Zen and Confucius in the Art of Swordsmanship

The 'Tengu-geijutsu-ron' of Chozan Shissai

Reinhard Kammer

• Publisher: Taylor & Francis
• Year: 2016
• Print ISBN: 9781138658103
• eBook ISBN: 9781317214762
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Regional Studies
• Index: Social Sciences

The sword has played an important role in the Japanese consciousness since ancient times. The earliest swords, made of bronze or stone, were clearly, by their design and form, used for ritualistic purposes rather than as weapons. Later, swords were associated only with the warrior class, and lack of physical strength and battle experience was compensated for by handling the sword in a way that was technically expert. Besides this sacred and artistic status, swordsmanship also acquired a philosophical reinforcement, which ultimately made it one of the Zen 'ways'. Zen Buddhism related the correct practice of swordsmanship to exercises for attaining enlightenment and selfishness, while Confucianism, emphasizing the ethical meaning, equated it to service to the state. This classic text, first published in English in 1978, includes a history of the development and an interpretation of Japanese swordsmanship, now esteemed as an art and honoured as a national heritage. It describes in detail the long, intensive and specialized training and etiquette involved, emphasizing and explaining the importance of both Zen and Confucian ideas and beliefs.

APPENDIX 1

Japanese Names for Swordsmanship throughout History

 

 

 

 

 

The phenomenon most often called ‘swordsmanship’ in this work has manifested many contradictions and variations in character. Accordingly, the Japanese have frequently changed its name during the course of their history. At times they favoured one generally accepted name and at others used several names at the same time.⁷² Although the word kendō appeared very early in China,⁷³ it only came into use in Japan during the Tokugawa Period (1603–1867) and into common usage in the Meiji Period (1868–1912). The name tachikak⁷⁴ appears in the Nihonshoki (720), yōtō (katana wo mochi-yu)⁷⁵ in the Ryō no Gige (833), and gekken in the Kaifūsō (751).⁷⁶ Later appeared the words tachiuchi (Heian, Kamakura, and Muromachi Periods) and hyōliō tōjutsu, tōhō, kenpō, and kenjutsu, all in use concurrently.⁷⁷ Of these several names, gekken and kenjutsu were preferred during the time from the mid-Tokugawa Period to the end of the Meiji Period. The usage of the name kendō was considerably more limited. Another Tokugawan name was hyōhō-shigeki. The term kendō has been preferred since the Meiji Period, the reason being perhaps that swordsmanship had progressively lost its purely military aims following the Tokugawa Period and assumed the dual character of a ‘Way’ leading to the individual’s personal character development and of a sport, and to this end the sharp blade was replaced by the bamboo shaft (shhiai). The name kendō was also retained, however, for the swordsmanship which was practised exclusively as a sport. This term has been in official usage since 1926.⁷⁸

APPENDIX 2

Important Schools of Swordsmanship

One of the first schools which can be dated with some certainty⁷⁹ is the SHINTO-RYU or TENSHIN-SHODEN-SHINTO-RYU. The tradition of this school is closely related to shinto thought, as its name clearly indicates. Its founder lishino (Iizasa) Chōisai came from the province of Shimōsa, the village Iizasa (Iishino) in Katori, and during his youth had been in the service of the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436–90). He later returned to his home and endeavoured to penetrate the divine secrets of swordsmanship through the practice of Katori-jingu.⁸⁰ He attained enlightenment after prolonged and unrelenting study,⁸¹ and on this basis founded his school, from which many other schools developed such as the SHINTO-RYU (BOKUDEN-RYU), the ARIMA-RYU, the ICHIU-RYU, and others. It is not possible to provide the exact dates of these events, if their historic authenticity is indeed accepted. The founding of the school can well be placed in the mid-fifteenth century since Iisaza Chōsai died in 1488 or 1489. It is also impossible for us to determine the exact goals and techniques of the SHINTO-RYU since contemporary sources are rare. It was not until the Tokugawa Period that extensive modifications (the writings of the school are apocryphal) led to the establishment of a detailed regimentation. That is also true of the above-named sub-schools.⁸²

The forefather of the SHINTUO-RYU (also BOKUDEN-RYU or KASHIMA SHINTO-RYU) is Tsukaware Bokuden (1490–1571). He learned the traditions of Choisai’s SHINTO-RYU from his father and older brother but was apparently dissatisfied with it in that form since he is said to have joined the KAGE-RYU under Kamiizumi Hidetsuna for a time. None of this, however, can be clearly determined.⁸³

At the height of his fame Bokuden travelled through the land with great pomp. In Kyōto, the famous shōguns Ashikaga Yoshiteru (1536–65), Hosokawa Yūsai (1534–1610), and Kitabatake Tomonori (1528–76) were his students. Bokuden distinguished himself in numerous duels and battles. Also famous is his last poem from the Bokuden Ikunshō⁸⁴ (Bokuden Hyakushū), a collection of waka, in which he deals with topics from the interrelationship between swordsmanship and the professional warrior. It reads:

A Heart devoted

to study — when technique

goes astray

so must the Heart,

lead on by technique’s folly.⁸⁵

The ARIMA-RYU⁸⁶ also belongs to the group of schools that derived from the SHINTO-RYU of Iisaza Chōisai. It was founded by Arima Genshin (dates unknown), a student of Matsumoto Masanobu (1468–1524), whose importance to the development of ancient swordsmanship is as a transmitter of the kashima tradition and student of Chōisai, although he never founded his own school; Yamada calls his movement KASHIMA SHIN-RYU.⁸⁷ The ARIMA-RYU then merged into the TAKEMORI-RYIT during the mid-Tokugawa Period.⁸⁸

Another school modelled upon the SHINTO-RYU is the ICHIU-RYU⁸⁹ (ICHIU-HA SHINTO-RYU) of Morooka Ichiu (dates unknown) during the Bunroku Era (1592–6). He was probably a student of Tsukawara Bokuden. His life is surrounded by legends, often making a distinction between fiction and historic truth impossible.⁹⁰ Among his students were Iwama Oguma, Tsuchiko Doronosuke, and Negishi Tokaku, to whom is supposedly attributed the MIJIN-RYU.⁹¹

The SHINTO MUNEN-RYU of Fukui Yoshihira is also a school of the SHINTO-RYU tradition, founded relatively late (era of Hōreiki, 1751–64).

The following are some of the basic movements that belong to the traditional line of the CHUJO-RYU,⁹² the second of the four early schools of the Muromachi Period: TOMITA-RYU, HASEGAWA-RYU, KANEMAKI-RYU, TODA-RYU, ITTO-RYU, XIKAIDO-RYU, and GAN-RYU. The dates of Chūjō Nagahide, the founder of the CHUJO-RYU, are not known. He was active during the lifetime of the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimitsu (1358–1408), who had supposedly called upon Chūjō to become his teacher. The founding of the school is placed in the era of Ōei (1394–1428).⁹³ The Kanjō-shōden and other works indicate that Nagahide studied swordsmanship with the monk Jion of Jufukuji in Kamakura, yet the latter’s existence is doubtful.⁹⁴ Although Nagahide had numerous students and many new schools arose from his, the direct lineage of the CHUJO-RYU is not entirely clear. The traditional opinion based on the Kanjō-shōden is that it proceeded by way of Kai Buzen no Kami and Ōhashi Kangeyuzaemon, but Yamada casts doubt on this.⁹⁵

Various members of the Tomita family of Echizen have been credited with the founding of the TOMITA-RYU:⁹⁶ Tomita Kurōemon Naga’ie, a contemporary of the shōgun Ashikaga Yoshimasa (1436–90), his son Kage’ie, his grandson Kagemasa, and his great-grandson Shigemasa (1564–1625). Naga’ie supposedly learned Chūjō swords...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Original Title Page
• Original Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Illustrations
• Translator’s Preface
• Author’s Preface
• Introduction: A Survey of the Historical Development of Japanese Swordsmanship
• Chozan Shissai’s Interpretation of the Japanese Art of Swordsmanship
• Tengu-geijutsu-ron (Discourse on the Art of the Mountain Demons)
• Appendix 1: Japanese Names for Swordsmanship throughout History
• Appendix 2: Important Schools of Swordsmanship
• List of Abbreviations
• Notes
• Bibliography