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Japanese Literature
One of the questions that the prudent reader will consider while reading this excerpt from Kamo No Chomei's manuscript, an Account of a Ten-Foot-Square Hut, is how does the author utilize aspects of nature to reinforce his theme of the impermanence of life?
The answer to this question is: by invoking the power of nature as a force which is ungovernable. There are several instances in this brief excerpt in which the author refers to nature in this way to emphasize the transience of the world in which we live. His reference to a fire that destroyed a substantial part of a city is an excellent example of this tendency of the author. Fire, of course, is a force of nature, one of the fourth natural elements of which man has little control over. The author alludes to this fact by detailing how the aforementioned fire devastated the city in which it raged. Man has very little control over fire,...
It is key to understand that the fire was aided by another natural element -- the wind -- which further reinforces the idea that nature plays a significant part in the impermanence of the world. The subsequent quotation alludes to this fact. "Distant houses choked on smoke; nearby, wind drove the flames against the ground. In the sky, ashes blown up by the wind reflected the light of the fire, while wind-scattered flames spread through the overarching red in leaps of one and two blocks." Both the fire and the wind that helped it to grow out of control destroyed several houses and people in this city, thereby demonstrating the fact that there is an innate impermanence associated with this world -- since things can easily be destroyed by a fire and no longer exist.
Another question…
references to his theme of impermanence. He explicates the fact that the ancient capital of a city -- which had been in place for multiple centuries -- was suddenly moved. As such, there was a similar moving of the people who worked in that capital, while others were left behind. Clearly, people and their migrations between places reinforce the author's theme of impermanence.
Japanese Literature The stories of traditional Japanese literature contributed to the creation of Japan's cultural identity, just as all national literature contributes to the country of their origin. There are specific characteristics of a nation which influence and are influence by the psychological and sociological setting in which they were created. In the Japanese culture, there is a high emphasis placed both on nature and the natural world. What is granted
Beauty & Sadness in Japanese Literature My Dear Friend, I applaud you ambition to visit Japan for a summer session of study, and your focus on the distinct works of literature and art to emerge from Japanese culture is admirable. Having devoted much of my own studies to Japanese literature, both in historical and contemporary form, I can honestly say that you are embarking on a personal quest for knowledge that, while
traditional Japanese literature interests ? How element/aspect important? How, hypothetically, justify weight? Here topic I picked: relationship nature natural world Traditional Japanese literature. The relationship between nature and the natural world in Traditional Japanese literature Nature has often been considered to represent one of the most important sources of inspiration for national cultural heritage throughout the world. It is present in some of the world's most impressive past civilizations as well
Beauty & Sadness in Japanese Literature A modernization of the story "An Account of a Ten Foot Square Hut" Many, many years ago, it is said that the Buddha went out into the world, seeking to free himself from his cloistered palace -- and saw sickness, old age, and death. Upon seeing this inevitable suffering, he resolved to free the world with his philosophy, and lead us all to Enlightenment. Although our
Higuchi Ichiyo's novella Takekurabe, alternately translated as Growing Up or Child's Play, follows the lives of three children growing up near the "licensed quarter" of Yoshiwara, meaning the area of Tokyo where prostitution was legalized and regulated (Ichiyo 70). The story charts the gradual transition from childhood into adulthood during a period of rapid change in Japanese history and culture. The Meiji period represented the first emergence of a truly
Japanese Art of Balance In Japanese culture there is a balancing act taking place. There is a definite ebb and flow, wax and wane to life. Here several aspects of the culture will be considered and addressed in an effort to show how the art of balance is created and how significant it is in the Japanese culture and lifestyle. It is not just art, not just food, not "just" anything