#tsurezuregusa

[aschenblumen]

Alguien dijo: «Una seda fina no es apropiada para envolver el manuscrito, porque se deteriora fácilmente». A lo que Tona respondió: «Es precisamente cuando la cubierta de seda se ha deshilachado por arriba y por abajo, y cuando el nácar se ha desprendido del rollo, cuando se puede decir que un pergamino es bello». Lo cual es prueba del gusto tan elevado y fino que poseía este hombre. Hay quien dice que una colección de libros no es hermosa a la vista si no tienen todos el mismo formato; pero a mí me impresionó mucho lo que le oí decir al abad Koyu: «Es propio de un hombre poco culto querer ordenar juegos completos de cosas; es mejor lo incompleto». En todas las cosas, la uniformidad es un defecto. Es interesante dejar algo incompleto y por terminar; así se tendrá la sensación de que mediante esa imperfección se prolonga la vida de los seres. Alguien dijo: «Hasta cuando construyen un palacio dejan algo por terminar». Y en los escritos de los sabios de la Antigüedad, tanto budistas como confucionistas, hay muchos versos y capítulos que faltan.

Kenko Yoshida, Tsurezuregusa. Ocurrencias de un ocioso. Traducción de Justino Rodríguez.

[citypopdaily]

惑いのWicked Woman (Tomadoi no Wicked Woman) by Junko Ohashi / 大橋純子

Album: DEF Year: 1988 Label: Epic Lyrics: Tsurezuregusa / 徒然草 Music: Ken Sato / 佐藤健

[meyer-sensei]

Tsurezuregusa 224

Als der Yin-Yang-Meister Abe no Arimune aus Kamakura in die Hauptstadt kam und mir einen Besuch abstattete, sagte er direkt als Erstes: „Euer Garten ist viel zu groß. Das ist reine Verschwendung, wirklich ungeheuerlich! Ein vernünftiger Mann baut Nutzpflanzen an. Ihr solltet das gesamte Grundstück zu einem Nutzgarten machen und nur einen schmalen Weg als Durchgang frei lassen.“ Es ist in der Tat verschwenderisch, selbst kleine Flächen ungenutzt zu lassen. Man tut gut daran, Gemüse und Heilkräuter anzupflanzen.

Kommentar:

Dieser kurze Abschnitt ist in mehrfacher Hinsicht interessant: Die Geschichte ist ein Beispiel für die enge Verbindung, die Kenkō Zeit seines Lebens zum Osten des Landes – insbesondere Kanezawa (heute ein Stadtteil von Yokohama) und Kamakura – unterhielt. Bemerkenswert ist auch, daß es hier Kenkō ist, der sich Kritik gefallen lassen muß, wo es doch normalerweise er selbst ist, der an anderer Leute Häuser und Gärten etwas (um nicht zu sagen jede Menge) auszusetzen hat. Aber es ist nicht so, daß Kenkō den Ratschlag des Yin-Yang Meister sofort in die Tat umsetzt. Oder auch nur daran denkt, einen Nutzgarten anzulegen. In der langen Liste von Bäumen und Pflanzen, die er in seinem Garten haben will (siehe Abschnitt 139), finden sich weder Obstbäume noch Gemüsepflanzen oder Heilkräuter erwähnt. Kenkō scheint die Anekdote nur deshalb aufgeschrieben zu haben, um den gut gemeinten Ratschlag (I always pass on good advice. It is the only thing to do with it. It is never of any use to oneself.) weiterzugeben. Möglich ist es, aber vielleicht hat Kenkō all die Anekdoten auch nur deshalb aufgeschrieben, um sie bei passender Gelegenheit erzählen zu können. Alldieweil Small Talk nicht seine Sache war.

[sinful-lanterns]

It might sound obvious, but since you asked I was thinking about Angell as a nekomata! Literally a cat monster that can also transform, and among the many stories in japan telling the myth there was one that fascinated me anough that might fit her 🤭

I quote the wiki: "an old cat raised in a villa on a mountain precipice held a secret treasure, a protective sword, in its mouth and ran away. People chased the cat, but it disguised itself and left behind the thought of a monster that had disguised itself as a cat. In the aforementioned "Tsurezuregusa", in addition to nekomata that conceal themselves in the mountains, there are descriptions of pet cats that grow old, transform, and eat and abduct people."

A cat with a sword? some abduct people? 👀 you see my vision

some nekomata also have two tails!

-🧶

OUGHHHH Nekomata Angell who abducts the Researcher one day because she thinks you would make the perfect mate for her. Imagine you’re camping outside in the mountain area in your tent, and by the time you wake up in the morning, you realize you have been abducted as you’re laying in an unfamiliar bed, in an unfamiliar room, with an unfamiliar hot Nekomata woman spooning you possessively from behind…

You try to leave, but it’s no use. Nekomata Angell is just as strong as she is possessive, and she won’t let you leave the bed as she wants to live out her days with her newfound “mate.” The abandoned house she had claimed as her lair is a mess, so you spend your days living with Nekomata Angell in her cluttered house, doing domestic things like cooking and cleaning and teaching her how to take care of herself. All the while having small moments of sex, as Nekomata Angell can be quite the insatiable one…

In return for your companionship, well…let’s just say Angell wants to give you a litter of Nekomata kittens soon 😅

[paddysnuffles]

Young People

4th century BCE

“They think they know everything, and are always quite sure about it.” -- Rhetoric, Aristotle

“[Young people] are high-minded because they have not yet been humbled by life, nor have they experienced the force of circumstances.” -- Rhetoric, Aristotle

1st century BCE

“The beardless youth… does not foresee what is useful, squandering his money.” -- Horace

20 BCE

“Our sires’ age was worse than our grandsires’. We, their sons, are more worthless than they; so in our turn we shall give the world a progeny yet more corrupt.” -- Book III of Odes, Horace

1330s

"Modern fashions seem to keep on growing more and more debased … The ordinary spoken language has also steadily coarsened. People used to say ‘raise the carriage shafts’ or ‘trim the lamp wick,’ but people today say ‘raise it’ or ‘trim it.’ When they should say, ‘Let the men of the palace staff stand forth!’ they say, ‘Torches! Let’s have some light!’” -- Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness), Yoshida Kenkō

1624

“Youth were never more sawcie, yea never more savagely saucie . . . the ancient are scorned, the honourable are contemned, the magistrate is not dreaded.” -- The Wise-Man’s Forecast against the Evill Time, Thomas Barnes

1771

“Whither are the manly vigour and athletic appearance of our forefathers flown? Can these be their legitimate heirs? Surely, no; a race of effeminate, self-admiring, emaciated fribbles can never have descended in a direct line from the heroes of Potiers and Agincourt…” -- Letter in Town and Country magazine republished in Paris Fashion: A Cultural History

1790

“The free access which many young people have to romances, novels, and plays has poisoned the mind and corrupted the morals of many a promising youth…” -- Memoirs of the Bloomsgrove Family, Reverend Enos Hitchcock

1843

“…a fearful multitude of untutored savages… [boys] with dogs at their heels and other evidence of dissolute habits…[girls who] drive coal-carts, ride astride upon horses, drink, swear, fight, smoke, whistle, and care for nobody…the morals of children are tenfold worse than formerly.” -- Anthony Ashley Cooper, the 7th Earl of Shaftesbury, Speech to the House of Commons

1904

“Never has youth been exposed to such dangers of both perversion and arrest as in our own land and day. Increasing urban life with its temptations, prematurities, sedentary occupations, and passive stimuli just when an active life is most needed, early emancipation and a lessening sense for both duty and discipline…” -- The Psychology of Adolescence, Granville Stanley Hall

1925

“We defy anyone who goes about with his eyes open to deny that there is, as never before, an attitude on the part of young folk which is best described as grossly thoughtless, rude, and utterly selfish.” -- The Conduct of Young People, Hull Daily Mail

1938

“Cinemas and motor cars were blamed for a flagging interest among young people in present-day politics by ex-Provost JK Rutherford… [He] said he had been told by people in different political parties that it was almost impossible to get an audience for political meetings. There were, of course, many distractions such as the cinema…” -- Young People and Politics, Kirkintilloch Herald, 1938

1951

“Many [young people] were so pampered nowadays that they had forgotten that there was such a thing as walking, and they made automatically for the buses… unless they did something, the future for walking was very poor indeed.” -- Scottish Rights of Way: More Young People Should Use Them, Falkirk Herald

1995

“The traditional yearning for a benevolent employer who can provide a job for life also seems to be on the wane… In particular, they want to avoid ‘low-level jobs that aren’t keeping them intellectually challenged.’” -- Meet Generation X, Financial Times

2017

“Millennials are lazy and think basic tasks are beneath them.” -- A generation with a huge sense of entitlement, Daily Mail

[passengerpigeons]

In all things, perfect regularity is tasteless. Something left not quite finished is very appealing, a gesture towards the future. Someone told me that even in the construction of the imperial palace, some part is always left uncompleted. In the Buddhist scriptures and other works written by the great men of old there are also a number of missing sections.

Yoshida Kenko. 82, Essays in Idleness [Tsurezuregusa], trans. Meredith McKinney

[plateapugnator]

Del Tsurezuregusa 吉田兼好 Yoshida Kenkō

[lindasipsandspills]

A Cup of Sake Beneath the Cherry Trees

By Yoshida Kenko

General Information

Edition:

Translated by Meredith McKinney under Pinguin Books as a Pinguin Classics.

"Selection taken from Essays in Idleness (Tsurezuregusa), which was probably written around 1329-31."

Author:

Urabe Kenkō, also known as Yoshida Kenkō, or simply Kenkō, was a Japanese author and Buddhist monk. He was allegedly born in 1283 and died in 1352 in Japan. His most famous work is Tsurezuregusa, one of the most studied works of medieval Japanese literature.

Short Synopsis (via goodreads):

'It is a most wonderful comfort to sit alone beneath a lamp, book spread before you, and commune with someone from the past whom you have never met...' Moonlight, sake, spring blossom, idle moments, a woman's hair - these exquisite reflections on life's fleeting pleasures by a thirteenth-century Japanese monk are delicately attuned to nature and the senses.

Page count:

51 paper pages.

Trigger warnings:

Misogyny, alcohol consumption, social anxiety.

Initial thoughts post-read:

This work serves as a powerful reminder that not all creations of a writer necessitate publication. Were they the next Sokratis or Plato? Certainly not, and Kenko himself knew it. He explicitly stated that these writings were intended solely for his own consumption. So why, then, override his wishes and publish them? While certain passages may spark conversation, do they offer a singular thought that could only be derived from his mind? Doubtful.

You'll find some solid life advice here and the thoughts of someone who's had the luxury to really mull over life's big questions through deep introspection. Yet, beyond that, there appears to be little else. The text reflects the contemplations of someone who has had the time and privilege to ponder the essence of their existence. But is there profundity here beyond personal reflection? It's hard to say. This text is more about personal reflection than groundbreaking insight.

Quotes:

[...] but such a friend is hard to find, and instead you sit there doing your best to fit in with whatever the other is saying, feeling deeply alone. (page 7)

After all, things thought but left unsaid only fester inside you. So, I let my brush run on like this for my own foolish solace; these pages deserve to be torn up and discarded, after all, and are not something others will ever see. (page 10)

We long to leave a name for our exceptional wisdom and sensibility - but when you really think about it, desire for a good reputation is merely revelling in the praise of others. (page 16)

In general, I find that reasonably sensitive and intelligent people will pass their whole life without taking the step they know they should. (page 19)

'A beginner should not hold two arrows,' his teacher told him. 'You will be careless with the first, knowing you have a second. You must always be determined to hit the target with the single arrow you shoot, and have no thought beyond this.' (page 25)

It is because they have no fear of death that people fail to enjoy life - no, not that they don't fear it, but rather they forget its nearness. (page 26)

'While he's up there among the trecherous branches I need not say a word - his fear is enough to guide him. It's in the easy places that mistakes will always occur.' (page 28)

There is so much talking when people get together. It is exhausting, disturbs the peace of mind and wastes time better spent on other things. (page 39)

[fedeposts96]

Dislocaciones

del latin “relatus” participio pasado de “referre” que significa “llevar de vuelta” “contar” compuesto por el prefijo “re” que indica repetición y el verbo “ferre” que significa “llevar”, de modo que relato quiere decir “algo que se lleva de vuelta” o una narración que se cuenta de nuevo

se derivan:

relativo: que depende de su contexto para dar una respuesta definida o exacta

crónica: narración de un suceso histórico

ferre: transportar, portar: llevar,

en japonès - monogatari: mono: cosa, “gatari” historia o palabra” de modo que refiere a la historia de las cosas, un monogatari famoso “tsurezuregusa”se puede traducir como “ensayo del ocio”, es una colección de reflexiones sobre la vida diaria, la muerte, la amistad, la belleza de lo cotidiano, la impermanencia de la vida o la fugacidad de la felicidad de una manera sencilla, lo simple como virtud.

[notshonagon]

And so, watching the new year dawn in the sky, you are stirred by a sense of utter newness, although the sky looks no different from yesterday's.

Priest Kenkō (兼好法師 Kenkō hōshi, or Yoshida Kenkō 吉田兼好), Essays in Idleness (徒然草 Tsurezuregusa)

19th essay: The changing seasons are moving in every way...

Translated by Meredith McKinney.

[meyer-sensei]

紫の朱奪ふことを悪む

『子曰、惡紫之奪朱也、惡鄭聲之亂雅樂也、惡利口之覆邦家。』

“The Master said, I hate the manner in which purple takes away the luster of vermilion. I hate the way in which the songs of Chang confound the music of the Ya. I hate those who with their sharp mouths overthrow kingdoms and families.”

Warum wollte Go-Daigo-Tennō gerade diese Stelle nachschlagen? Konfuzius beklagt, daß Dinge, die früher am chinesischen Kaiserhof gut und richtig waren, jetzt in Unordnung geraten sind und verurteilt diejenigen, die durch ihr unangemessenes Verhalten das Reich in Gefahr bringen. Ich denke, daß Go-Daigo-Tennō in den Worten des Konfuzius eine Bestätigung für sein Streben nach Wiederherstellung der direkten kaiserlichen Herrschaft gesehen hat.

Ich finde es amüsant, mir vorzustellen, daß Go-Daigo-Tennō die Frage nach der genauen Textstelle als Test für die Gesinnung seiner Minister genommen hat. Und daß diejenigen, die wie er den Sturz des Kamakura-Bakufu verfolgten, dies als Aufforderung verstanden haben, genau darüber zu sprechen. Kritik am herrschenden Regierungssystem ist immer ein gefährliches Unterfangen und so zu tun als würde man nur über die Geschehnisse aus vergangenen Zeiten und/oder fernen Ländern reden, ist eine gute Vorsichtsmaßnahme.

[7adreen]

[…] Well then, if people hate death they should love life. Should we not relish each day the joy of survival? Fools forget this— they go striving after other enjoyments, cease to appreciate the fortune they have and risk all to lay their hands on fresh wealth. Their desires are never sated. There is a deep contradiction in failing to enjoy life and yet fearing death when faced with it. It is because they have no fear of death that people fail to enjoy life— no, not that they don’t fear it, but rather they forget its nearness. Of course, it must be said that the ultimate gain lies in transcending the relative world with its distinction between life and death.

Yoshida Kenkō, Essays in Idleness

[werewoofers]

Tsurezuregusa (Essays in Idleness) by Yoshida Kenkō

[arno631]

#徒然草 #今日の習字 #書道 #tsurezuregusa #calligraphy #japanesestyle #traditional #artist #men #hiragana #仮名 #blackandwhite https://www.instagram.com/p/BwDKkn8gwDe/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=v1gjoyumdrba

[konjaku]

仙人草[Senninsō] Clematis terniflora

仙人[Sennin] : Immortal mountain wizard in Taoism, hermit

草[Sō] : Grass, herb

It produces white flowers from late summer to early autumn. Since the genus Clematis is a member of the buttercup family, it is also toxic and will cause dermatitis if touched carelessly.

As for Sennin, the Chinese immortals are well known. In the novel Toshishun written by Akutagawa Ryūnosuke, there is an immortal who lives in Mount Emei. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ryūnosuke_Akutagawa

There are also legends of immortals in our country. For exmaple, a story is told in one of Japan's three most famous essays Tsurezuregusa and in other books, when 久米の仙人[Kume no Sennin] was in the sky, looked at the white calves of a woman doing the laundry, lost his thaumaturgy and fell. https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/A_1913-0501-0-421

Also, it seems there is a Sennin like this. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_Roshi

[forgottenbones]

A book I read recently called Tsurezuregusa written in 1330 said「Those who're starting to learn an art tend to say "I don´t want anyone to know at the beginning, I'll practice secretly til I get better then I won´t be embarrassed." But those people never achieve even one thing」 pic.twitter.com/H0M6OOyYUU

— tkasasagi (@tkasasagi) 29 luglio 2018

"Only those who practice with advanced people before knowing any techniques and don´t give up even though they get told off or laughed by others will success. Even without a natural talent"

— tkasasagi (@tkasasagi) 29 luglio 2018