Discussant: Lawrence E. Marceau, University of Delaware

Fûryû (Chinese: fengliu) is an important aesthetic in traditional Japanese culture whose origin can be traced to China. In both cultures, its meaning varies over time and according to the proclivities of individual users. In literature, for example, fûryû can convey the equivalent of miyabi, the courtly penchant for refinement and romance, symbolize the taste of the recluse-literatus, or imply an amorous or erotic quality. Similar differences in usage apply to the visual arts. As our panelists will show, some Japanese writers and artists used fûryû to convey an aesthetic close in spirit to one or several of its Chinese meanings. Yet the meaning of fûryû could also diverge considerably from its Chinese roots. Clearly, identifying an inclusive understanding of the term is the perplexing issue that unifies this panel.

The first panelist is a specialist in Chinese literature, Richard Lynn, charged with introducing the varied uses of fûryû in Chinese literature. Other panelists address the ways Japanese writers and artists interpreted the term. Early Japanese usages are presented within a discussion of frequent appearances of the word in the writings of the 15th-century Zen monk-poet Ikkyû Sôjun by Peipei Qiu. Cheryl Crowly examines the literati sense of fûryû in the writings of the haikai poet and literati painter Yosa Buson. Finally, Sandy Kita scrutinizes the transformation of fûryû from an elite to a popular aesthetic with reference to both literary and visual artistic production. Our discussant is Lawrence Marceau, a specialist in the intersection of intellectual and popular culture and the relationship between the visual and literary arts.

Richard J. Lynn, University of Toronto

A survey of Chinese history and poetic texts from the 3rd–13th century C. E. reveals that the multiple meanings associated with fengliu in later elite and popular literature had evolved and were in common use by the Song era. These followed an evolution from: (1) literal meaning, "wind flowing (blowing)" to (2) metaphor on the unpredictability of human existence to (3) term for popular customs and mores to (4) term for popular literary/aesthetic traditions to (5) an individual literary style to (6) term for "noble," high culture behavior to (7) term for libertine behavior associated with xuanxue (mysterious learning) and qingtan (pure talk) movements to (8) combining (6) and (7), referring to elegant, asocial behavior inspired by the Laozi, Zhuangzi, and Buddhist thought to (9) term for unconventional, "elegant" lifestyles to (10) amalgam of (5), (6), and (9), term for the lifestyle and literary expression of eccentric and elegant aesthetes to (11) amalgamation of (10) with (7) (without xuanxue and qingtan associations), term for the heightened appreciation and expression of sensual-aesthetic experience and sensibilities (as in Bai Juyi’s poems that celebrate wine, women, and song).

The first five categories of meaning seem to have dropped out by the fifth century, but (7), shed of philosophical connotations, has been transformed during the Song into a term (12) for dissolute, libertine behavior in general, and it, along with (8), (9), (10), and (11), remain in common use up to the present. This paper will present and analyze passages in which fengliu occurs and delineate its evolution.

Peipei Qiu, Vassar College

Scholars consider fûryû an important aesthetic principle in traditional Japanese culture, but the precise meaning of the term has been a perplexing issue. Within the field of literature, for example, while some scholars define fûryû as the equivalent of miyabi, or the courtly penchant for refinement and romance, others see it as symbolizing the taste of the recluse-literatus in the poetry of the haikai master Matsuo Bashô (1644–1694). In Edo period popular fiction, on the other hand, fûryû typically implies an amorous or erotic quality. Among the many advocates of fûryû aesthetics, the fifteenth-century Zen poet Ikkyû Sôjun was a unique proponent. His Kyôunshû (Crazy Clouds Anthology) and its sequel Zoku Kyôunshû used the term 126 times and in different ways, providing an excellent source to observe how the seemingly opposite implications came under the same rubric of fûryû and what essence lies behind the polysemy of the term. Focusing on the analysis of Ikkyû’s poems and their intertextual relations with Chinese literature, this paper shows that Ikkyû’s fûryû places fundamental emphasis on unconventionality, or transcending worldly limitations by being unconventional, whether it is manifested as the eremitic love of nature, the eccentric self-portrait, or the bold expression of sexual desires. It suggests that Ikkyû, and the Five Mountains Zen poets in medieval Japan as well, played an important role in transforming fûryû from courtly elegance to an aesthete-recluse stance, a tradition originating in the practice of the Wei-Jin (220–420) literati in China and continued cross-culturally to the times of Bashô.

C. A. Crowley, Emory University

The haikai poet Yosa Buson (1716–1783) exemplifies one type of ideal bunjin (literatus) that emerged at the end of the 18th century in Japan. A master of both poetry and painting, and a leader of the Haikai Revival (ca. 1765–85), Buson sought to recapture the brilliance of Bashô-style haikai through what he called "the principle of rizoku," or transcending the ordinary, a notion which has its origins in the concept of fûryû.

Patricia Graham has shown us that fûryû in the context of the sencha tea ceremony, refers to an appreciation of the Chinese literati culture, withdrawal from the world into eremitic reclusion, and commitment to a simple life. She relates this definition to Bashô’s usage of the term. This use is similar to Buson’s formulation of rizoku, which he set forth as an antidote to the vulgarity and commercialism that characterized the contemporary haikai community. In the 1777 Shundei kushû preface, Buson writes, "Haikai is that which has as its ideal the use of zokugo—or ordinary language, yet transcends zoku—the ordinary world." To achieve transcendence, he continues, a poet should study Chinese verse, distance him- or herself from the realms of commerce and competition, and find delight in contemplating the simple beauties of nature. My paper draws on examples from Buson’s verse, letters, and haikai theory to examine the connection between fûryû and rizoku, in order to better understand an idea central to Revival haikai and the discourse of nostalgia that emerged in the second half of the 18th century.

Sandy Kita, University of Maryland

Konishi Jun’ichi calls the Middle Ages, The Age of Fûryû. To Konishi, fûryû belongs to a category of literature that he terms the "closed circle." In this context, the artist is a skilled amateur who shares with his audience sufficient common knowledge, experience and expectations that he can create extremely subtle, but nonetheless effective, artistic statements. Examples include waka, haiga, and renga, all of which are, in Konishi’s opinion, Premier Arts. In contrast to these "High Arts," Konishi cites the work of professional artists who cannot afford such subtlety because they work for an audience that may or may not share commonality. Such arts include monogatari, ukiyo-zoshi, and joruri.

A quick check of the authoritative source Kokusho sômokuroku reveals more than 200 titles beginning with the word fûryû. While these include works of haikai, kyoka, and waka, by far the vast majority are l8th–19th century ukiyo-zoshi, joruri, or kabuki plays. In the visual arts, many Ukiyo-e masters also produced works with the word fûryû in their titles.