Old Taoist - Softcover

Addiss, Stephen; Chaves, Jonathan; Rimer, J. Thomas

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0231116578 ISBN 13: 9780231116572

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2001

Synopsis

In the literary and artistic milieu of early modern Japan the Chinese and Japanese arts flourished side by side. Kodojin, the "Old Taoist" (1865-1944), was the last of these great poet-painters in Japan. Under the support of various patrons, he composed a number of Taoist-influenced Chinese and Japanese poems and did lively and delightful ink paintings, continuing the tradition of the poet-sage who devotes himself to study of the ancients, lives quietly and modestly, and creates art primarily for himself and his friends.

Portraying this last representative of a tradition of gentle and refined artistry in the midst of a society that valued economic growth and national achievement above all, this beautifully illustrated book brings together 150 of Kodojin's Chinese poems (introduced and translated by Jonathan Chaves), more than 100 of his haiku and tanka (introduced and translated by Stephen Addiss), and many examples of his calligraphy and ink paintings. Addiss's in-depth introduction details the importance of the poet-painter tradition, outlines the life of Kodojin, and offers a critical appraisal of his work, while J. Thomas Rimer's essay puts the literary work of the Old Taoist in context.

About this title

Review:

Rooting around in a Kyoto antique shop, Stephen Addiss came across a fine example of literati painting by a hand he didn't recognize. Little did he know then that he had discovered an artist he now calls the last of Japan's great literati, Fukuda Kodojin. Kodojin, who styled himself "Old Taoist," should have gone the way of other effete scholars with Japan's radical 19th-century modernization. Instead he wandered in the boundless realms of the three treasures--painting, poetry, and calligraphy--until his death in 1944. Addiss discovered the genuine article, a scholar of cultured sensibility who had mastered the ancient Chinese arts and expressed them with a style all his own. Addiss introduces us to that style through dozens of examples of Kodojin's painting and calligraphy, and over 250 poems. To translate the Chinese poetry, he recruited Jonathan Chaves, who shows the scholar's work to be elegant and wistful, echoing themes of Confucianism and Taoism. Kodojin's work transports us back to a time when art was a way of communicating among friends and not cheapened by exchanges of money. Old Taoist reminds us that even in a modern world, the pursuit of beauty and genuineness are not only possible but necessary. --Brian Bruya

Book Description:

In the literary and artistic milieu of early modern Japan the Chinese and Japanese arts flourished side by side. Kodojin, the "Old Taoist" (1865-1944), was the last of these great poet-painters in Japan. Portraying this last representative of a tradition of gentle and refined artistry in the midst of a society that valued economic growth and national achievement, this beautifully illustrated book includes a wide selection of his finest poems, paintings, and calligraphy.

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2001
• ISBN 10: 0231116578
• ISBN 13: 9780231116572
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208