Description
First, please find the readings for paper one under Table of Contents. You will find two essays: An Account of My Hut by Kamo no Ch?mei and Essays in Idleness by Yoshida Kenk?. While these are both translated into English we still call these primary documents. Primary documents can be any artifact--including writings, paintings, film, statistics--produced at the time you are studying.
In this first exercise read the two essays carefully and compare them.
? Who were the authors? What are their main concerns as revealed in the essays? They are both recluses who left society in order to focus on Buddhist devotions, but are they the same in their attitudes toward how to live? How do you think the times in which they lived may have shaped their views?
Here is a little bit about each:
Kamo no Ch?mei lived from 1155-1216. At this time there were countless small wars. The winner of one war, named Taira Kiyomori, took control of the government and through his grandson whom he put on the throne, ruled as a despot. So Kamo lived at a time of both man-made and natural disaster. He was born into a family of elite Shint? priests and was an accomplished poet and musician. He expected to take over his father's Shint? duties after his father died, but instead was passed over in favor of another family member, and this seems to be why Kamo no Ch?mei went into seclusion--disappointment with the dirty world of human affairs.
Yoshida Kenk? was born around 1283 and died around 1350. When the emperor he served died, Yoshida did something quite common: he shaved his head and became a Buddhist monk. While he suggests that he intended to become a semi-recluse to devote himself to Buddhism, you make get a different impression from his work Essays in Idleness.
Unformatted Attachment Preview
Explanation & Answer
Attached. Please let me know if you have any questions or need revisions.
An Account of My Hut by Kamo no Chōmei and Essays in Idleness by Yoshida Kenkō
Student Name:
Course Name:
Professor Name:
Date of Submission:
Introduction
Minimalism is identified as a design movement and framework of life engineered by the
concept of simplicity and sparseness. Over the years, historians and researcher have created an
interconnection between minimalism and Buddhism. Among the primary documents that have
revealed the linkage between Buddhism and simplicity are An Account of My Hut and Essays in
Idleness. An account of My Hut is authored by Kamo no Chōmei in 1212. In the document Chomei
describes a series of calamities such famine during the presentation of the text, which he witnessed
that men tend to turn to religion in such terrible situations. Between 1155-1216, Chomei lived in
a period of existence of both natural and man-made disasters. The other document, Essays in
Idleness, was authored by Yoshida Kenkō. Living between 1283 and 1350, Yoshida Kenkō was
a celebrated court official and poet who later became a Buddhist Monk.
Analysis of the Primary Documents
The main concerns of the two authors is renouncement of world attachments to obtain a
release from the suffering of human beings. To both Buddhists, religion offers a framework of
salvation which allows an individual to live a more comfortable live free of world’s desires.
Ideally, both authors are keen to point out the various components such as fleshy lust and earthly
materials that can lead the heart of man astray. According to the authors, the framework of worldly
desires can hinder a man from the access of true salvation. As such, the authors propose the
framework of isolation from early desires which can be achieved through the adoption of the
Buddhism culture. As such, the similar foundation set by the two Buddhists is that one has to
renounce the world in order to seek true salvation. While both authors have similar concerns
regarding achieving salvation, they tend to exhibit different lifestyles.
Unlike Kamo no Chōmei, Yoshida Kenkō belives in the art of beauty and making life as
esthetically pleasing as possible. As such, Yoshida Kenkō seeks to create comfort while at the
same following the teachings of Buddhism. For example, in the construction of housing, Kamo no
Chōmei is against any form of fancy construction that involves the inclusion of other persons.
However, Yoshida Kenkō believes in the constructing a comfortable house. He mentions tha...
Review
Review
