The "Zen Shakuhachi" Historical Evidence Research Web Pages

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Updated on November 3, 2020

Introduction

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Newly Added Extra Web Page Menus


About this Research Project

Preliminary Realizations & Conclusions


The Chinese Ch'an Monk P'u-k'o, Ikkyū Sōjun, the Komosō
     Beggars & the Imperialistic Catholic Christian Intruders
     - the Rōnin Samurai, the Fuke-Komosō, the 1640 All Sects
     Inspection Bureau, the Danka Seido System, the Komusō,
     the 'Kyotaku denki', the Kyōto Myōan Temple -
      - The Non-False Narrative

The Amazing Fuke Zenji / Fuke Shakuhachi /
     Fuke-shū Legend Fabrication Hoax

To be - or not to be: a "Zen Buddhist Priest"?


Highlighted Illustrations


1549 ... The Catholic Christian Century in Japan
     & the Temple Patron Household System

Ascetic Shakuhachi Ideology
     and the Realization of The Non-Dual
     - Highlighted Quotations

Chronology of Ascetic Shakuhachi
     Ideology-related Terms, Concepts & Names

Various Errors, Misconceptions & Loose Ends

Wikipedia: Inaccuracies & Misunderstandings
     about 'Komusō', 'Fuke-shū', 'Suizen' et cetera

A Critical Look at the European Shakuhachi Society's
     Official Online "History And Origins" and "Glossary" Web Pages


The Source Collections

The Japanese Written Sources - An Overview

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Texts, Quotations & Illustrations
     A Chronological Panorama


INDIA - 1 web page:

 •  INDIA: 2600 BCE - 800 CE

CHINA - 2 web pages:

 •  CHINA 1: 6000 BCE - 500 CE

 •  CHINA 2: 500 CE ...

JAPAN - 8 web pages:

 •  JAPAN 1: 600 - 1233

 •  JAPAN 2: 1233 - 1477

 •  JAPAN 3: 1477 - 1560

 •  JAPAN 4: 1560 - 1614

 •  JAPAN 5: 1614 - 1664

 •  JAPAN 6: 1664 - 1767

 •  JAPAN 7: 1767 - 1883

 •  JAPAN 8: 1883 ...

The WEST - 1 web page:

 •  The WEST: 1288 ...

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Research Matters & Cases of Particular Significance,
     Real Importance & Special Concern


The ANCIENT CHINESE 'SHAKUHACHI'


c. 630: Did the Imperial Music Master
     Lü Ts'ai really Invent "the Chinese shakuhachi"?


ERA of Mythical Pre-KOMOSŌ
     "Buddhist" Shakuhachi Players

     c. 600 to c. 1480


c. 600 to c. 1450: The Fanciful Fully Fabricated Fairytales
     about Prince Shōtoku, Ennin, Kakua, the Kojidan "Blind
     Monks", Shinchi Kakushin/Hottō Kokushi, Fuke & Chō San,
     the Four Chinese Buddhist Laymen, Kichiku/Kyochiku,
     Myōfu, Kusunoki Masakatsu, the 'Boroboro',
     Rōan & Rakuami

c. 600 to c. 1480: Pre-Komosō Non-Duality
     The Non-Dualism of Huineng, Shih-t'ou, P'u-k'o, Dōgen,
     Ming-chi, Ikkyū, Rōan & Rakuami

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ERA of the KOMOSŌ - The "Mat Monks"

     c. 1450 to c. 1550


1470s?: The Dance-kyōgen Play Rakuami

1474: Tōyō Eichō and Ikkyū Sōjun at the
     Inauguration of the Rebuilt Daitoku Temple, Kyōto

1486: The Ōuchi Clan's Ban
     on Komosō, Jugglers & Monkey Keepers

1494 & 1501: Two Enchanting Muromachi Period
     Poetry Contest Picture Scrolls

1512: The Taigenshō Court Music Treatise

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ERA of the FUKE-SŌ / FUKE-KOMOSŌ

     c. 1550 to c. 1628?


The Komosō & Fuke-sō / Fuke-komosō Sources


1550-1560: The Early Setsuyō-shū Dictionaries

1571: The Term 'Komosō shakuhachi' appears
     in Top-ranking Imperial Court Minister
     Yamashina Tokitsugu's Diary "Tokitsugu's Chronicle"


1614: The Keichō kenmon-shū Short Story Book:
     The Fuke-komosō in Hachiō-ji, West of Edo City

1621-1625: The Neo-Confucian Scholar Hayashi Razan
     on the Shakuhachi, Komosō and Related Matters

1623: Anrakuan Sakuden's Encounter
     with a Wandering Fuke-komosō

1627-1629: Takuan Sōhō, the Purple Robe Affair, the
     Concept of 'Mu-shin Mu-nen' and the Myōan sōsō-shū

1628: The Kaidō honsoku Fuke-komosō Credo "Version 1"

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ERA of the KOMUSŌ
     "Monks of the Non-Dual & None-ness"

     c. 1628? to 1871


The Early Komusō-related Texts
     - from c. 1628? to c. 1750


1628?: A "Fuke Shakuhachi" related Murder Case
     in the Province of Tosa on the Island of Shikoku?

1637-1640: The Shimabara Uprising on Kyūshū,
     the National "Sects Inspection Bureau", and the
     Efficient Extinction of Catholic Christian Believers

c. 1640?: The Kaidō honsoku "Version 2" Copy

1640?: Is a Very Early "Komusō Temple" built
     in Nagasaki on the Island of Kyūshū?

c. 1640?: The Strange Butsu-gen Komusō Document

1646: Abbot Isshi Bunshu's Letter to
     a "Proto-Komusō" named Sandō Mugetsu

1646: Abbot Isshi Bunshu's Letter to Sandō Mugetsu
     - the 1981 Kowata Suigetsu Version of the Text

1646 ... The Hottō Kokushi / Kakushin Legend:
     "The Four Buddhist Laymen" & the "disciple" Kichiku

1649: Hiroshima Fief Authorities Issue Regulation
     to Control 'Komosō' and Other "Troublemakers"

1650s?: The Kaidō honsoku "Version 3"

1653 to 1687: The Shōgunate Takes Legislative Measures
     to Regulate & Control Society Including All Social Groups
     Namely: Warrior/Samurai, Farmer, Craftsman, Merchant,
     Religious, Imperial - and, not least: "Outcast"

1657: 'Tōzoku-jin sansaku jōjō' -
     Shōgunal Directive to Investigate 'Komusō' and Other "Outlaws"


The Kyōto/Kansai Sources


1659?: A Falsely Dated Myōan-ji Document Revealed

1664: The Shichiku shoshinshū Music Treatise

c. 1665-1675?: The Kyotaku denki Fairy Tale:
     Shinchi Kakushin, Kichiku, Kyochiku & Kyōto Myōan-ji

c. 1665-1675?: The Kyotaku denki Original Text, 1795/1981 Ed.,
     the Kyotaku denki kokujikai Illustrations,
     and Tsuge Gen'ichi's 1977 Translation


The Edo/Kantō/Tōkyō Sources


1677: The Enpō 5, 6th Month
     Reihō-ji Komusō Set of Rules

1678: The Enpō 5, 12th Month Komusō-ha Oboe
     Bakufu Memorandum of January 11th, 1678

1687: The Jōkyō 4, 6th Month
     Reihō-ji Komusō Set of Rules


c. 1685-1690: The Yōshū fu-shi
     & Jinrin kinmō zu-i - Evidence of Kyōto Myōan-ji

1694: Myōan-ji Founder Engetsu Ryōgen's
     23 Rules for his Komusō Disciples

1703 & 1705: The Kyōto Myōan-ji
     c/o Kōkoku-ji & Myōshin-ji Interrelationship


1722: The Kyōhō 7, 6th Month,
     Reihō-ji Komusō Memorandum

1730: The Kyōhō 15, 7th Month, Ichigetsu-ji
     & Reihō-ji Komusō Memorandum


1732: The Shakuhachi denrai-ki
     and Early 'Honkyoku' History


1735: Kyōto Myōan-ji Temple Chief Administrator
     Kandō Ichiyū's Letter about 'Sankyorei-fu',
     the "Three Non-Dual Spirit Music Pieces"

1748: Chikamatsu's Play Kanadehon Chūshingura
     and the Komusō Shakuhachi Piece 'Tsuru no sugomori'


1751: The Keichō 19/1614 Komusō Certificate
     The Many Different All Fabricated Versions


1752: Kyōto Myōan-ji Founder Engetsu
     Ryōgen's 23 Fixed Rules for the Komusō


1795: The Kyotaku denki kokujikai Source Book


1816: Miyaji Ikkan's Shakuhachi hikki Book

1823: Hisamatsu Fūyō's Hitori mondō a.o. texts


1830: The Kiyū shōran Encyclopedia
     on 'Komosō' & 'Shakuhachi'

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 Popular Term 'Suizen'?

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Post-Edo & Post-WW2 Period History Sources & Matters
     The Re-Writing & Re-Falsification
     of "Fuke Shakuhachi" Narratives


1 - MEIJI PERIOD till the mid-20th CENTURY

     1868-1945


1871: Edo Period Komusō Bath House Temples ... and Bamboo Tea Whisk Making ...
     Did the Meiji Government's November 30th Ban on the so called "Fuke Sect"
     also Put an Abrupt End to a Thriving Komusō Bath House Temple Enterprise?

1871? (1843-44): The Komusō zakki
     Source Collection


From 1879 ... 1896-1914:
     The Koji ruien Historical Encyclopedia

The complete 'Koji ruien' chapter about 'Fuke-shū'

The complete 'Koji ruien' chapter about 'Shakuhachi'


1890: Higuchi Taizan - Teaching, the "Myōan Society",
     and the Taizan-ha Tradition of Shakuhachi Asceticism


1902: Mikami Sanji's Critical Article
     'Fuke-shū ni tsuite', "About the Fuke Sect"

Early to mid-20th Century Research Pioneers,
     Author Musicians, Editors & Publishers, Japan:
     Mikami Sanji, Kurihara Kōta, Uramoto Setchō,
     Nakatsuka Chikuzen, Mori Hikotarō, Tanikita Muchiku,
     Nishimura Kokū, Takahashi Kūzan, Tomimori Kyozan,
     Ikeda Juzan a.o.

1902: Mikami Sanji's Critical Article
     'Fuke-shū ni tsuite', "About the Fuke Sect"

1915: The Fuke kyōkai / Fuke Teaching Association's
     "Guide to Shakuhachi Self Study"

1927: The Kaishū zenshū Vol. 5 Section
     with documents about 'Fuke-shūmon' Matters

1928: Uramoto Setchō's 3 Essays about
     Fuke's Sound of Bamboo, the Origin of the Way
     of Bamboo, and the Secret Pieces of the Fuke-shū


1931-1932: Tokugawa kinreikō - A Source Collection
     of Tokugawa Period Laws & Regulations

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2 - POST-WW2 till TODAY: JAPAN

     1945 ...


1950: "The Myōan Temple of the True Fuke Sect"
     Inauguration at Tōfuku Temple in SE Kyōto

1950s: Yasuda Tenzan, Hirazumi Taizan & 'Suizen'

1960: Uramoto Setchō's Essay about
     'Gyō no ongaku': "Music of Asceticism"


Shakuhachi Historianship in Japan Today?:
     The "Traditionalists" and the "Truth Tellers"


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

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3 - POST-WW2 till TODAY: The WEST

     1945 ...


1945 ... : Some Early Post-WW2 Shakuhachi Narratives
     Written and Published in Western Languages

Translations of Shakuhachi Source Texts
     published in the West / Outside of Japan
     including the Internet / WWW
      - The Translators

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Literature / References

Links

Profile / Bio / CV

Contact Info