the tears of passing geese (雁の涙や野辺を染むらむ)

I used to love listening in the evenings to the sound of geese flying overhead. That was in Madison. According to the ancient calendar, it was the Eleventh Month--in the time of Frost Falling (霜降).

Imagining Autumn Leaves, I always like thinking how the frozen dewdrops of November were in ancient times posited as one of the possible causes for why the leaves changed color so dramatically during this time of year. I mean, there had to be a reason, right?

白露の
色はひとつを
いかにして
秋の木の葉を
ちぢに染むらむ

How is it
that dewdrops of pure white
stain the leaves of
these Autumn trees
so many, many colors? ---Toshiyuki no Ason
Kokinshu 257

  

Known in Japanese as "Koyo,"or "red leaves" (紅葉), in very pre-Heian times the word koyo was written using the character for yellow-- as in "yellow leaves" (黄葉) This was a convention taken from ancient classical Chinese texts. By the mid-Heian Period, however, yellow was replaced with the character for “red” attesting to the preference the Japanese of the time felt and still feel for the particular beauty of the red color maple trees-- which in Japan, rival the beauty of the famous maple trees of New England. Indeed, some two-thirds of the worlds maple tree species are to be found in Japan and China. Nowadays in common speech, just like the word for "flower" (hana) is used interchangeably to talk about the cherry blossoms, so too is the word for maple tree (momiji) used interchangeably to talk about the autumn foliage- such is the maple tree's preeminence among trees in Japan.

++

In what is yet another ancient battle-- this battle of the seasons--the cherry blossoms and autumn leaves were often paired off. There are many well-known seasonal pairs- the spring rains versus autumn rains; the May wind versus early autumn wind, as well as the elegant battle of the seasons (between spring and autumn); therefore this pairing of the autumn leaves with the spring cherry blossoms should come as no real surprise. 

This “battle” was played out most famously in The Tale of Genji, between the Lady Murasaki who favored Spring and Lady Akikonomu, whose very name means “being fond of autumn.” Toward the middle of the Tale, when all four of Genji’s ladies were being installed in to their respective quarters- Murasaki in the Southeast (spring); Akinonumu in the Southwest (autumn); Lady of Akashi in the Northwest (Winter); and Hana Chiru Sato in the Northeast (summer)- on a cool autumn evening, when Akinomu’s garden was in its fullest Autumn splendor, she sent apoem, placed in a beautiful box decorated with maple leaves and autumn grasses from her garden to her rival Lady Murasaki:

“Though longing impatiently for spring,
Will not your garden at least admit
These autumn leaves which come floating in
On the wind from my garden”

Needless to say, Murasaki is not amused and sends back a poem remarking that, though Akikonomu’s leaves are beautiful, so soon are they too likely to scatter....

Probably most people are like me-: wishywashy. Every year, I decide that autumn is my favorite season of all-- only to change my mind yet again when spring rolls around and I catch sight of my first peony.

In tea ceremony, there is a famous Edo period teabowl that every practioner knows. A favorite design motif, which is used especially on ceramics but also on lacquerware and in textiles, it is a pattern of interconnected cherry blossoms and maple leaves. It is said that the pattern was first introduced by Kenzan (1663-1743), but it was truly made famous by an Edo Period bowl by Nin’ami Dohachi (1783-1855) another Edo Period potter, who created many works in the style of Kenzan. This particular bowl had one side decorated lavishly with an explosion of brilliant pale cherry blossoms and the other side of the bowl just as lavishly adorned with bright red maple leaves. The design has come to be known as “clouds and brocade” (unnkin-de 雲錦手）because it is thought that cherry blossoms, when gazed at from a distance look like clouds covering the mountains, and likewise the autumn foliage of reds, oranges, yellows and greens resembles beautiful brocade:

霜のたて
露のぬきこそ
弱からし
山の錦の
織ればかつ散る
Frail indeed are these
cross threads of frost
and drawn threads of dewdrops-
For no sooner are they woven then
do these mountain brocades scatter
-Sekio, Kokinshu 291

Clouds like flowers and leaves like brocade, brocade was a metaphor borrowed from Tang Period poetry. This is one of my favorites, by  Li He (790-816):

frost walking in the wind
autumn leaves, gorgeous as brocades
in heaps along the roads

 

Autumn is so beautiful in Japan. What could have caused such moving beauty? The autumn leaves are known as momiji and the etymology of the word momiji, can be traced back to the belief that the autumn colors were somehow “rubbed out” (momidasu 揉み出す) of the leaves at that time of year. Perhaps it was the the gem-like dewdrops or the icy frost that affected this transformation. Or maybe it was the long autumn rains that gradually seeped into the trees at night, staining the leaves all those vivid colors.

Another explanation-- my personal preference-- was that it wasn’t the dew at all which was to blame, but rather the tears of passing geese:

秋の夜の
露をば露と
置きながら
雁の涙や
野辺を染むらむ
Might it not be that
the dewdrops forming on Autumn nights
are only just that- dewdrops
And that it’s the tears of passing geese
which stain the fields red
- Mibu no Tademine
Kokinshu 258

Shimmering snow by moonlight, flowers falling like rain, windless summer heat, and the tears of passing geese. 4 seasons: 

Comments

[Steven Forth]

Back in Vancouver, in awake early but tired from the work week and travel ...

After travel

the rain lifted
morning caw sounds
eyes heavy

November 2009
Kitsilano

Leaves to rake.

[Don Croner]

Elated by the spring breeze
My horse quickens its pace
In but one short day
Do I view of the peonies of Ch’ang-an.

[Peony]

Welcome home Steve!! How was your birthday in Paris-- 羨ましくて!
Can't wait to hear all about it in both poetry and status updates :)

And Don... welcome home to you too! No leaves to rake in Ulan Bataar I am guessing...here the northern wind was blowing so hard against the house that everything was shaking and rattling all day...Cold winds from Mongolia...

Speaking of the wind, this film above was an Australian documentary by Tim Slade I think. I saw it once on NHK TV here and loved it but cannot locate the DVD anywhere. It was such a great idea, I thought. Four Cities, Four violinists, Four Seasons...I guess it wasn't big enough for export...

Cheers.

[Don Croner]

The leaves, what few there are—we have mostly larch needles—have long since blown away. It was -24 °F / -31 °C here in Ulaan Baatar this morning. Twelve dead from Swine Flu so I am staying home, working my way through Tun-Huang . . . Must recommend most highly The Saddlebag by Bahiyyih Nakhjavani, which I have just finished. I think you will appreciate this book.

[Sam]

"the tears of passing geese:" beautiful image...

A Tu Fu poem:

The Lone Goose

Never eating or drinking, the lone goose
Flies - thinking of its flock, calling out.
Who pities a flake of shadow lost beyond
Ten-thousand clouds? It stares far-off,

As if glimpses of them remained. Sorrows
Mount - it almost hears them again....
Wild crows, not a thread of thought anywhere,
Squawk and shriek, fighting each other off.

[Peony]

Sam,

Du Fu has always been my favorite Tang poet-- and yet I never noticed this one... You know, it almost broke my heart so well did it capture season and everything else...

You know, the ancient Chinese calendar was adopted "as-is" in all of the surrounding countries of East Asia-- so that "the time of frost falls" was the "time of frost falls" even in tropical Vietnam! Maybe even in beyond frosty Mongolia too?

The calendar (like the bronzes) stood in as proof of the mandate of Heaven and you know it was hugely important. I believe, the 24 節句 (solar points) were set as far back as the northern-southern dynasty period... These 節句 are further divided into 72 候　(so every 節句 has 3 sub-divisions) making for a very precise calendar broken into 5 day periods....

It took them absolutely forever, but the Japanese eventually did alter the 候. Guess what they did?

Took out the Birds.

Like I said, it took them forever... a monk from Paekche brought the Chinese calendar to Japan in the early 5th century. And, it took them till the mid-17th century to boldly make their move! The most striking feature one finds in the Chinese calendar is the dominant place the sighting of birds plays. Of the 72 候, 23 are bird-related, making it the largest grouping of seasonal names in the calendar-- pointing to the particularly special place birds had in the hearts of the ancient Chinese. I've always wondered why they were so taken with birds...

Not surprising, the Japanese swapped many of these bird names for flowers and plants-- of course :)

Have you seen Winged Migration? Your daughter would love it...

The Heart's Counting Knows Only One
In Sung China,
two monks, friends for sixty years
watched the geese pass
Where are they going?
one tested the other, who couldn't say.

The moment's silence continues.

No one will study their friendship
in the koan books of insight.
No one will remember their names.

Almost swallowed by the vastness of the mountains
but not yet.

As the barely audible
geese are not yet swallowed;
as even we, my love, will not entirely be lost.
--Jane Hirshfield

[Peony]

孤雁

孤雁不飲啄
飛鳴聲念群
誰怜一片影
相失万重云
望盡似猶見
哀多如更聞
野鴨無意緒
鳴噪亦紛紛

The Lone Goose

Neither eating nor drinking, the lone goose
Flies - remembering its flock, it calls out
The others--Separated by a myriad of clouds--
No longer remember this lone shadow

It stares far-off, as if glimpses of them still remain
Sorrows mount - and it almost hears them again....
As wild ducks, unconsciously calling out
Squawk and shriek in confusion...

[Peony]

Hi Don,

That book looks right up my ally and am ordering the book immediately! Thank you! I noticed that her 2nd book looks even more fascinating-- though it is already out of print... I wonder what happened? It has one of my favorite paintings on the cover too...There was only one affordable used copy from a US site so I ordered it and had it sent to LA. I'll make a full report after I read it :)

I also look forward to hearing your report about Inoue's book. I am really enjoying your Turkish silk road posts... I am going to email you later about them... so stay tuned.

Oh, I guess the author is Baha'i. Did you ever visit the Bahai Lotus temple in Delhi? I wrote a bit about it at the bottom of this post here. I was really impressed with the architecture as well as the people I met there...

Anyway, more later-- and stay warm and well!

[Casey Kochmer]

by my poetry I am a autumn person, eternally living in an indian summer of being a child in a strange grown up world... I will not drop my leaves despite the color to my soul proclaiming fullness of heart.

peace to you peony, you are a spring bulb still to bloom do not yearn too fast for fall colors when spring dress is soon to come

[Peony]

Casey, you are an angel... I am sure of it.

[Casey Kochmer]

ironically for not being a Christian, I know quite a bit about angels

Because we don't have wings
yet we can help each other fly.

[Jan Walls]

Here's one about a "lone loveduck" (mandarin duck, paired for life), by a woman left behind:

"送別" 魚玄機
水柔逐器知難定。
雲出無心宜再歸。
惆悵春風楚江暮。
鴛鴦一隻失群飛。

"Farewell Poem" by Yú Xuánjī
Water takes the vessel's shape,
having none of its own,
Clouds emerge with no intent
and may return with ease.
Desolation in the spring breeze
on the river at dusk --
one lonely loveduck
whose flock has flown away.

[Sterling Price]

When I lived in Denver there was a park near my apartment and some Canada Geese lived there year round. I would visit them several times a week. One Autumn evening, very cold, I was fortunate enough to see some of them take flight. After circling a while, they formed into a V formation and, honking loudly, flew in front of the low-hanging and large moon. That backlit image, so clear, is with me still.

[Jan Walls]

Your comment above on hearing the migratory birds reminded me of a favorite Dōgen poem:

Coming and going
waterfowls leave no trace
and the need no guide

Also, your reference to the symbolism of the cardinal directions in placement of Genji's ladies' quarters, if they were abiding by the traditional Chinese schema: Southeast would be spring (East) on its way to summer (South); southwest would be summer (South) on its way to autumn (West); northwest would be autumn (West) on its way to winter (North); and northeast would be winter (North) on its way to spring (East). Would that add anything to the semiotics of the placement?

Jan