Below are the 4 most recent journal entries recorded in learningtree's LiveJournal:

Monday, July 31st, 2006
7:15 pm	Ancient Japanese literature: Manyôshû 万葉集 The earliesｔ collection (in writing) of Japanese songs and poetry. Compiled around 759 AD. The collection starts with a poem of a young woman collecting herbs or plants from the hills, and a prince or emperor courting her.  (Japanese characters) 籠もよ　み籠持ち　掘串もよ　み掘串持ち　この岡に　菜摘ます子　 家告らせ　名告らせ　そらみつ　大和の国は　おしなべて　 我こそ居れ　しきなべて　我こそ居れ　我にこそは　告らめ　家をも名をも komoyo mikomochi fukushimo mifukushimochi konookani natsumasuko  ienorase nanorase soramitsu yamatonokuniwa oshinabete  warekosoore shikinabete warekosoore warenikosowa norame iewomonawomo the basket you carry, so pretty; your digging tool, so elegant. girl picking herbs on the mountain,  tell me your family, tell me your name. all of the land of Yamato follow me;  and I watch over all of the land. for me, please tell me your family, tell me your name It is uncanny that, as far as I know, the Chinese Poetry Classic (literally Shi Jing 詩経) also starts with a poem of a pretty girl and a prince courting her. In this case she is collecting edible river plants while ospreys fly overhead quacking. In its compact and rhytmical form, the poem goes all the way until the wedding. The poem predates the Manyôshû by over a millennium. (simplified Chinese characters) 关雎 关关雎鸠 在河之洲 窈窕淑女 君子好逑  参差荇菜 左右流之 窈窕淑女 寤寐求之  求之不得 寤寐思服 悠哉悠哉 辗转反侧  参差荇菜 左右采之 窈窕淑女 琴瑟友之  参差荇菜 左右 之 窈窕淑女 钟鼓乐之 Another pick (Japanese, from Manyôshû) 我が背子を　大和へ遣ると　さ夜更けて　暁露に　我が立ち濡れし And yet one more ふたり行けど　行き過ぎかたき　秋山を　いかにか君が　ひとり超ゆらむ And あしひきの　山のしつ”くに　妹待つと　我れ立ち濡れぬ　山のしつ”くに More 我を待つと　君が濡れけむ　あしひきの　山のしつ”くに　ならましものを Will work on the translations some time later ;) Wait... its Chinese Calendar Lovers' Day today. How appropriate for these poems. Another interesting thread to look into later: literary Chinese in light of literary Latin. http://www.humancomp.org/ftp/yijing/litchinese_in_light_of_litlatin.pdf (Comment on this)
Sunday, April 9th, 2006
11:38 am	Ancient Japanese literature: Kojiki 古事記 Reading a modern Japanese translation of Kojiki (古事記 or Record of Ancient Events) by Takeda Tomohiro. Kojiki is a script which tells the creation myth of Japan ja the gods of old. It was compiled from oral mythology in 712 AD, which falls in the Nara period (710-794 AD) The capital city was relocated to Nara in 710, hence the name Nara period. The city was modelled after the Chinese city of Chang An 長安 (Chôan in Japanese) Here one resource for an overview of Japanese history http://www.wsu.edu/~dee/ANCJAPAN/ANCJAPAN.HTM According to the Kojiki, this is the genealogy of the gods: When heaven and earth emerged from the chaos that reigned before, there also emerged the three gods Ame-no-Minakanushi, Takami-Musuhito and Kami-Musuhito. They proceeded in the work of creating the world. The two sexes of male and female appeared in the form of the gods Izanaki (male) and Izanami (female). They are the ancestors of the myriad beings in the universe. Izanami passed away, and Izanaki washed his sorrow in a clear stream. Hence were born Amaterasu, the goddess of the sun, and Tsukuyomi, the god of the moon. When Izanaki washed himself in the sea, many gods called Amatsu-Kami and Kunitsu-Kami were created.  This is how far I got reading today; will pick it up again later. (Comment on this)
Tuesday, February 21st, 2006
2:37 am	Another branch of learningtree ... find it here http://learningtree.wordpress.com (Comment on this)
Thursday, February 9th, 2006
11:06 pm	Burai-ha 無頼派 (Japanese writers) This is a new branch of learningtree (see http://learningtree.wordpress.com) Was reading some Japanese stuff today. Burai-ha (無頼派, "decadent school") is a name given to a group of Japanese writers around the 40's and 50's, including Dazai Osamu, Sakaguchi Ango, Oda Sakunosuke, Ishikawa Jun etc. A hint to their lifestyle might be that Suntory offers a burai-ha brand of whisky. http://www.suntory.co.jp/whisky/buraiha Anyways, was reading short stories by Sakaguchi Ango 坂口安吾. http://uraaozora.jpn.org/ango.html Aozora http://www.aozora.gr.jp is a great free resource for Japanese literature, in the original, for free, for those works whose copyright has expired (I guess this is the idea behind the website). "Kogarashi no sakagura kara 木枯らしの酒倉から From the wine cellar". Kogarashi no sakagura kara tells of a drunkard (or two drunkards), one of which is telling a story of his tribulations with drinking to the other (some psychedelic stuff!) "Kaze hakase　風博士 The PhD of Wind". Kaze hakase is a story of two "PhD's" who despise each other or something.. I have to read it more carefully to catch the point. The short story can be found here. http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001095/files/42616_21000.html "Murasaki Dainagon 紫大納言 (a name)". Murasaki Dainagon tells the story of a Japanese noble in the Heian period. He meets up with a fair lady from the moon & keeps her captive. "Hakuchi 白痴 The idiot". Hakuchi happens in World War II under the heavy bombing of Tokyo towards the end of the war. The protagonist is a movie actor who suddenly finds himself in a unique relationship with the intellectually challenged wife of a neighbor whom he finds hiding in his room one day. Original in Japanese here. http://www.aozora.gr.jp/cards/001095/files/42621_21290.html Someone else has been reading Ango with pleasure http://insensibility.blog15.fc2.com/blog-entry-33.html (2 Comments |Comment on this)