Art of Air

## Introduction

Do you remember? 66? The denominate number 66! on the article of Festival Sagicho?

I've almost forgotten it! The timestamps of my memo were 33 and 44! Wow! What was I doing on 55? 66? 77? 88? 99? ... :-D

> *This art, which recently so many people take pleasure in, dates from the regent Prince Shotoku Taishi orderd Hada no Kokatsu to create sixty-six pieces of entertainment -- either to promote peace in the nation or for public enjoyment -- that he called sarugaku.*
>
>

66 pieces of entertainment!

That's the same number of the blocks of new developed Hachiman town from old ruined Azuchi Castle City. Then, missing one piece is ruined Azuchi Castle, or the Hall of Dream. The dreamy designer of both dreamy houses died at the age of 7\*7=49.

7\*7 is the date of 七夕:Tanabata. Odd numbers is Yang (positive) on Yin-Yang (positive and negative) concept. The days of double odd-numbers, such as 3\*3, 5\*5, 7\*7, 9\*9, are originally an unlucky day, because double Yang-Qi is too powerful for us.

##### **Double Ninth Festival**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double\_Ninth\_Festival

It has a terrible potential to destroy us. Unfortunately, it is capable of ruin. So, they performed some rituals to sweep away their bad fortune.

Later, the powerful numbers of double odd turned into a lucky number! Like 777! Then, they performed some ritual to call in their good fortune... ... ... :-D

Whether for unlucky or lucky, fortune-tellers performed some rituals.

I almost titled this article "art of luck"... ぽちょん。

## Art Independence, of the people, by the people, for the people, at Mano

### **観阿弥:Kan-Ami the Super Star on/off the Stage**

The performers originally went with the fortune-tellers.

Shall we sway for the deities to sweep our bad luck? OH, yeah! Let's sway!

Shall we sing for the deities to call our good luck? Oh, yeah! Let's sing!

An odd man appeared. He hoped art independence. He hoped to be a freelance artist from the fortune-tellers in the shrines and the temples.

I shall sing what I think, when I sense, as I feel. I shall dance with our music and story of the people, by the people, for the people.

He is 観阿弥:Kan-Ami, one of happy-go-lucky fools, wild birds in the wind under the sky from the moon. They don't mind whether his wind is lucky or unlucky...maybe because they themselves are troublesome powerful double odds...the wind itself...

So, we have to prepare foolproof and fail-safe system for fault tolerance of graceful degradation though it costs high...

The eye of typhoon met the Tycoon of Japan, the third Ashikaga Shogun 義満:Yoshimitsu, at Kyoto in the 14th century.

That's Kyoto Renaissance.

Kyoto is Ma no Kuni, or Mano Country where someone meets someone by chance. That's like smoking and drinking. It causes the blood vessels to contract and expand. That's an ill joke. I sometimes slip U21 code. CO is deadly poison. Don't use it too much!

So, fresh air is carried on the circulation of the wind. Fresh air from the South Capital and fresh air from the East met at Mano.

### **風姿花伝: The Spirit of Noh by 世阿弥:Ze-Ami the Story Teller**

"風姿花伝:Fu-shi-ka-den" is a book of 能:Noh play (or 申楽:Saru-gaku play in those day) written by 世阿弥:Ze-Ami who was the top actor, scriptwriter, director, producer and promoter of Noh play during the early Ashikaga period in the early 15th century.

Kan-Ami was his father and instructor. Ze-Ami was the thoroughbred of Kan-Ami, the former head of the leading theater in the capital Kyoto.

We can read some previews of the book "The Spirit of Noh (Fushikaden)" transelated by William Scott Wilson in some online bookstores, such as Google, Amazon, Rakuten Kobo and so on.

The quotation at the introduction is quoted from "The Spirit of Noh, A New Translation of the Classic Noh Treatise the Fushikaden – Zeami".

##### **William Scott Wilson**

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William\_Scott\_Wilson

##### **The Spirit of Noh, A New Translation of the Classic Noh Treatise the Fushikaden – Zeami**

https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=CXpb\_L2MJQ0C&printsec=frontcover&source=ebookstore&pg=GBS.PP1

> *Shambhala Publications, 2013/05/14, 184p, ISBN:9780834828988*
>
>

https://www.kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-spirit-of-noh-1

I bought it on the Rakuten Kobo Book Store for my limited points during the super-sale. :-p

By the way, Rakuten Kobo bookstore in Japan shows a lot of items in the list by the keyword "The Spirit of Noh". One of them is "JOHN STUART MILL - Ultimate Collection"... Yeah, I like him, but...WHY!?

I looked some pages of the list and figured out that the engine offered me some John's books. He says to me, "Look! NOH and JOHN are very alike!!"

I've never thought such a thing...in my life...!! --- DOHN!!! ---

I decided to use this spelling for "ドン!!!". --- DOHN!!! ---

I sometimes happened to laugh at Kobo's comical joke and almost happened to buy his offer... Yeah almost...

That's a sort of the Flower of Kobo. ONE PIECE is full of the Flowers, too. The author can draw each Flower of more than 300 characters. Oh, oh! Now, more than 400! of the latest collection in 2018!

Anyway, the previews of the book "The Spirit of Noh" usually include his foreword or perface and some parts of introduction. His foreword or perface is very beautiful, and his introdution is very clear to understand the background and history of Noh play.

The book of "The Spirit of Noh" has the original fragrant Flower of William Scott Wilson, too.

I think that they are sure to be helpful additional lines to the original Manga diagrams to show the center point of the circle.

Manga arts in the contrast between light and shade with simple hand-writing black lines on the white papers have an essence of Noh play, the simpleness and stillness. They don't move. They are still. But, they move wild in our mind. They are animated while reading.

### **The Flowering Spirit by William Scott Wilson**

I also like his older book title "The Flowering Spirit" and its cover.

##### **The Flowering Spirit - Classic Teachings on the Art of No**

https://books.google.co.jp/books?id=lR3AHgKu-94C&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false

> *The Flowering Spirit : Classic Teachings on the Art of No (Hardcover)],by Zeami (160 pages) Kodansha (release date: May 19, 2006) ISBN 4-7700-2499-1*
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**FOREWORD/PERFACE**

> *I saw my first Noh play about thirty-five years ago on the grounds of the Atsuta Shrine in Nagoya, Japan. The memory of that experience, even today, is still vivid; the almost unbelievably slow movements of the demon-masked shite, or main actor; the beating of various small drums in unfamiliar rhythms that seemed to evoke dim memories or dreams; the flute emitting sounds more like squeaks than melodies; and the intermittent birdlike cries of the musicians. Plays or operas I had seen growing up in America had always taken me to a different time and place, but they were times and places in this world. The Noh play was very different in that regard.*
>
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> *One other thing that impressed me that day was that almost everyone in the audience of perhaps sixty had copies of the libretto, and was reading along with the performance. This was also quite different from my experience of drama in my own country. What I didn't know at the time was that the language of the play was some six hundred years old, and even if one was conversant with that ancient from, the droning delivery of the actors and the shite's mask obscured the words even further.*
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> *Years later, I had the good fortune to take a graduate course in Noh as literature at the University of Washington under the tutelage of Dr. Richard N. McKinnon. Dr. mcKinnon had professional connections with a troupe in Japan, and during our class he would periodically stop our reading of the plays and chant the section himself to give us a better understanding of the atmosphere of the material. It was a late-afternoon class and, as dim orange sunlight filtered through the high second-floor windows, I can remember the hair standing up on the backs of our necks. As he chanted, Dr. McKinnon seemed to be almost possessed by someone or something else, but then he would suddenly stop and, with a kind smile, ask us to continue with the reading.*
>
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> *The fundamental handbook translated here, the Fushikaden, has been a sort of bible for Noh actors ever since Zeami Motokiyo perfected the genre and wrote out the notes for it, between 1400 and 1418. It was at first a secret document, so to possess a copy was considered great good fortune--not only by professional actors, but also by the upper echelons of the warrior class. High-ranking samurai practiced the chants, dances, and music of Noh with great enthusiasm, linking this in part to their attainment of high culture, in part to their study of Zen Buddhism, and sometimes even to the art of swordsmanship. The Fushikaden is, even today, read widely enough to require frequent publications and translations into modern Japanese, and offers proof in one slender volume to the oft-quoted statement that "The study of the Noh play is really the study of Japanese culture generally."\**
>
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> *In this regard, a word should be said about the text. It is well known that Zeami's style and vocabulary can be somewhat vague, and translators--rendering the Fushikaden into both English and modern Japanese--are not in agreement as to the meanings of certain terms. To make matters more complicated, Zeami seems to have had a rather fluid sense of definition, so that a word might mean one thing in one section of the book, and something slightly different in another. I have dealt with this problem in part by leaving a few words in the original Japanese and adding a glossary, so that the reader will have a sense of the breadth of a single word; in other cases, I have simply used a more appropriate English term. I have tried to stay as close as possible to the original to convey the range of expression and individual quirks in Zwami's writing. As in all texts of this age, a number of slightly differing versions exist. While relying heavily on the notes and annotations of Nose Asaji's Zeami juroku bushu hyoshaku, I have based the translation on the Fushikaden edited by Nagami Toyoichiro and Nashio Minoru, and published by Iwanami Shoten. The Atsumori translation is from the libretto of the twenty-fourth generation Kanze Sakon.*
>
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> *A number of people have given me their assistance in the preparation of this book, and I owe a debt of gratitude to them all: to Kuramochi Tetsuo, senior editor at Kodansha International, for kindly recommending and supporting this project; to my editor Ginny Tapley for working with me through the rough spots to the bitter end; to Ichikawa Takashi and Agnes Youngblood for generously supplying me with research books that would have otherwise been extremely difficult to obtain; to Kate Barnes, Robin Gill, Gary Haskins, Dr. Daniel Medvedov, Dr. Justin Newman, and John Siscoe for their suggestions and encouragement; and to my wife, Emily, for reading through the entire manuscript and helping to make it more readable. As always, I offer a deep bow of gratitude to my late professors, Prof. Hiraga Noboru and Dr. Richard N. McKinnon. Any and all mistakes are my own.*
>
>

> *William Scott Wilson*
>
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> *\* Suzuki, Zen and Japanese Culture, 419.*
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>

What a beautiful foreword he wrote...! I'm gazing at that scene in fascination and in a reminiscent tone.
As for me, the Flower is what I happen to copy by writing or typing.

> *It was a late-afternoon class and, as dim orange sunlight filtered through the high second-floor windows, I can remember the hair standing up on the backs of our necks. As he chanted, Dr. McKinnon seemed to be almost possessed by someone or something else, but then he would suddenly stop and, with a kind smile, ask us to continue with the reading.*
>
>

How nice it sounds...! There is perfume, like golden honey and bees.

I suppose that "honey" is perhaps a symbolic term with poetry.

We met the aromatic translator who shows such a beautiful memory to introduce old Japanese literature. Our fortune smiles on us softly like the air in the forest.

I decided to call the title of the article "Art of Air" inspired by the hair standing up on the backs of their necks.

I think that his work on the Flower is perfect. Nothing left. For me.

So, I try to think about Fu-shi-ka-den(風姿花伝) from the view of the Wind(風).

## Title of *風姿花伝*

### **Poetry of Common Advice by Seven Buddhas beyond Generation**

諸悪莫作 Don't make varied illness.

衆善奉行 Do your best among people.

自浄其意 Then your mind is healthy.

是諸仏教 This is what Buddhas tell.

風姿花伝 Now, how to dress what...?

Oh, there is no strangeness as poetry!

Four lines of the above are 七仏通誡偈(しちぶつ つうかいげ):Poetry of Common Advice by Seven Buddhas beyond Generation.

##### **七仏通誡偈**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/七仏通誡偈

> 諸悪莫作（しょあくまくさ） ― もろもろの悪を作すこと莫く（なく）
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> 衆善奉行（しゅうぜんぶぎょう） ― もろもろの善を行い
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> 自浄其意（じじょうごい） ― 自ら其の意（こころ）を浄くす
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> 是諸仏教（ぜしょぶつきょう） ― 是がもろもろの仏の教えなり
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It is an important poetry among Zen Buddhists, who love health care, such as Ikkyu (1394-1481) who lived long until 87...during the Ashikaga Period. He was the next generation in the same age of Ze-Ami (1363?-1443?).

##### **世阿弥 : Zeami Motokiyo**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/世阿弥

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zeami\_Motokiyo

##### **一休宗純 : Ikkyu**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/一休宗純

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ikkyū

##### **一休禅師墨蹟碑 : A Stone Monument of Zen Master Ikkyu**

http://www.ikkyuji.org/keidai\_annai/sekihi/sekihi.html

##### **酬恩庵　一休寺 : Shuon-an Ikkyu-ji**

http://www.ikkyuji.org/

http://www.ikkyuji.org/en/

##### **一行書「諸悪莫作衆善奉行」: One Line Calligraphy**

http://bunka.nii.ac.jp/heritages/detail/277115

##### **一休宗純『諸悪莫作衆善奉行』: A Hanging Scroll of Ikkyu Sojun**

http://www.image.shogakukan.co.jp/line\_up2/ikkyu2/01.html

##### **小学館イマージュ : Shogakukan Image**

http://www.image.shogakukan.co.jp/

...? Shogakukan...! :-D

My brother went to high school founded and supported by Zen temple 妙心寺:Myoshin-ji, and often told me Zen lessons at school with a compact textbook. He was my Zen leader, though we both were lazy to practice for our health on both physical and mental matter... He usually minded how to dress what...

##### **妙心寺 : Myoshinji Temple**

https://www.myoshinji.or.jp/

https://www.myoshinji.or.jp/english/

##### **臨黄ネット : Joint Council for Rinzai and Obaku Zen**

http://www.rinnou.net/

http://zen.rinnou.net/

風(wind) is how. 姿(appearance) is to dress. 花(flower) is what. 伝 is to tell.

How to dress what? - Flower tells Appearance of Wind.

Ze-Ami the Flower tried to tell appearance of Kan-Ami the Wind to his son or student.

That manual book is a dress-code which is not for temporary audience in the theater, but for constant providers of the theater both on and off stage.

So, we don't need to know it in detail, if we don't want to be an actor. Generally, we are temporary audience to comment on actors as we like.

### **Kagura, or Sacred Music and Dance**

There was originally {([示]申)楽}:Kagura, or Sacred Music and Dance before 能:Noh.

##### **神楽 : Kagura**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/神楽

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kagura

示 is to show. 申 is to say. 楽 is to enjoy (music). 能 is to do.

([示]申) is deities. They are showy and we are talkative...or vise versa...

It's a word play that we often enjoy learning Kanji or Chinese characters playfully, like 示申, イム, イ云, 文寸, 言舌, 虫義, etc.

{([示]申)楽} - [示] = {(申)楽} = {申楽} ===> 能.

By the way, the contrast of 能 is usually 所. 所 is to be done.

On the context of syntax;

能 is the active voice and 所 is the passive voice.

能 is the nominative case and 所 is the locative case.

On the context of Mahayana Buddhism;

能詮 = 報身. 所詮 = 法身. 色相 = 応身.

詮 is to ravel. 報 is answer. 身 is body. 法 is rule. 色 is color. 相 is aspect.

The samples of 詮(抠) on Chinese dictionary;

> *专抠字眼 = to discuss about the letter simply, yes, very like this.*
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> *别抠鼻子 = Don't pick your nose.*
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! !! !!! Leave me alone...

On the calendar of duodecimal number system;

子・丑・寅・卯・辰・巳・午・未・申・酉・戌・亥

01・02・03・04・05・06・07・08・09・10・11・12 month

On the around-the-clock system;

子・丑・寅・卯・辰・巳・午・未・申・酉・戌・亥

00・02・04・06・08・10・12・14・16・18・20・22 hour

申 is the 9th month or 16th hour (4 p.m). The symbolic animal of the character 申 is 猿(さる):the monkey on this idea. That's also a word play.

##### **能 : Noh**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/能

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noh

##### **猿楽 : Sarugaku**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/猿楽

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarugaku

By the way, this is just a foothold to climb or build something. What I talk on this wikia is one of temporary theories or ideas concerned with my personal experiences or my family history.

According to Feyerabend, theories were usually temporary. They often had model change. I really like his funny face. So, as for my experiences or my family, I'll talk on the blog!

## The Title of 阿弥:Ami

The title of 阿弥:Ami is known for not only Noh actors but also some artists or connoisseurs of arts, like 本阿弥光悦: Hon'ami Koetsu.

##### **本阿弥光悦 : Hon'ami Kōetsu**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/本阿弥光悦

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hon'ami Kōetsu

"Ami" was originally a Buddhist title of Pure Land Buddhism. They recite 南無"阿弥"陀仏:Namu "Ami"da-butsu (I believe "Ami"tābha), remarkably 時宗/時衆:Ji-shu (literally School of Time / People of Time, École de l'heure in French) branch. It was their simple confession of faith.

##### **阿弥 (法号): Ami (Buddhist title of Ami)**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/阿弥 (法号)

According to the above wiki, many of Samurai fighters from Kamakura to Muromachi period (12th-16th century) believed Ji-shu because it was very simple to recite just "Namu Amida-butsu" even while they were fighting with arms on their hands or dying at the battle field.

There was no need to join their hands in prayer even if they lost their arm like Shanks.

Some of Buddhist monks of Ji-shu went with them to pray for their death. But, usually they were not fighting, but just working. Some of believers worked as artists, performers, entertainers, and so on.

##### **同朋衆 : Dobo-shu (Fellows)**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/同朋衆

Some of talented persons were worked for Ashikaga Shogun family as their close followers and called Dobo-shu (Fellows). Kan-Ami and Ze-Ami were Dobo-shu of Ashikaga Shogun.

##### **観阿弥 : Kan'ami**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/観阿弥

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kan'ami

In Pure Land Buddhism, there are various ways of 念仏:Nenbutsu, or Nianfo.

##### **念仏 : Nianfo**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/念仏

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nianfo

The way of Ji-shu was so simple to repeat the name of Buddha, "Namu Amida-Butsu" that a lot of people joined them.

##### **游行寺 : Yugyouji**

http://www.jishu.or.jp/

http://www.jishu.or.jp/english-page

The origin of the name of 時[Ji](time) is sometimes said that they repeat to recite the name of Amitābha Buddha while imagining their last Moment.

The founder of Ji-shu was 一遍:Ippen born in 伊予:Iyo.

##### **一遍 : Ippen**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/一遍

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ippen

His way was very easy to follow. He walked around to offer his free tickets of the title "Namu Amida-butsu". This ticket will save you! Keep it! Besides, his free tickets were ensured at Kumano.

He liked Waka poetry very much. His teaching or Q and A was simple to hear.

> おのづから　相あふ時も　わかれても
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> ひとりはいつも　ひとりなりけり
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> *If we see or part,*
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> *One is always all.*
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> *All is always one.*
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He also liked dancing in prayer. His practice was exciting to learn.

> はねばはね　踊らばをどれ　春駒の
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> のりの道をば　しる人ぞしる
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> *Let's jump! When we want to jump!*
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> *Let's dance! When we want to dance!*
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> *Spring horses know the way of Buddha, you know?*
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Dancing in prayer of reciting the title of Amitābha Buddha was popular among the people, remarkably around Kyoto. It is said that 空也:Kuya in middle Heian period also liked this way.

##### **空也 : Kuya**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/空也

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kūya

##### **六斎念仏 : Rokusai Nenbutsu (Nianfo on six important days)**

https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/六斎念仏

Generally, dancing in prayer is usually popular world-widely, I suppose. I liked Bon Dance very much!

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