The influence of Zen Master Ikky? (1394-1481) permeates the full
field of medieval Japanese aesthetics. Though best known as a poet,
Ikky? was central to the shaping and reshaping of practices in
calligraphy, Noh theater, tea ceremony, and rock gardening, all of
which now define Japan's sense of its cultural tradition. A
lifelong outsider to religious establishments, Ikky? nonetheless
accepted an imperial command to rebuild his home temple,
Daitoku-ji, destroyed in the civil wars. He died before that
project was complete. Ikky?'s work is allusion rich, and, as is
common to his Tang poetic models, Ikky?'s verse makes frequent
allusion to elements from the full range of China's cultural
history and literature. He draws as well from a variety of Buddhist
texts in Chinese, including its koans. Two Chinese words-"the
dropping of rain" or "the King of Chu"-may be suffi cient to
conjure a full account of drama, romance, enlightenment, or
degradation. Ikky? simply assumes a readership as well educated as
he. Faced with this richness, translators have generally chosen one
of two solutions. Some have expanded Ikky?'s line to include as
much information as possible. Others have added extensive
annotations. By contrast, Messer and Smith, who represent an
exciting combination of contemporary poetic and scholarly
expertise, have retold those stories in a brief introduction to
each poem, as Ikky? himself might have heard them. Thus the poem
emerges as a response to those circumstances.
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