A History of Japanese Literature, Volume 2: The Years of Isolation

## Kabuki and Pictures of the 'Floating World' The Literature of Laughter ## Bibliographical Notes Index GLOSSARY OF TERMS xiii ly, the school which was completed by Zhu Xi and the school which was completed by Wang Yangming. The former, roughly speaking, held that the universe was not legislated by the mind, the latter that it was. Chönin 'Burghers'. The mercantile, urban c1asses, lowest in the official Tokugawa hierarchy. Dutch studies and Dutch scholars Ouring the Tokugawa period the only foreigners with whom the Japanese came into contact were the Outch traders at Nagasaki. This meant that the language used as a medium for anyone interested in studying European culture was Outch, and the study itself became known as 'Outch studies'. Giri 'Outy'; what is owing to society as a whole. Haikai Short poem in the syllable pattern 5-7-5. Later known as haiku . Handayü bushi A style of jöruri, originating with the performer Handayü in Edo . Popular from the 1680s to the 1770s. ]öruri Oramatic chanted ballad, the substance of which is often simultaneously acted out by puppets (ningyö jöruri). [unshi The act of committing suicide on the death of one's lord as an act of loyalty. Kakekotoba A play on the different meanings of a word used to link two successive phrases so that the meaning of the word in the second phrase is different from its meaning in the first. It is possible to demonstrate in English -'1 sit beneath the pine for my love'-but seldom possible to translate. Kami A 'god'; any thing, animal or person of transcendent quality. Kanazöshi Short stories written in simple, c1assically influenced [apanese, popular in the late seventeenth century. Kirishitan 'Christian' (from the Portuguese Cristiio), a general term for the converts of the missionaries who came with and after Francisco Xavier in the middle to late sixteenth century. Ködö 'The Way of Incense' . An elegant avocation in which the adept tries to appreciate and identify various kinds of incense. There are games which can be played combining one's skill at ködö with knowledge of other arts. Kojiki Iapan's oldest extant history. Completed early in the eighth century. Centred on the mythological and legendary xiv GLOSSARY OF TERMS history of the Imperial house. Kokoro The essence or core of any phenomenon. In people the mind/heart/spirit. Koku A unit used to measure rice, approximately 180 litres. Samurai were paid in rice measured in koku; the wealth and power of daimyö were in turn signified by the amount of rice the central government decided it was possible to grow on their land. Koto A stringed instrument, played by plucking. A '[apanese zithern'. Kouta Popular songs adopted and sophisticated by the more cultured classes. Kuruwa The licensed quarters. The authorities sought to regularize prostitution by confining it to distinct areas, surrounded by a wall. These areas came to be a kind of separate world within which the restraints of the ordered existence were relaxed, although in practice prostitution often flourished outside them as weIl. Kyöka A comic tanka . Mach i-shu The term used for chönin in the Kyöto-Ösaka area in the early part of the Tokugawa period and before. Manyöshu [apan's first poetry collection . Completed in the mid-eighth century. Mencius Meng-zi (371?-289? B.C.), whose teaching systernatized and developed the work of Confucius. Michiyuki LiteraIly,'a journey'. A scene of travel in either Nö or jöruri. In jöruri the journey is typically the flight of lovers to their glorious death, and the textual and theatrical style at this point is suitably poetical and charged with emotion. Nanga 'Southern paintings', a style of monochrome ink painting originating with the 'southern' Chan (Zen) Sect in China. Subtle, evocative and fluid in Iine, this was the style favoured by the bunjin (literati) painters of Japan. Nihonshoki A [apanese history produced in the early eighth century. Ningyö jöruri Puppet play accompanied by the chanting of jöruri (q.v .), Ninjö 'Human feelings', especially those of a personal and private nature. Ninjöbon 'Books of human feelings'. Sentimental romantic If there were no more cherry blossoms in this world of ours How free and easy our feelings in spring! (Ise monogatari 82) Front Matter....Pages i-xx The Third Turning Point....Pages 1-112 The Age of Wit and Learning....Pages 113-218 Back Matter....Pages 219-230