Japan is a land of poets. The foremost haiku poet of all time, Matsuo Basho, sought to link himself to Saigyo, the legendary hermit-poet and itinerant priest. In time, Basho also became a legend, but close identification with Saigyo certainly contributed to his fame in Japan and around the world.
Priest Saigyo's Solitary Life
Saigyo was Basho's predecessor by 500 years. He became a hermit-priest after leaving the elite corps of samurai at the imperial court of Kyoto. He was a favorite of the emperor and empress and a budding poet of waka (the classic Japanese poetry, now called tanka). He may have left because he was tired of the intrigue and decadence of court life. Or perhaps, it was the advances of the empress seventeen years his senior or simply unrequited love. In any event, Saigyo made a life-changing decision to become a priest at 23 years old and took off to live in one hut or another in mountainous regions.
In his spiritual quest and hope for a life of solitude, Saigyo preferred to be a hermit-priest rather than a part of a temple establishment. His admiration for simplicity, solitude and meditation led Saigyo to a vow of poverty. The life he chose was also conducive to writing poetry. Part of his inspiration came from Chinese hermit poets. The simplicity of his life shines in his waka and his natural loneliness is uplifted by the lush nature of his surroundings.
According to scholar William LaFleur, Saigyo "spent a good deal of time in hermitages that were relatively separate from society and made journeys" as the ultimate wanderer of his time. As his poetry gained recognition, 94 of his waka was printed in the imperial anthology, Shin-Kokinshu and one his waka was included in the illustrious of One Hundred Poets Collection, Hyakunin Isshu.
The Saigyo Wannabe
Basho's famous poetic travel diary, Narrow Road to the Deep North (Oku no Hosomichi) is a long haibun (prose with haiku). According to Japanese literary scholar Haruo Shirane, it was "an offering or tribute to the spirit of Saigyo on the five-hundredth anniversary of his death." On his travels, Basho was directed to the actual willow represented in one of Saigyo's waka poems. There is also a Noh Play, Yugyo Yanagi, in which a character representing Basho speaks to the spirit of Saigyo by the willow, as he fantasizes that he was the itinerant monk himself.
The following waka (tanka) of Saigyo's inspired Basho's haiku below:
A clear mirror
with just a speck of dust--
yet the eyes
have caught it, the world
having become what it is.
Saigyo
* * *
white chrysanthemum
without a speck of dust
the eyes can catch
Basho
(translations by Makoto Ueda)
One of Many
Basho was a haiku mentor for numerous younger poets. In his travels, he stayed with poet friends and supporters as he made appearances at haikai events (haikai is a poetry genre that includes linked-verse renga, haibun and hokku). He was considered a master in the circles he moved in, and spent much time discussing haikai aesthetics with his students. His contribution to haikai uplifted and perfected that genre.
In the last years of his life, he gave up his famous hut with banana trees in the city, dressed as a priest, and set out on horseback or foot. Most often accompanied by one or two companions, he stayed with other friends in the provinces and in the capital. Shirane states, however, that "Basho, even at the peak of his career, was only one of a number of prominent haikai masters . . . and was far from having the largest or most influential school."
Two Legendary Poets
Shirane cites scholar and novelist Ueda Akinari (1734-1809), who "believed that Basho's stance as a hermit-traveler was both hypocritical and anachronistic: in contrast to Saigyo and Sogi [another hermit-priest], who lived in periods of turmoil, Basho had no need to be a wanderer." Within 100 years after his death, stone memorials with Basho's haiku had sprouted across the areas where he had traveled. Some temples and shrines became places for followers to worship Basho. Poet and critic Shiki (1867-1902) observed that "the Basho school is a haikai cult that worshiped Basho as a god and regarded his verses as sacred scripture."
Saigyo is the archtypical hermit-priest and his waka will always be admired. Basho emerged as the most predominant poet of his genre Yet, both men came to be revered as saints. Without being a Saigyo wannabe, Basho probably still would have been as famous as a poet, but he would not have been associated with perpetual hermits, wanderers or priests.
References
LaFleur, William R. Awesome Nightfall: The Life, Times, and Poetry of Saigyo, Boston: Wisdom Publications, 2003.
Shirane, Haruo. Traces of Dreams: Landscape, Cultural Memory, and the Poetry of Basho, Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1998.
Sterba, Carmen. "Historically Speaking: The Hermit Poet Known by Emperors and Shoguns," Ribbons, The Tanka Society of America, Volume 4:1, 2008.
Carmen Sterba - Carmen Sterba has a B.A. in Far East Asian Studies and an M.A. in Literature. She is keen about Japanese history & Asian American ...
