The Winding Stream Party at Orchid Pavilion in Shaoxing, hosted by Wang Xizhi in 353
A Song dynasty winding stream party historic site located in Guilin, China

A winding stream party (Chinese: 流觴曲水/曲水流觴; pinyin: liúshāngqūshuǐ) is an old Chinese custom in which the participants wait by a winding stream and compose poems before their cups full of rice wine float down to reach them. It was popularized by Wang Xizhi, and dates back as far as 353; poems composed at this event were recorded in Wang's famous work, the Lantingji Xu.[1]

Poseokjeong ruins in Gyeongju, Korea

This Chinese custom was adopted by the Koreans, such as the party in 927, hosted by King Gyeongae of Silla, in Poseokjeong, Gyeongju.

A Winding Stream Party (Kyokusui no en), print by Japanese artist Shunman

It was also adopted by the Japanese and was called Kyokusui-no-en (曲水の宴, Winding stream party), a party game played by the nobility. Participants must compose a tanka poem beside a stream, within a time limit set by the passage of a lacquer cup of sake floating towards them on the water.[2] When the cup reached the poet, they were expected to drink its contents, either as a celebration of the poem's completion or as a forfeit if they had not composed a suitable verse in time.[3][4] The first kyokusui-no-en events were reportedly held in the Kofun period during the reign of Emperor Kenzō, making the ceremony around 1,500 years old.[5] Other sources, however, suggest that the game originated in the Heian period, around 500 years later; it appears in scrolls from that period and is mentioned in The Pillow Book of Sei Shōnagon.[6][7]

The ceremony is still performed at the Tenman-gū Shrine in Dazaifu and also in Kyoto.[2] The modern Japanese version of the ceremony was created in 1963; participants dress in Heian era costumes of the nobility and musical accompaniment is provided on the koto.[6][7]

References

  1. ↑ Helaine Selin (12 March 2008). Encyclopaedia of the History of Science, Technology, and Medicine in Non-Western Cultures. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 959. ISBN 978-1-4020-4559-2.
  2. 1 2 Brian Bocking (30 September 2005). A Popular Dictionary of Shinto. Routledge. p. 86. ISBN 978-1-135-79739-3.
  3. ↑ Karen Brazell (1998). Traditional Japanese Theater: An Anthology of Plays. Columbia University Press. p. 217. ISBN 978-0-231-10873-7.
  4. ↑ Frank & Kikuchi Brinkley (1912). A History of the Japanese People From the Earliest Times to the End of the Meiji Era. Library of Alexandria. p. 375. ISBN 978-1-4655-1304-5.
  5. ↑ Jien; Delmer Myers Brown; Ichirō Ishida (1979). The Future and the Past: A Translation and Study of the Gukanshō, an Interpretative History of Japan Written in 1219. University of California Press. p. 259. ISBN 978-0-520-03460-0.
  6. 1 2 "Kyokusui no En Festival". Cross Road Fukuoka. Fukuoka Prefecture Tourist Association. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
  7. 1 2 Luchinskaya, Daria. "Report: Kyokusui no En (曲水の庭) – a Heian Poetry Festival" (PDF). St Anne’s Conferences. Retrieved 10 May 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.