Jien
Jien | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Born | 17 May 1155 Heian-kyō |
| Died | 28 October 1225(aged 70) Omi(now Shiga) |
| Occupation | Buddhist monk |
| Genre | history, poetry |
| Subject | Japanese history |
Jien(Từ viên,17 May 1155 inKyoto– 28 October 1225 inOmi)was aJapanesepoet, historian, andBuddhist monk.[1]
Biography
[edit]Jien was the son ofFujiwara no Tadamichi,a member of theFujiwara clanof powerful aristocrats. His brother was the future regentFujiwara no Kanezane.Jien became aTendaimonk early in his life, enteringShōren-inat age eleven. He first took the Buddhist nameDokaei,and later changed it toJien.
In 1192, with the recommendation ofMinamoto no Yoritomoand Jien's elder brotherFujiwara no Kanezane,at the age of 38, Jien became the Daisōjō ( đại tăng chính ), leader of the Tendai. However, his position was not stable as shown by the fact that he was appointed as Daisōjō four times back and forth following his brother Kanezane's ups and downs in the political world.[2]This is because as the leader of Tendai, in addition to holding rituals and maintaining Buddhist monasteries, he also served politically as the guardian ofKujō Michiie,the grandson of his brotherKanezane.Jien put hopes on Michiie's son,Kujō Yoritsune,to become theshogunof theKamakura Shogunate.
Jien eventually began to study and writeJapanese history,his purpose being to "enlighten people who find it hard to understand the vicissitudes of life". His masterpiece, completed around 1220, was humbly entitledGukanshō,which translates asJottings of a Fool.In it he tried to analyze the facts of Japanese history. TheGukanshōheld amappoand therefore pessimistic view of his age,the Feudal Period,and claimed that it was a period of religious decline and saw the disintegration of civilization. This is the viewpoint generally held today. Jien claimed that changes in thefeudalstructure were necessary and defended theshōgun's claim of power.
WhenEmperor Go-Tobaattempt to overthrow theShogunate,Jien, fearing that theKujō familywould be affected, began to trace the history of Japan and wroteGukanshō,a combination of History, Buddhist ideas and legends, to try to dissuade emperor Go-Toba from overthrow the Shogunate. In Gukanshō he also try to associates his grandnewphew Kujō Yoritsune with thebodhisattvaand other legends which is able to gain legitimacy for Yoritsune and to reach the position of shogun: "The coming of such a Shogun is the plan of the Great Bodhisattva, a man(Kujō Yoritsune) who can protect the world and defend the sovereign, with both literary and military prowess and dignity. This is a matter of great importance. "( かかる tương quân のかく xuất で lai る sự は đại bồ tát の ngự kế らひにて, văn võ kiêm じて uy thế ありて thế を thủ り quân を thủ るべき nhiếp lục の nhân ( ＝ đạo gia と lại kinh ) をまうけて, thế の vi nhân の vi quân の ngự vi に tham らせらるるをば, quân のえ ngự tâm đắc ngự tọa ( おは ) しまさぬにこそ. これこそ do 々しき đại sự にて thị れ )[3]
Jien writes several times in Gukanshō that he wants "to make Dōri known," which is an important motivation for Jien to write Gukanshō. Dōri(reason) is an early Chinese philosophical idea( đạo lý ) that was later absorbed into Buddhism.[4]Generally it means reason, principle or law, or what action one should take to be moral. Jien, on the other hand, historicizes Dōri, arguing that it has been present throughout the development and change of Japanese history.[4]That is to say, historical events, both in their particularity and in their totality, are to be taken extremely seriously, not merely as isolated, individual events, but as part of an unfolding pattern of deeper meaning.[4]An important element of this is embodied in the unbroken imperial lineage of Japan. however, when there is a choice, between two members of the imperial family, one evil and one virtuous, Jien affirms that even murder is permissible to prevent the throne from falling into the hands of an evil emperor.[4]Overall, he wanted to help people, especially the Emperor, to come to understand Dori through Japanese history so that he could shape a desirable future and help the country go through mappo.
Poetry
[edit]As a poet, he was named one of theThirty-Six Immortals of Poetry,and was the second-best represented poet in theShin Kokin Wakashū,over 91 of his poems are collected into it. He has a family Japanese poem collection calledThập ngọc tậpwith over 5900 poems.[2]He was included byFujiwara no Teikain theOgura Hyakunin Isshu.
InThe Unfettered Mindthe Zen BuddhistTakuan Sōhōcites the following poem from Jien, interpreting it in the context ofNo-Mind:[5]
The flower that would surrender its fragrance
before my brushwood door
Does so regardless.
I, however, sit and stare
How rueful this world.
See also
[edit]- Kankyo no Tomo,a collection ofsetsuwaformerly attributed to Jien
References
[edit]- ^Sato, Hiroaki (1995).Legends of the Samurai.Overlook Duckworth. p. 151.ISBN9781590207307.
- ^abTam đính bản,367 nhật đản sinh nhật đại sự điển, thế giới đại bách khoa sự điển nội ngôn cập, tinh tuyển bản nhật bổn quốc ngữ đại từ điển,デジタル đại từ tuyền, nhật bổn đại bách khoa toàn thư (ニッポニカ), cải đính tân bản thế giới đại bách khoa sự điển, triều nhật nhật bổn lịch sử nhân vật sự điển, bách khoa sự điển マイペディア, sơn xuyên nhật bổn sử tiểu từ điển cải đính tân bản,ブリタニカ quốc tế đại bách khoa sự điển tiểu hạng mục sự điển,デジタル bản nhật bổn nhân danh đại từ điển +Plus, vượng văn xã nhật bổn sử sự điển."Từ viên (じえん)とは? Ý vị や sử い phương".コトバンク(in Japanese).Retrieved2024-04-11.
{{cite web}}:CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^"ひらがな ngu quản sao đệ thất quyển".hgonzaemon.g1.xrea.com.Retrieved2024-04-11.
- ^abcdHambrick, Charles H. (1978)."The" Gukanshō ": A Religious View of Japanese History".Japanese Journal of Religious Studies.5(1): 37–58.ISSN0304-1042.
- ^Sōhō, Takuan (2002).The Unfettered Mind: Writings from a Zen master to a master swordsman.Translated by Wilson, William Scott. Boulder, Colorado: Shambala Publications. p. 26.ISBN978-1-59030-986-5.
Bibliography
[edit]- Brown, Delmer and Ichiro Ishida, eds. (1979). [Jien (1221)],Gukanshō;"The Future and the Past: a translation and study of the 'Gukanshō', an interpretive history of Japan written in 1219" translated from the Japanese and edited by Delmer M. Brown & Ichirō Ishida.Berkeley:University of California Press.ISBN0-520-03460-0
- Encyclopædia Britannica 2005 Ultimate Reference Suite DVD,article "Jien"
- Mostow, Joshua S., (1996)Pictures of the Heart: The Hyakunin Isshu in Word and Image,pp. 421–422
- Robert, Jean-Noël(2008).La Centurie du Lotus: Poèmes de Jien (1155–1225) sur le Sûtra du Lotus;Paris: Collège de France, Institut des hautes études japonaises.ISBN9782913217195
- Swanson, Eric Haruki. (2019).The Restoration of Peace Through the Pacification of Vengeful Spirits: Jien (1155-1225) and the Construction of Buddhist Orthodoxy.Doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences.http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:42029681
