep sense of disquiet. Then I loved the progression from th
...more
Had to read this for class but it’s very engaging and interesting so I wanted to put it in my read list of the year. I find myself agreeing a lot with Chomei’s reasonings and mentality and wonder if I should go build a ten foot hut in the woods and maybe I’d be happier. His observations of the disasters at the time are striking and horrific but truthful. His critique on civilization is often how I find myself thinking of the world are me. I definitely would recommend reading this and I hope I ge
...more
Beautiful and relaxing. The ending is a bit strange and I didn’t quite understand it, which is indicative of the confusion within Buddhism of what to do once one does find peace.
Nonetheless, an inspiring little text, the version I read was entitled ‘the ten-foot-square hut’.
Made me think even if I sometimes disagree with some of the authors conclusions. Inspiring to live a more simple life focused on inner peace rather than being constantly stressed and trying to gain wealth, power and status.
Nonetheless, an inspiring little text, the version I read was entitled ‘the ten-foot-square hut’.
Made me think even if I sometimes disagree with some of the authors conclusions. Inspiring to live a more simple life focused on inner peace rather than being constantly stressed and trying to gain wealth, power and status.
Like many books belonging to the Japanese culture, Hojoki puts forward the irreplaceable tranquility of the quiet, isolated life. I must say I took great pleasure in reading this book and I couldn't help but notice that the last part is very reminiscent to Thoreau's Walden, even though they have been written almost six centuries apart. It is really nice to see that unlike many other things, the impact of nature is timeless.
...more
I can only add to the already-existing praise for this slim volume by saying that I'll keep this one within arm's reach on the bedside stand for many, many re-reads. Excellent and essential for those who crave less and less with each passing year.
...more
A very beautiful, clear, objective view, from late in life, of the uncertainties of man's life in society and on earth, given the succession of catastrophes, natural and man-caused, that visited the author's country over the centuries.
...more
If nothing else, then the fact that this has been written 800 years ago, makes it worth reading. Unfortunately Finnish translation was not good at all, breaking it's beauty. If only I could read Japanese!
...more
I really enjoyed this translation by Michael Hofmann. The introduction is especially rich and gives attention to the writing style and techniques that mark Hojoki as one of the best literary works of medieval Japan.
“On flows the river ceaselessly, nor does its water ever stay the same. The bubbles that float upon its pools now disappear, now form anew, but never endure long. And so it is with people in the world, and with their dwellings.”
Devastatingly beautiful!!
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Readers also enjoyed
Kamo no Chōmei (鴨 長明?, 1153 or 1155–1216) 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
...more
![四季物語 [2]](https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1458948236l/29620272._SX98_.jpg "四季物語 [2]")
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“The flow of the river is ceaseless; and its water is never the same.
The foam that floats in the pools
Now gathering, now vanishing
Never lasts long. So it is with man
and all his dwelling places on this earth.”
—
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The foam that floats in the pools
Now gathering, now vanishing
Never lasts long. So it is with man
and all his dwelling places on this earth.”
“Reality depends upon your mind alone.[34] If your mind is not at peace what use are riches?”
—
6 likes
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