Abstract
The Japanese concept of the term “kyōgen kigo” or “kyōgen kigyo”, which in English means “wild words and fancy language”, has influenced Japanese literary thought to a considerable degree. The originally Buddhist term that became popular in China and then in Japan was coined by the Tang dynasty’s poet Bai Juyi, who first spoke disapprovingly and then contemptuously about novels or any kind of fiction from both the Buddhist and the Confucian standpoints. This article is a discussion of the metamorphosis in the meaning of this term “kyōgen kigo” in Japan.By kyōgen kigo Bai Juyi meant to criticize secular poetry, particularly for its unforgivable vanity hidden beneath cascades of elaborate words. In Japan waka poetry remained untainted by such pretensions, and the effect of waka verses on its readers has been said to be similar to the effect that dhāranī, the mystic verses of India, have on their reader. However, in other Japanese literature, kyōgen kigo flourishes were abundant and expanded from literature to music and to the arts in general. In the course of time the conflict between the duties of Buddhism and the pleasure derived from art was transformed into a justification of the latter and even into promotion of art as a means to religious fulfilment. This paper follows the shift in the connotations of kyōgen kigo in Japan,as represented in Buddhist-influenced medieval literature that in spite of the religious moralizing also reflects kyōgen kigo flourishes.
Highlights
"wild words and fancy language", has influenced Japanese literary thought to a considerable degree
The works of Bai Juyi, whose adult name Letian (*~) means optimist, reflect the spirit of his times. He was a sociable, talented statesman whose successful bureaucratic career came to an abrupt halt when he was accused of going beyond his duties because he had demanded an investigation of a widely discussed political assassination
By the term kuangyan-qiyu, which has been variously translated into English, e.g., "wild words and fancy language", "floating phrases and fictive utterances", etc., Bai Juyi was referring to the writing of "poetry"
Summary
The Japanese concept of the term Ukyc5gen kigo" or "kyc5gen kigyo" (1£ ~ ~~), which in English means "wild words and fancy language", has influenced Japanese literary thought to a considerable degree. The works of Bai Juyi, whose adult name Letian (*~) means optimist, reflect the spirit of his times He was a sociable, talented statesman whose successful bureaucratic career came to an abrupt halt when he was accused of going beyond his duties because he had demanded an investigation of a widely discussed political assassination. By the term kuangyan-qiyu (ll§~iB-), which has been variously translated into English, e.g., "wild words and fancy language", "floating phrases and fictive utterances", etc., Bai Juyi was referring to the writing of "poetry" This term expresses two Buddhist sins, and through this poem of Bai Juyi this term found its way to Japan. While Bai Juyi never unconditionally denied the creative processes that elevated his work, he believed that literature can only be justified as expression of one's vows or sacrifice to a higher truth and should not be a product of one's literary ambitions
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