Zen Aesthetic Question

[lotus]

What tsuba schools (or artists) produced work that best embody the Zen Aesthetic?

 

By that, I mean things like simplicity, tranquility, elegance, asymmetrical, subtlety, suggestive, naturalness, empty space, direct, and eliminating the non-essentials.

 

Thanks!

[Marius]

Great Owari masters:

 

Yamakichibei, Nobuie, Sadahiro, Hoan. But also unnamed masters of the Owari sukashi and Kanayama "schools". Some Yagyu tsuba meet your criteria, too...

 

Then again, many kagamishi and tachi kanagushi tsuba, as well as ko-tosho and ko-katchushi are distinctly zen.

[lotus]

Thanks Marius.

 

I did also think of Owari and Kanayama. I will definately check out the others you listed as well.

[Curran]

"simplicity, tranquility, elegance, asymmetrical, subtlety, suggestive, naturalness, empty space, direct, and eliminating the non-essentials."

 

= Hirata tsuba

[Tim Evans]

Hi Patrick,

 

Instead of focusing on Zen, look into Japanese Buddhism in general, as there were Bushi that practiced other forms of Buddhism such as Mikkyo and Nichiren. The place to start is to consider the time periods when Buddhism was culturally dominant. In regard to the tsuba that you can find, this would be the Muromachi, Momoyama and Early Edo periods. Later on in the Mid to Late Edo periods the dominant influence was the Neo Confucianism instituted by the Tokugawa, so you will not find as many Buddhist influenced tsuba from those periods.

 

There are a lot of tsuba with Buddhist subject matter such as the Wheel of Law, Temple Bells, Cha no Yu utensils, etc. that are about Buddhism, but then there are also tsuba that are Buddhist, in that they demonstrate Emptiness (Ku) – by expressing Process, Relationship and Transformation; and so they are intentionally ambiguous, contradictory and incomplete. This attempt to express a Buddhist view of reality by adopting the visual conventions developed by Cha no Yu Tea Masters is where the Kanayama and other “Tea” type tsuba of the Momyama and Early Edo periods come from.

 

Some further reading on Cha no Yu and Ku

 

http://www.anthropoetics.ucla.edu/ap0501/tea.htm

 

http://www.stephenbatchelor.org/index.p ... tmodernity

 

 

Tim Evans

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Here is one of my favorite tsuba with NTHK Kateisho from my collection. It is a unsigned work of the Saga school cira the late Edo Period. I find it has a nice Zen aesthetic that is also clearly about Buddhism in a more general since due to the subject matter of Daruma (Zen Buddhist Master) and a short Koan written in mid air. The revise side has a more symbolic meaning showing bamboo blowing in the wind with a clouded sky. If you have studied any book of classical Koan you would understand the symbology. I remember showing this tsuba to my Budo teacher and his initial reaction was that the tsuba display the concept of Iki (粋) a traditional Japanese aesthetic. Patrick R. thank you for posting this topic that I find really interesting and everyone's replies have been great. Comments and questions about my tsuba are welcome.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles

[sanjuro]

Edited out. :|

[Toryu2020]

I'd go with Jingo...

 

-t

[David Flynn]

Completely edited,

[Pete Klein]

As the concept of zen meditation (zazen) is to remove the conscious to a place of observation of the free flowing subconscious, one could argue thematic symbolism from an article such as a tsuba from two opposing positions. One, pure simplicity reflecting the tranquil mind, or overtly complicated without resolution (koan), such as an Escher design done in three dimensional sculpture. A pure Ko Tosho without sukashi would be prime to the simple concept, with an overtly complicated design such as some Akasaka for the latter. Personally, I find the Wabi taste more readily discernable.

 

 

Pardon me, but I need some Safu juice now...

[Soshin]

Hi Everyone,

 

Thanks for the nice Akasaka tsuba example Pete K. and for forcing me to Google to determine what "safu juice" is.

Here is a early Saotome tsuba with a design also found in Kanayama tsuba. The design discussed in Sasano's final book page 146 in regards to a Kanayama tsuba as four circles as well as a highly textured surface of hammer marks and iron bones along the rim I think does a fine job of capturing the Wabi-Sabi Japanese aesthetic associated with Zen Buddhism. Again comments and questions are welcome.

 

 

 

Yours truly,

David Stiles