The "Zen Shakuhachi" Historical Evidence Research Web Pages

1950s ... : The Origin of 'Suizen' at Kyōto Myōan-ji:
     Kobayashi Shizan, Tomimori Kyozan,
     Tanikita Muchiku, Yasuda Tenzan,
     Hirazumi Taizan, Koizumi Ryōan,
     Fukumoto Kyoan, Yoshimura Sōshin a.o.

"吹禅" - SUIZEN

"Blowing a Flute Meditation" - "Flute-blown Meditation" ... ?
"Blowing a Flute Non-dualistic Contemplation Practice"
- "Ascetic Bamboo Flute Practice" - "Shakuhachi Asceticism"


This is a research project in continuous progress
- webpage last updated on May 9, 2021.


From "ASCETIC BREATHING" to 'SUIZEN' - a DOCUMENTED TIMELINE


Links to closely related webpages:

1852: Kyōto Myōan-ji's 32nd 'Kansu' Rodō Genkyō's
     Commandments Regarding Komusō Begging Practice
     and 'Sui-teki shugyō' - and the Possible Origin
     of the Now so Very Misused Term 'Suizen'?

1974 ...: Misleading 'Suizen' & "Shakuhachi Meditation"
     Information & Assertions, East & West
     - Presented in Western Languages

1861 ... : Shakuhachi, Fuke & Komusō Narratives
     Authored and Published in Western Languages

TIMELINE

気息修行 - KISOKU SHUGYŌ

1823: The Edo, Kinko-line shakuhachi player Hisamatsu Fūyō explains his shakuhachi practice
as 'Kisoku shugyō', 気息修行, "Breathing Asceticism", or "Ascetic Breath Practice".

In fact, it still remains unclear whether Hisamatsu Fūyō was ever a 'Komusō', himself.

And, besides, Hisamatsu made it clear that he was indeed not "a Zen monk".

     Source: Hitori mondō, 1823, c/o Kishi Kiyokazu.
     Links: http://www.dental.gr.jp/bmbnt/bamboo199.htm
     http://komuso.ch/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/Hitori_Mondou_e.pdf

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吹笛修行 - SUITEKI SHUGYŌ

1852: The 32nd Kyōto Myōan-ji 'Kansu', 看首, "supervisor", "director", Rodō Genkyō,
coins and presents the new term 'Sui-teki shugyō',
吹笛修行, "Blowing a Flute Ascetic Practice".

That was, in fact, especially with regard to begging activities in which
only a maximum of two participants were allowed to travel and beg fo alms together, stated Rodō Genkyō in his decree.

Visit this webpage for more information - will open in a new browser window:

1852: Kyōto Myōan-ji's 32nd 'Kansu' Rodō Genkyō's
     Commandments Regarding Komusō Begging Practice
     and 'Sui-teki shugyō' - and the Possible Origin
     of the Now so Much Favored Term 'Suizen'?

     Source: Nakatsuka Chikuzen, 1979, p. 176.

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吹笛修行留 - SUITEKI SHUGYŌ-TOME

1857, first month: The 'Komusō' temple Fudai-ji issues a partly pre-printed 'Suiteki shugyō-tome',
吹笛修行留, "Stop for Flute-playing Ascetic Practice" "Fuke Shūmon Supervision Certificat".




This document is awaiting further investigation and possible interpretation☺

     Source: Kunimi Masashi's shakuhachi website -
     Link: https://kisokuseikan.at.webry.info/202011/article_4.html

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1914, November 22: the 35th Myōan 'Kansu', Higuchi Taizan, founder of the 'Myōan Taizan-ha' ascetic shakuhachi tradition, dies.
Kobayashi Kyozan is appointed 36th 'Kansu'.

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html

---

1928, first printed and published in 1936: Uramoto Setchō authors three essays on the topic of 'Fuke Shakuhachi', but he does not mention the term 'Suizen' anywhere, there.

     Source: The National Diet Library, Tokyo.
     Link: https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1222923
     - go to book pages 195 through 242/pdf page frames 107 through 131

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吹簫禅 - SUI-SHŌ-ZEN

1928, March 15: 'Kyozan-bō', 虚山坊, most probably "Young Kyozan", alias Tomimori Kyozan, authors an article on pages 23-25 in the Myōan Kyōkai bulletin Dai Myōan, 大明暗, titled 'Sui-shō-zen man-go',
吹簫禅 漫語, "This and That about (the Term) 'Blowing a Flute Meditation'".

     Source: Kunimi Masashi's website.
     Link: https://kisokuseikan.at.webry.info/202004/article_2.html

---

尺八本流明暗吹簫法基階

'Shakuhachi honryū Myōan suishō-hō kikai'

"The Fundamental Principles of Playing the Shakuhachi of the True Myōan Tradition"


1930: Kobayashi Shizan & Tomimori Kyozan co-write a 232+4 pages book in three parts on 'Myōan Shakuhachi', in which the very first 13-page chapter is an introduction to the origin of that very new "idea" and term,
'Sui-shō-zen', 吹簫禅,

"Blowing a Flute Zen Meditation" - "Blowing a Shakuhachi Ascetic Practice".

Title of chapter 1:

'Sui-shō-zen', 明暗吹簫禪の來由, 'Myōan suishō-zen no raitai', "The Origin and Cause of the Myōan Blowing a Flute Zen Meditation".

Chapter 4, 29 pages, deals with "The Revival of the Myōan Way of Playing", 明暗吹簫道の復古,
'Myōan suishō-dō no fukko'.




Kobayashi and Tomimori's 1930 'Myōan suishō-hō' book cover, front

     Source: Kisokuseikan & The National Diet Library, Tokyo.
     Links: https://kisokuseikan.at.webry.info/upload/detail/033/077/31/N000/000/000/158815798201060433907-thumbnail2.jpg.html
     & https://dl.ndl.go.jp/info:ndljp/pid/1258947?itemId=info%3Andljp%2Fpid%2F1258947&__lang=en

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1938, November 27: The 36th Myōan 'Kansu', Kobayashi Kyozan, dies.
The position as 'Kansu' is left vacant for around 10 years, most probably because of the impacts of World War 2.

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html

---

1949: Tanikita Muchiku is appointed 37th 'Kansu'.

---

1950-1953: Yasuda Tenzan serves as the first chief monk of the new Kyōto Myōan-ji.
Yasuda-san produces at least a few quite impressive 'Suizen' calligraphies - see below.

---

1950s: By the early 1950s, it appears that at least these eight prominent Myōan-ji personalities would have been engaged - directly or indirectly - in the creation, promotion and consolidation of the new Taizan-ha Ascetic Shakuhachi term 'Suizen':

Kobayashi Shizan, Tomimori Kyozan, Tanikita Muchiku, Yasuda Tenzan,
Hirazumi Taizan, Koizumi Ryōan, Fukumoto Kyoan & Yoshimura Sōshin.

Besides, these personalities could also have contributed, one way or another:

Minamoto Unkai, Miyagawa Nyozan, Uramoto Setchō, Ikeda Jūzan, Okamoto Chikugai, and Matsumoto Kyozan.

---

1953: Tanikita Muchiku leaves the office of 'Kansu' and is succeeded by Koizumi Ryōan as 38th 'Kansu'.

     Sources: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html
     https://www.komuso.com/people/index.pl

---

1953: Hirazumi Taizan is appointed 2nd head monk of Myōan-ji; - years later, he produces one very impressive 'Mu-ku-teki Suizen' calligraphy - see image at page down.

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html

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1955, July 30: The former Myōan-ji 'Kansu' Tanikita Muchiku publishes an article in the Myōan-ji bulletin 'Suizen', Issue No. 2.

     Kunimi Masashi's shakuhachi website.
     Link: https://kisokuseikan.at.webry.info/202004/article_2.html

---

1957, March 24: Tanikita Muchiku dies.

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html


Most probably during the early 1950s, Tanikita Muchiku, birth name: Kensaburō, supervised the recording and production of 'Taizan-ryū Shakuhachi' pieces for the new 33 r.p.m. vinyl record sound format, the "LP": the "long-playing record".

12 record discs in all, Tanikita Sensei recorded the majority of the pieces, himself, but a number of other players are represented, as well.

Obviously, the term 'Suizen' was not chosen to be part of this collection's official title:

対山流尺八 Ⅰ～ⅩⅡ
吹奏 谷北兼三郎

"Taizan-ryū Shakuhachi I～XII
Performance: Tanikita Kensaburō" (and others)

The LP set was produced privately, for non-commercial purposes - see link to towa33.com below.


 

'Taizan-ryū Shakuhachi' LP labels I & XII










Tanikita Muchiku 12 LP record set, tracklist LPs 1-12 - towa33.com description

     Source: TOWADŌ - http://towa33.com/?page=70&cid=14


Another preserved Tanikita Muchiku honkyoku collection not titled 'Suizen' was given the name

'Tanikita Muchiku no Shakuhachi - Tanikita hito-goe hen',

谷北無竹の尺八 - 谷北一声編,

"Tanikita Muchiku's Shakuhachi - The Tanikita Single Voice Collection" - see link to towa33.com below.


 

'Tanikita Muchiku no Shakuhachi' LP labels I & VI



Tanikita Kensaburō TRS 5105-5110 tracklist - towa33.com description

     Source: TOWADŌ - http://towa33.com/?eid=5664


With the appearance in Japan of the music cassette tape in the early 1960s, selected Tanikita Muchiku recordings were also prepared for that new format and released in a triple-MC set titled 'Shakuhachi honkyoku no genryū o motomete, Tanikita Muchiku-shū I-III',

尺八本曲の源流を求めて
明暗三十七世谷北無竹Ⅰ～Ⅲ

'Shakuhachi honkyoku no genryū o motomete
Myōan sanjūnana-sei Tanikita Muchiku-shū'

"In Search of the Fountainhead of Shakuhachi Honkyoku
The 37th ['Kansu'] Tanikita Muchiku Anthology I-III"

The first published set of music cassettes was designed like this - seen at aucfree.com:

 


     Here is a link to a complete track list at komuso.com:
     https://www.komuso.com/people/people.pl?person=469


A following version of the set had these three front cover portraits:

   

Two of the three inlay cards were designed like this:

 

Obviously, none of these Taizan-ryū/Tanikita Muchiku releases were marketed under the title, or headline, 'Suizen' - and none of them carry any precise release date, unfortunately so ...

However, acc. to Christian T. Mau, the recordings for the music cassette set were made by Tanikita's student
Inagaki Ihaku during the period 1953-1956.
Phonogram/MC numbers: HT01, HT02, & HT03.

     Source: Christian T. Mau thesis, 2014, pages 183 and 230.
     Link: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18260


The Sugiyama Jogakuen University Digital Library presents

Historical Recordings Featuring Legendary Seien-ryū
and Taizan-ryū/Taizan-ha Shakuhachi Players:

     Link to numerous historical shakuhachi recordings,
     including those on the above Tanikita Muchiku LP collections:
     https://zeami.ci.sugiyama-u.ac.jp/~izuka/erito1/iwata1.html


1956:

A dated photo of Iwata Seien with shakuhachi friends and noble wives - and a fine recording of 'Ajikan' of his:




Link to YouTube: 'Ajikan' played by Iwata Seien - no date.

Persons in the picture - Above from the left:
Ishida Fuchiku, 石田普竹, and Iwata Seien, 岩田律園.

Below from the left:
Uramoto Setchō and Mrs. Uramoto, 浦本浙潮,
and Mrs. Okazaki and Mr. Okazaki Shūen, 岡崎洲園, himself.

---

1960: Parallelly, Uramoto Setchō introduces the explanatory term 'Gyō no ongaku', 行の音楽, "Ascetic Music" - however without referring to 'Suizen' in that article of his.

---

1966 - June?: A now very famous 'Suizen' stone monument is erected to the left inside of the gate of Kyōto Myōan-ji.

     Source: 'Kansu' Kojima Hōan.
     Link: http://myoanshakuhachi.blogspot.com/2012/06/those-who-wanted-to-emphasize-suizen.html.




Photo by Torsten Olafsson, early Spring, 1977.

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1968, October 27: Tomimori Kyozan is interviewed by Rekisen Yokō [?], 礫川餘光,

     Source: http://shakuhachistuff.blogspot.com/2009/12/s-interview-with-tomimori-kyozan-1.html

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1969: A new temple main hall is designed and constructed at Kyōto Myōan-ji:




Kyōto Myōan-ji, Main Hall completed in 1969
Photo by Torsten Olafsson, early Spring, 1977

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1972: Koizumi Ryōan retires and is followed by Fukumoto Kyoan as 39th 'Kansu'.

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html

---

1972: Okamoto Chikugai authors a short essay on 'Suizen' breathing - eventually published in 2012
by the Myōan Sōryū-kai.

     Sources: http://myoanshakuhachi.blogspot.com/2015/08/collection-of-suizenblowing-zen.html
     You can purchase that printed 2012 edition here:
     https://hj-how.com/SHOP/5453.html

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1974: The record company Nippon Columbia releases a triple-LP record set titled 'Suizen', featuring Sakai Chikuhō II - who really was not a 'Taizan-ha' player, at all.

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1974: Kamisangō Yūkō writes about 'Komusō' and 'Suizen' in the booklet for Nippon Columbia's triple-LP set 'Suizen':



普化宗の確立の結果、
乞食坊主や風狂
または無宿の徒まで
含んでいた薦僧集団が、
浪人(武士階級)に資格を限り、
吹禅と武者修行を業とする
宗教団体に,
いわば昇格したのであるから ...

"As an outcome of the establishment of the Fuke Sect
the 'komosō' groups that included beggar monks and lunatics,
be they homeless persons,
(turned into) a religious group of 'rōnin' "wave men",
the membership privilege of whom was limited to persons with samurai rank
who performed 'suizen'
and samurai martial arts,
(thus) climbing in status, so to speak ..."

     Source: Kamisangō Yūkō, 'Suizen' LP booklet, 1974, p. 17.
     Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson, 2020.

     Comment: No, 'Suizen' is not mentioned even once in any of the numerous Edo Period texts about shakuhachi-playing 'Rōnin' and 'Komusō'!

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1975: 'Suizen' is not mentioned in any of the articles in the Kikan Hōgaku 5 special shakuhachi edition of 1975!

     Name of authors: Kikkawa Eishi & Nishiyama Matsunosuke.

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1976: After the sudden death of Fukumoto Kyoan, Yoshimura Sōshin is appointed 40th 'Kansu'.

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html

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無穴笛 吹禅 - MU-KU-TEKI SUIZEN

1970s? - no later than Spring, 1978:

Myōan-ji's 2nd chief monk, Hirazumi Taizan, creates a unique 'Mu-ku-teki Suizen', 無穴笛 吹禅, "No-holes-flute sui-zen' calligraphy hanging scroll - read more at page bottom.

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1977, August 9:

LETTER from YOSHIMURA FUAN SŌSHIN to TORSTEN OLAFSSON

禅尺八 - 'ZEN SHAKUHACHI'

修養の尺八 - 'SHŪYŌ no SHAKUHACHI'

"The Shakuhachi of Self-cultivation and Self-discipline"

The Myōan Taizan-ha Way of Authentic Shakuhachi 'Suizen' Asceticism
represented by Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin, 40th 'Kansu' of Kyōto Myōan-ji:


明暗寺四十世　芳村普庵宗心



Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin - 1904-1998



Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin's letter to Torsten Olafsson, August 9, 1977, page 2


- - - なかなか言葉では表現出来ませんが、
つまり禅尺八としての尺八は唯々
心を素直に持って, 我の心による
技功に成らない様、修養の尺八です。 - - -

" - - - I can not easily express this in words, but to practice the shakuhachi of 'Zen Shakuhachi' is indeed a way of mental training and self-cultivation that is practiced with an open and humble mind and does not develop into technical skill with a selfish attitude. - - - "

Read the full translation on this webpage - opens in a new browser window:

The Legacy of the Late Myōan Taizan-ha Teachers
     Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin & Ozawa Seizan

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1978, Spring: Ozawa Seizan, a close student of Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin's, describes the meaning and "purpose" of 'Suizen' in a letter of recommendation to his shakuhachi student, Torsten Olafsson, Denmark:


 

Detail of a letter of recommendation for Torsten Olafsson
written by Ozawa Seizan in Spring, 1978
Photo to the right by T.O.

当明暗尺八は、普化宗に属じ日本古耒の伝承されじ
尺八お法器として、明暗双々円通無碍の実力を修得じ、
虚に帰して、精神の修養を高めんとするしので有る。
これを吹禅と稱する。

"Myōan Shakuhachi is related to the Fuke Sect of Shakuhachi and it has as its purpose to employ the ancient Japanese shakuhachi flute as a Dharma instrument [hō-ki] in order that one understands the Ultimately Adual Nature of the 'Bright' and the 'Dark' [Myō-An] and experiences the Essence of Non-Substantiality [kyo] through Self-Cultivation.

This practice is called 'Suizen'."

     By Ozawa Seizan, 1939-2012, Myōan-ji, 1978, in a letter
     of recommendation to the author. Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson.

---

吹禅一如

1978? - probably so: The 40th Myōan-ji 'Kansu', Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin, and Myōan-ji, release a 4-LP record set titled 'Suizen ichi-nyo', 吹禅一如, "The Oneness of 'Blowing a Flute' and 'Meditating'" - or rather, "Blowing a Flute and Meditating are Not Two".

Or, I'd rather prefer a translation like this, for instance: "The Non-Duality of Meditating while Blowing a Flute".

Yasuda Tenzan is the actual "artist" who wrote that very 'Suizen ichi-nyo' calligraphy for the LP front covers:


 

Phonogram numbers: HSK-003～006 - towa33.com, 2nd hand product description, screen dump:


 

Nihon no Furuhon-ya, 2nd hand product description, screen dump:




     Sources: http://towa33.com/?page=70&cid=14
     https://www.kosho.or.jp/products/detail.php?product_id=336933021

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1983: Okamoto Chikugai publishes an article in Ichi-on jōbutsu
     on the Way of 'Ōshū Suizen'.

---

1983: Torsten Olafsson & Olafssongs, Denmark, produce the LP/MC
"Standing Waves. Zen Shakuhachi Meditations", featuring six Myōan Taizan-ha 'Suizen' honkyoku.


 

Left: Fønix Music CD reissue, 2001 - Right; Olafssongs LP/MC, 1983.

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吹禅 悟道 - SUIZEN GODŌ

1985: Matsumoto Kyozan includes a 'Suizen godō', 吹禅 悟道, calligraphy on the front page of a 'honkyoku gakufu' collection of his.




Read more at page bottom.

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1985?: Nippon Columbia releases a

'Komusō Chiku-in Suizen' 'Fuke-shū Tani-ha Kyotaku' vinyl LP

虚無僧 竹韻 吹禅 普化宗 谷派 虚鐸

Go to 1998, June 20, to read more about a reissue on CD in that year.

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1991: Yoshimura Sōshin retires and is succeeded by Kojima Hōan as 41st 'Kansu'.

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html

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1994: Tukitani Tuneko, Seyama Tōru & Simura Satosi write about 'Suizen' in an article presented in English, trsl. by Riley Kelly Lee:

"It was not so easy to become a member of the Fuke sect or a komusō.

This was due to the arrangement of the system of rules as determined by the Tokugawa shogunate.

Accordingly, it can be said that the shakuhachi has been handed down to us within a limited, chartered organisation.

That organization maintained an ideology centered around Zen Buddhism.
Moreover, Zen in the Fuke sect was nothing but the playing of the shakuhachi.

This ideology and lifestyle was called suizen ('blowing Zen').

Thus, in terms of suizen, the shakuhachi was not a musical instrument, and naturally pieces performed on it were not considered as being music.

To them, the shakuhachi was a hōki ('religious instrument'), that is to say, a sacred tool for the purpose of spiritual training.

If one were to use the above-mentioned emic viewpoint, within the organisation of the komusō the shakuhachi was not included in 'music', or rather was not allowed to be included."

     Source: Tukitani Tuneko, Seyama Tōru, Simura Satosi and Riley Kelly Lee, translator (1994):
     'The Shakuhachi: The instrument and its music, change and diversification."
     In: Contemporary Music Review, 8:2, p. 111

     Download link: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/07494469400640091

     Comment: No, 'Suizen' was definitely neither an "ideology" nor a "lifestyle" of the members of the so called "Fuke Sect" during the Edo Period.
     The term does not appear anywhere in any Japanese literary source before 1950, at the very earliest.

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吹禅 一如 - SUIZEN ICHI-NYO

1995: A Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin's 'Suizen ichi-nyo' triple-CD set is issued by Myōan-ji, probably the same recordings as those previously published on 4 vinyl LP records in 1978.


 

Phonogram numbers: KM-1995 01-03.




Yoshimura Soushin 'Suizen ichinyo' CDs track list

Despite the fact that Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin's Taizan-ha 'Suizen' shakuhachi recordings of the late 1970s are verily titled 'Suizen ichi-nyo' on the front cover and elsewhere, 吹禅一如,
"Blowing the Shakuhachi & Meditation Are Not Two" [literally: "Are One"],
at the ISS/International Shakuhachi Society website komuso.com, Yoshimura Sōshin's recordings are registered under the misleading headline
'Meianji Shoden Shakuhachi Honkyoku Shū' 1-3,
明暗寺初伝尺八本曲集:

     Links to track lists with short sound samples:
     https://www.komuso.com/albums/albums.pl?album=60
     https://www.komuso.com/albums/albums.pl?album=326
     https://www.komuso.com/albums/albums.pl?album=529

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1997, November 30 (re-issued in 2016, see below):

Seian Genshin, editor, and the 'Myōan Shakuhachi Bō-chiku-kai', 明暗尺八忘竹会, the "Myōan Shakuhachi Memorial Society", publish the first edition of a monumental memorial tribute book about the legendary 40th Myōan-ji 'Kansu', Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin, 1904-1998.

     Go to the year 2016 below to read more, see the front cover, and how to order from Japan.
     Link regarding Seian Genshin 'Kansu', WSF 2018: http://wsf2018.com/ja/people/%E9%85%92%E4%BA%95%E7%8E%84%E5%BF%83

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1998, June 20: Nippon Columbia reissues a

'Komusō Chiku-in Suizen' 'Fuke-shū Tani-ha Kyotaku' LP on CD
     Columbia ‎– COCF-15174. First released on LP in 1985?




虚無僧 竹韻 吹禅 普化宗 谷派 虚鐸

     First found at this website: https://www.hmv.co.jp/en/artist_Various_000000000000075/item_%E8%99%9A%E7%84%A1%E5%83%A7-%E7%AB%B9%E9%9F%BB_319112
     See also: https://www.discogs.com/%E6%99%AE%E5%8C%96%E5%AE%97%E8%B0%B7%E6%B4%BE%E8%99%9A%E9%90%B8-%E9%96%A2%E6%9D%B1%E9%81%93%E5%A0%B4-%E6%AD%A6%E8%94%B5%E9%87%8E%E9%81%93%E5%A0%B4-%E8%99%9A%E7%84%A1%E5%83%A7-%E7%AB%B9%E9%9F%BB/release/12415418

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2000: Tsukitani Tsuneko writes but just a little about 'Suizen' in her monumental book 'Shakuhachi koten honkyoku no kenkyū'.




The late professor Tsukitani Tsuneko's comments about 'sui-teki shugyō'
and the possible origin of the term 'suizen'. Tsukitani 2000, p. 172, note 138.

In her monumental study of 'koten honkyoku', published in 2000, Prof. Tsukitani hardly at all touched upon the topic of 'Suizen'.
In note 138 on page 172, the first sentence states that,
"Playing the shakuhachi as an ascetic meditative discipline [Zen no shugyū] is called 'Suizen'."

The last sentence then reads,

しかし、「座禅」にかわる尺八修行の意味でいつから 「吹禅」というようになったか、 その典拠を未だ見つけることができない。

namely, "However, I can not yet find any written reference to when 'Suizen' became a term for 'Zazen' seated meditation that changed into 'ascetic shakuhachi discipline'."

     Source: Tsukitaki Tsuneko, 2000, page 172, note 138.

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2001: Okada Fujio publishes a book titled 'Komusō no nazo - Suizen no kokoro.'
"The Komusō Mystery - The Essence of Suizen".

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2001, November 24: Nippon Columbia releases a CD named 'Nihon no gakki: Shakuhachi'
"Japanese Music Instruments: Shakuhachi." Track 1 on the record has the title

'Suizen Kokū Shakuhachi Fukeshuu Tani-ha Kyotaku',
吹禅 虚空 Shakuhachi – 普化宗谷派 虚鐸

     Source: https://www.discogs.com/Various-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AE%E6%A5%BD%E5%99%A8-%E5%B0%BA%E5%85%AB-Japanese-Music-Instruments-Shakuhachi/release/11230892

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2004: The first Western shakuhachi record release titled 'Suizen'?
Ronnie Seldin and Barbara Lee Kroos publish the 5-LP & book set
"Sui Zen. Blowing Zen On the Shakuhachi":


 

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2005: Takahata Sōyū publishes a book about 'Suizen' titled
'Yasei no zen. Suizen'.

---

2005: Takahata Sōyū publishes a book about 'Suizen' titled
"Myōan Shakuhachi. Suizen: The Zen of Wildness.'

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2005: Steve Weiss designs a map of "26 Suizen Temples", allegedly "approved" by Kurahashi Yoshio:




Map of 26 "'Suizen' temples" - during the late Tokugawa Period ... really?
Compiled by Steve Weiss, 2005, approved by Kurahashi Yoshio.

There were, of course, no such "'Suizen' temples" mentioned anywhere, nor ever,
in Edo Period documents! Source of map: www.shakuhachi.com

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2008: Tsukitani Tsuneko states regarding 'Suizen' in her article in "The Ashgate Companion to Japanese Music":

"The Fuke sect was named after its putative Tang Chinese founder, Pu-hua (Jap. Fuke).
It has no doctrines or scriptures, parishioners or lay believers;

its equivalent to Zen meditation or sutra recitation is the playing of shakuhachi
- what practitioners call suizen (blowing Zen).

No such use is recorded in China."

     Source: Tsukitani Tsuneko in "The Ashgate Companion to Japanese Music," 2008, p. 150.

---

2009, August 8: US citizen and longtime Myōan Taizan-ha shakuhachi player Dean Seicho Delbene posts this illustration on his "Myoan Shakuhachi Blogspot" Website:




     Tomimori Kyozan's statement regarding the origin of the terms suizen/sui-shō-zen, no date.
Possibly a short transcript of the interview that took place on October 27, 1968,
see entry page up.

Do note, though, that neither 'Sui-shō-zen' nor 'Sui-zen' can be found any Chinese text, whatsoever.
     Link: http://myoanshakuhachi.blogspot.com/2009/08/suizen-origin-suishouzen.html?m=0

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2009, October: Kyōto Myōan-ji 'Kansu' Kojima Hōan informs Christian T. Mau that it was Yasuda Tenzan who "coined", invented, the new term 'Suizen' while he served as the first chief monk of that newly revived temple in the period 1950-1953.

     Source: Christian T. Mau Ph.D. thesis, 2014, p. 116.
     Link: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18260

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2010: Tago Kōin publishes an article titled 'Suizen no yurai ni tsuite', "About the origin of Suizen," in the magazine Tozan-ryū Gakuhō

     Source: http://www.tozanryu.com/about/reference/download/gakuho.pdf

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2015, February 25: Nippon Columbia releases a double CD named 'Nihon no gakki - Koto / Shakuhachi
"Japanese Music Instruments: Koto / Shakuhachi." Track 1 on CD 2 has the title
'Suizen Kokū Shakuhachi Fukeshuu Tani-ha Kyotaku',
吹禅 虚空 Shakuhachi – 普化宗谷派 虚鐸

     Source: https://www.discogs.com/Various-%E6%97%A5%E6%9C%AC%E3%81%AE%E6%A5%BD%E5%99%A8-%E7%AE%8F%E5%B0%BA%E5%85%AB-Japanese-Music-Instruments-Koto-Shakuhachi/release/11221155

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2015:

Seian Genshin, editor, and the 'Myōan Shakuhachi Bō-chiku-kai', 明暗尺八忘竹会, the "Myōan Shakuhachi Memorial Society", publish a set of 4 DVDs featuring - thus paying proper respect to - the legendary 40th Myōan-ji 'Kansu', Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin, 1904-1998:


吹禅～吹け吹くな～鳴らせ鳴らすな～



'Suizen - fuke fuku na - narase narasu na - '
"Suizen - Blow, Don't blow - Ring, Don't ring - "

     You may order internationally from HoW/Hogaku on the World CD Shop:
     https://hj-how.com/SHOP/4138.html

     Link regarding Seian Genshin 'Kansu', WSF 2018: http://wsf2018.com/ja/people/%E9%85%92%E4%BA%95%E7%8E%84%E5%BF%83

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2016, October 21 (first issued in 1997, see above):

Seian Genshin, editor, and the 'Myōan Shakuhachi Bō-chiku-kai', 明暗尺八忘竹会, the "Myōan Shakuhachi Memorial Society", publish a second edition of a monumental memorial tribute book, now including 3 music CDs, about the legendary 40th Myōan-ji 'Kansu', Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin, 1904-1998:


忘竹～明暗尺八の心





"Legend of the World of Myōan Shakuhachi, the 40th 'Kansu', Mr. Fuan Yoshimura Sōshin
Based on hitherto unpublished fine recordings
Myōan-ji Tradition - Complete Sōshin Tradition Complete Collection
Complete Classical Shakuhachi Honkyoku Anthology"

     You may order internationally from HoW/Hogaku on the World CD Shop:
     https://hj-how.com/SHOP/1581.html

     Link regarding Seian Genshin 'Kansu', WSF 2018: http://wsf2018.com/ja/people/%E9%85%92%E4%BA%95%E7%8E%84%E5%BF%83

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2017: Kojima Hōan retires and Seian Genshin becomes the 42nd 'Kansu'.

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/generation.html

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日々の吹禅 - HIBI no SUIZEN


2019: Seian Genshin & Kyōto Myōan Kyōkai produce the CD
'Hibi no Suizen', "Daily Suizen"/"Everyday Shakuhachi Asceticism":




 

Seian Genshin, 42nd 'Kansu' - 'Hibi no Suizen' CD track list

     You can purchase that really important CD here
     at HoW/Hogaku of the World CD Shop:
     https://hj-how.com/SHOP/1618.html

     Besides, former ESS Chair Person Kiku Day can also deliver to you - just inquire with her at kikuday[at]gmail.com.

CD ALBUM REVIEW:

In the digital, online available European Shakuhachi Society Newsletter 2019, Vol. 2, on pages 30-32, you can find and read a lengthy, very respectful, review written by former ESS Chair Person, Kiku Day - here quoted in however only short,

"The CD Hibi no Suizen is wonderful."

     Link to ESS Newsletter 2019 Vol. 2:
     http://files.shakuhachisociety.eu/publications/newsletters/ESS%20NEWSLETTER%202019%20vol2.pdf?fbclid=IwAR2FEomslvNmSS-KmfRbd0_9Bqfhh9PfQUTyqQ9OE-mE-FfWQk90aIzz30w

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2019, May 9: A Fine 'Suizen ichi-nyo' calligraphy scroll is displayed
in Kurahashi Yōdō's 'tokonoma' alcove- screen dump from video

"ShakuCamp 2019 - video #4 - Kurahashi Yōdō
Kurahashi-sensei talks about the Shakuhachi Summer Camp of the Rockies"




     Link to Youtube, Elliot Kallens's Channel:
     https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFeMEnPKgmc&ab_channel=ElliotKallen

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2021: Still, as of April 25: The Myōan Dōshu-kai representatives themselves declare on the Myōan temple's website - among other contradictory statements -

that it was the renowned Shingon Buddhist, later to become a Zen monk, Shinchi Kakushin/Hottō Kokushi, 1207-1298, who
"instituted 'Sui-shō-zen' and 'Sui-zen', ['kakuritsu saremashita', 確立されました], as the alternative, though also somehow equivalent, practice of Buddha realization through 'Za-zen', 座禅"

- in the middle of the 13th century, that should have taken place ... well, I mean: really?


Quotation from the webpage in question, in Japanese:

「法燈国師は尺八をもって座禅一助の便法、

禅定悟得の妙法とした指導理念で

「吹簫禅すいしょうぜん」すなわち

「吹禅すいぜん」を確立されました。」

Romanization:

'Hottō Kokushi wa shakuhachi o motte
zazen ichijo no benpō, zenjō gotoku no myōhō
toshita shidō rinen de
「suishōzen」 sunawachi 「suizen」 o kakuritsu saremashita.'

     Source: http://myouan-doushukai.org/suizen.html

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2021, May 1:

One yet undocumented/undated 'Suizen' record release by Bobby Seigetsu Avstreih:

"Sui-zen Shakuhachi - Vol. 1-2"



"Devoted to the Meian sui-zen repertoire in the Jin Nyodo tradition.
Primary teachers Ronnie Nyogetsu Seldin and Kurahashi Yoshio.
Received name Seigetsu at Ki Sui An Dojo 1987."

     Source: www.komuso.com.
     Links: https://www.komuso.com/people/people.pl?person=1784
     https://www.komuso.com/albums/index.pl?title_letter=S

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Was YASUDA TENZAN the ACTUAL "INVENTOR" of the TERM 'SUIZEN'?

Yes, that very "novel" term, 'Suizen', was quite certainly invented and introduced into modern ascetic shakuhachi ideology by Yasuda Tenzan, 安田 天山, 1909-1994, while he was serving as the first head monk of the new, present-day Kyōto Myōan Temple during the years 1950 to 1952.

On Saturday August 8, 2009, US citizen and longtime Myōan Taizan-ha shakuhachi player Dean Seicho Delbene posted this illustration on his "Myoan Shakuhachi Blogspot" Website:



Tomimori Kyozan's Statement regarding the origin of the terms suizen/suishouzen, no date

Do note, by the way, that it can not be true at all, what Kyozan is quoted for stating, namely that,

" - - - 吹簫禅 (SuiShouZen) is right, that word was in old China."

Looking up under 'sui' in the main index of the Dai Kanwa Jiten encyclopedia of classical Chinese and Japanese literature and history you will find neither 'Sui-shō-zen' nor 'Suizen' there.

The very same goes for the great multi-volume collection of Buddhist scrptures, the Tripitaka,
c/o the online searchable SAT Daizōkyō Text Database:
Neither there do you find even one single appearance of the terms 'Sui-shō-zen', 吹簫禅, and 'Suizen', 吹禅 - simple as that.

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Who was Yasuda Tenzan?

Here you can study a short biography and a long interview by Lucien Stryk & Ikemoto Takashi, published in a book in 1963 when Yasuda Tenzan was acting as chief abbot of the Zen temple Tōfuku-ji in SE Kyōto:

Interview with Master 安田天山 Yasuda Tenzan by Lucien Stryk & Ikemoto Takashi

Yasuda Tenzan, the Zen Calligrapher

Some time ago, a unique Yasuda Tenzan calligraphy was sold on auction in Japan:



Yasuda Tenzan 'Suizen' calligraphy on auction c/o ochisatsu.com
The description reads, "Yasuda Tenzan; 'Suizen' calligraphy; founding chief monk
of the revived Myōan-ji; hanging scroll."

Link to the ochisatsu.com web page

Details of Yasuda Tenzan's 'Suizen' calligraphy:


 

Yasuda Tenzan 'Suizen' calligraphy, details"



Yasuda Tenzan 'Suizen' calligraphy, signature



Another very significant, shakuhachi-related Yasuda Tenzan calligraphy, 'Ichi-on jōbutsu':




Source: Jidai shakuhachi Auction

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明暗寺四十世　芳村普庵宗心

MYŌAN-JI YONJŪ-SE YOSHIMURA FUAN SŌSHIN




Yoshimura Fuan Sōshin - 1904-1998

In the tokonoma decorative alcova behind Yoshimura Sōshin sensei you see yet another calligraphy by Yasuda Tenzan that reads as follows:

霊韻直古今, 'Rei-in choku kokon', or rather:
霊しい韻が古今を直す, 'Tamashii in ga kokon o naosu':

"Spiritful Sound Transforms Past & Present",
i.e.: "Spiritful Sound Transcends the Duality of Past & Present".

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吹禅 悟道 - SUIZEN GODŌ

1985




Opening pages of a honkyoku folding book (ori-hon)
written by Matsumoto Kyozan, dated 1985.

To the right: 'Suizen godō':
"Suizen Way of Buddhist Enlightenment".

To the left the Sanskrit seed syllable 'A' (Jap.: 'A')
of the Buddha Mahāvairocana, or
Dainichi Nyorai, residing in the center of the
Taizō-kai (Womb Realm) mandala (Skt.: Garbhadātu)
of Japanese Tantric Buddhism (Shingon)
Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson

Xerox copy given as a present by the late Dan E. Mayers, Esq., in 1989.

---

1986:




According to the ISS komuso.com website, in 1986, Sakai Chikuhō II and DENON released an LP album titled "Souvenir of Japan - Shakuhachi Komusoh and Suizen" - label no. Denon - C33-7777.

     Here is a link to the music track list on the komuso.com website:
     https://www.komuso.com/albums/albums.pl?album=1083

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1999, Heisei 11:




The highly regarded calligrapher Asanuma Ichidō, 浅沼一道
also created an expressive 'Suizen ichinyo' calligraphy.

     Source: https://kumattamk.exblog.jp/15690617/

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2012: A Taiwanese shakuhachi study group visits Kyōto Myōan-ji and takes many photographs.




A 'Suizen ichinyo' calligraphy is placed over the main altar at Myōan-ji.
Name of the artist is so far illegible.

Link to the Shakuhachi Taiwan study group: https://blog.xuite.net/shakuhachi.taiwan/twblog/157539267

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'MU-KU-TEKI SUI-ZEN'
"No Hole Flute - Blowing a Flute Non-dualistic Contemplation Practice"

Calligraphy signed 'Myōan Taizan', the 2nd present times
Myōan Temple chief monk Hirazumi Taizan, 平住台山, (a.k.a. Myōan Taizan),
inaugurated in 1953, died in 1984 (Shōwa 59).

Signature and stamps deciphered by Kosuge Daisetsu, 小菅大徹,
(Komusō kenkyūkai/Hosshin-ji), and Sato Nakazato, Japan.
A present to Torsten Olafsson
given as a present by his teacher Ozawa Seizan in Summer, 1978

2014: 'Suizen' & "Shakuhachi meditation" acc. to Christian T. Mau:

"As a term, suizen is only used in reference to the shakuhachi and was originally created with the intention of finding a comparable term to zazen, or 'seated' Zen, probably the most common form of meditation practiced by most Zen sects.
'Zen' itself simply means 'meditation' or 'contemplation' (cf. Ogasawara 1978:95–96).

Thus, suizen, very fundamentally means blowing (the shakuhachi) meditation.

As an activity and concept, it is not only inextricably linked to the shakuhachi in general, but especially to Myōan Temple, as the large stone marker on the grounds bears testimony to.

As surprising as it may sound to those already familiar with the expression, however, the word's coinage is less than a century old, thus often rendering its usage somewhat anachronistic when applying it in connection with pre-20th century practice.

Thus it is frequently used indiscriminately — apparently without knowledge of its origins — leading De Ferranti, as one example, to report that "[b]y the seventeenth century the Fuke sect of Zen had institutionalized the practice of suizen" (De Ferranti 2000:71; see also Kamisangō 1988:97,125; Lee 1998:149–150).

The problem here is that, while the manner of using the shakuhachi may well have been institutionalised and identified with the Komusō of the Fuke sect, there certainly does not seem to have been a dedicated term applied to the instrument's usage in this context.

Nor does there seem to have been anything surviving to document past practice or the sect's ideology, unless we are to accept, for example, Kamisangō's 'day in the life' quote described in Chapter 2, section 2.5)."

     Source: Christian T. Mau Ph.D. thesis, 2014, pp. 115-116.
     Link: http://eprints.soas.ac.uk/18260

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CONCLUDING WORDS:

The Ascetic Shakuhachi Ideologies of Rōan & Rakuami, 15th Century



朗庵吹笛画 - RŌAN SUITEKI-GA
無常心 - MUJŌ-SHIN

1477? - PAINTING of RŌAN PLAYING a LONG VERTICAL FLUTE

Is this really a "genuine work of art"?


 

Picture of Rōan Playing a Flute
Painting attributed to the Zen monk and painter Shōkei,
aka Kei Shoki, "Clerksman Kei", who was active
during the last two decades of the 1400s and died in 1518.
In the collection of the late Kowata Suigetsu 木幡吹月, 1901-1983



Another Picture of Rōan Playing a Flute discovered on the internet, uncommented.
If you study and compare this picture closely with the two smaller ones above it you will soon realize that they are actually quite different!
How can this be? Which of them is the original - which is a copy?
Are they both falsifications?

If this were indeed a genuine painting, more than 500 years old, it would have been created sometime between 1467, when the renowned painter monk Kenkō Shōkei, 賢江祥啓, was appointed clerksman/calligrapher at the Kenchō Zen Temple in Kamakura, and 1477, when the shakuhachi hermit Rōan supposedly added his short anecdote, his Chinese style 4-line 7-syllable poem, and the place and date, at the top of this quite mysterious hanging scroll.

It has so far been impossible to locate a proper high resolution picture of the painting which includes the written text. Acc. to an internet web page (see link below) the hanging scroll is reproduced in the Nihon-ga taisei, 日本画大成, "A Compilation of Japanese Painting", 1931, Vol. 3, Plate 66.

Fortunately, the shakuhachi scholar Ueno Katami appears to have had access to the original painting (or a good reproduction) and he has presented the complete text in his book Shakuhachi no rekishi, "History of the Shakuhachi", published in 2002 (revised and enlarged edition, first publ. in 1983), on page 153.

Whether this painting attributed to Shōkei is actually "a fabrication", or not, let us appreciate the story and its sincere message for all it is worth, anyway:


余、東奥行脚の砌、相州巨福路,
建長禅寺宝珠庵に入り沓憇す。
庵主祥啓書記、吾が躰、甚だ異なるを相て、
以って 紙上に写し、而して予に給す。
依って年来演じる所を執って云う。

"While I [Rōan] was performing a pilgrimage along the Kobuku Road in Sōshū [Sagami, mod. Kanagawa Pref.] I entered the Hōju Hermitage at the Kenchō Zen Temple in [Kamakura] and rested my feet.
The clerksman there, Shōkei the Hermit, noticed my very strange appearance, then rendered [my portrait] on paper and, eventually, bestowed it on me.
For this reason, I said that I would form an attachment, committing myself to [come and] play [the shakuhachi] at that place for years to come."

竜頭切断兮以来
尺八寸中通古今
吹出無常心一曲
三千里外絶知音


"When Dualism is cut off,
the shakuhachi dissolves the distinction between Past and Present.
That one unique Sound of Everlasting Impermanence
brings even the Purest of Wisdom [Skt.: Jnana] to an end,
without limit."

時に文明丁酉   秋   宇治の旧蘆に於いて   朗庵叟書

"The 9th year of Bunmei [1477] - Autumn -
Written among the old reeds of Uji by Rōan the Elder."

     Trsl. by Torsten Olafsson, 2010 & 2013.
     Source: Ueno, 2002, pp. 152-153.

     A rather poor version of the painting can be found here:
     www.um.u-tokyo.ac.jp/publish_db/1994collection1/tenji_kaiga_48.html
     www1.cncm.ne.jp/~seifu/rouanzu.htm &


     The poem is quite similar to poems preserved in
     various versions of the kyōgen play 'Rakuami'.

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楽阿弥 - RAKUAMI
両頭 - RYŌTŌ - "Dualism"

Late 15th century?: The Kyōgen Play 'RAKUAMI'
- possibly the oldest piece in the kyōgen repertory.

両頭を切断してより此かた
尺八寸の内、古今に通ず
吹き起こす無常心の一曲
三千里外に知音は絶す

"When both ends are cut, the Middle Way is clear;
One Breath through the flute joins past and present.
In three thousand leagues there will be none
Who understands an enlightened tone."

     Poem recited by the ghost of Rakuami
     in the dance-kyōgen play 'Rakuami',
     possibly late 15th or early 16th century.
     Translated by Carolyn M. Haynes, 1988, p. 271.

For a more detailed discussion of 'Rakuami', consult this webpage:
"Rakuami and Non-duality"