CHINESE THEORY OF THE FIVE ELEMENTS IN MATSUO BASHO’S POETRY

Abstract

In the history of Japanese poetry the name Matsuo Bashō 1644 – 1694 has always been connected with the poetic genre of haiku – nowadays the most famous and renowned Japanese poetic form – which contains only 17 syllables grouped into three verses 5-7-5 . Having in mind that Bashō’s value in the history of Japanese literature has been stressed by numerous authors and that his poems are considered to be some of the finest in the haiku genre, this paper is an attempt to approach the investigation of their value in a slightly different manner. We have decided to analyse his late period poetry by means of the Chinese theories of the five elements and Yin and Yang, taking into consideration the philosophical influence of Taoism and Zen Buddhism. The Chinese theory of the five elements wood, fire, earth, metal, and water has been chosen because they are considered in China and Japan to be the key elements that underlie all natural and social phenomena. Therefore we have tried to highlight their harmonious relations in the poems analysed. Having analysed the chosen poems from Bashō’s late period by using the Yin-Yang and the five elements theories we have concluded that they are harmoniously interrelated, bringing naturalness and universality, and therefore a high literary value, to his poetry. Thus we have shown that his poetry expresses, whether consciously or unconsciously, his philosophical tendencies rooted in the five elements and Yin and Yang theories.

Keywords

• Matsuo Bashō, haiku, Chinese theory of the five elements, Taoism, Zen Buddhism.

References

1. Aitken, R. (1995). A Zen Wave: Basho’s Haiku and Zen. Weatherhill: New York.
2. Bašo, M. (1994). Uska staza u zabrđe. Draganić: Beograd.
3. Bašo, M. (1996). Stari ribnjak. Narodna knjiga: Beograd.
4. Binjon, L. (2005). Zmajev let. Liber: Beograd.
5. Blyth, R.H. (1981). Haiku, vol. II. The Hokuseido Press: Tokyo.
6. Capra, F. (1975). The Tao of Physics. Shambala: USA.
7. Daisec, S. (2005). Zen i japanska kultura. Geopoetika: Beograd.
8. Devide, V. (1985). Iz japanske književnosti. Spektar: Zagreb.

9. Devide, V. (1985). Japanska haiku poezija i njen kulturnopovjesni okvir. Cankarjeva založba: Zagreb.
10. Hass, R. (1994). The Essential Haiku, Versions of Basho, Buson and Issa. The Ecco Press: Canada.
11. Ju-Lan, F. (1992). Istorija kineske filozofije. Nolit: Beograd.
12. Kato, S. (1979). A History of Japanese Literature, Vol. 1,2,3. Kodansha International: Tokyo.
13. Kenneth, Y. (1995). The Japanese Haiku, Its essential nature, history and possibilities in English with selected examplews. Charles E.Tuttle Company: Rutland, Vermont&Tokyo, Japan.
14. Krivokapić, M. (1972). Poetska slika vode u Geteovom delu. (unpublished phd thysis). Filološki fakultet: Beograd.
15. Lampić, M. (2000). Mali rečnik tradicionalnih simbola. Libretto: Beograd, 2000.
16. Marković, Lj., Despotović, M., Vraneš, A. (2002). Povetarac nad potokom: o haiku poeziji i haiđinima. Centar za Istočnu Aziju Filološkog fakulteta u Beogradu: Beograd.
17. Minoru, H. (2005). Basho: The Topology of Itinerancy and Settlement, Acta Asiatica, Bulletin of the Institute of the Eastern Culture (pp. 69-91). The Toho Gakkai: Tokyo.
18. Mori, T., Smit, R. (1990). Kigaku: japanska knjiga o slaganju sudbina. Marko Polo: Beograd.
19. Nan Ce, H. (2005). Kosmički duh. Liber: Beograd.
20. Needham, J., Gwei-Djen, L. (1974). Science and Civilisation in China, Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology. Cambridge University Press: London.
21. Oseko, T. (1990). Basho’s Haiku. T.Oseko: Tokyo.
22. Pajin, D. (1998). Druga zemlja, drugo nebo: filozofija umetnosti Kine i Japana. BMG: Beograd.
23. Pajin, D. (2004). Haiku in the 21st Century Aesthetics: World Haiku – Meeting og East and West
24. Aesthetics: Looking at Japanese Culture, (no. 11), The Japanese Society for Aesthetics. Pajin, D., Marinković, A. (2004). Rečnik taoizma: Put zmaja. Draganić: Beograd.
25. Peipei, Q. (1994). Poetics of the Natural: A Study of the Taoist Influence on Basho. Columbia University: USA.
26. Peipei, Q. (2005). Basho and the Dao, The Zhuangzi and the Transformation of Haikai. University of
27. Hawaii Press: Honolulu. Pušić, R. (1996). Sin Neba, filosofija stare Kine. Svetovi: Novi Sad.
28. Pušić, R. (2001). Kosmička šara. Plato: Beograd.
29. Rafael, S. (1997). Feng šui, korak po korak. Eshoteria: Beograd.
30. Serizava, K. (2005). Cubo: vitalne tačke u istočnjačkoj medicini. Liber: Beograd.
31. Shirane, H. (1998). Traces of Dreams; Landscape, Cultural Memory and the Poetry of Basho.
32. Stanford University Press: California. Struk, L. (1986). On Love and Barley: Haiku of Basho. University of Hawaii Press: Honolulu.
33. Ueda, M. (1970). Matsuo Basho. Kodansha International: Tokyo.
34. Ueda, M. (1992). Basho and his Interpreters, Selected Hokku with Commentary. Stanford University Press: California.
35. Wolf, S. (2006). Toward Bash’s Zen Poetics: The History and Significance of Basho’s Autumn Crow
36. Haiku, 龍谷大学国際センター, no. 15. Yu-lan, F. (1952). Short History of Chinese philosophy. George Allen and Unwin: London. 乾裕幸. (2000).『芭蕉歳時記』. 翰林社:東京． 大野 林火. (1985).『入門歳時記』.角川書店:東京. 宗 左近. (1998).『芭蕉のこころ』.ほるぶ出版:東京． 根本幸夫、根井養智. (1952).『陰陽五行説、その発生と展開』.じほう:大阪.