Matsuo Bashō: History of the Haiku

Samurai and Poets

Matsuo Bashō, a renowned master of this form, lived from 1644-1694 in Ueno city of provincial Iga of Japan and began writing poetry at a young age. During the 16th century, the time in which Matsuo Bashō lived, he became master of the haiku, or hokku as it was known through the era, and this was of the shortest traditional Japanese forms of poetry. Although his father was not a major samurai, he was a minor military figure samurai charged with protecting the ruling Tōdō family. As Bashō was a descendant of a family of samurai working in service of the multi-generational ruling Tōdō family, at just nine years old he became a study friend of the child Yoshitada: the young heir of the ruling family. While it was known officially that Bashō was in the employ of Tōdō Yoshitada, there blossomed a mutual friendship between the two boys as they were pupils in tandem. In 1653, Matsuo Bashō became engrossed in obtaining literary knowledge alongside his eleven-year-old companion Yoshitada. Both friends favored the subject of written matter as opposed to the practicing of military arts. Under the tutelage of one of the most capable disciples in their region, both young boys were students of the art of linked verse, otherwise known as renga. Within the school of serious haiku poetry called Teitoku, Yoshitada and Bashō both acquired great appreciation for the style of poetry and even began to create some of their own. Thus, these were the origins of the Haiku Master Bashō’s literary education.

Teitoku School of Poetry

Translator and Introducer Nobuyuki Yuasa gives a detailed history of the origins of Matuso Bashō’s education and of the history of the haiku itself in The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Matsuo Bashō, referenced in the previous and following sections. Japanese scholar Matsunaga Teitoku became a prevalent writer during the early Takogawa or Edo period of 1603-1867 for his endeavor to elevate the form of renga to a higher standard of literature. The son of a professional renga poetry writer, Japanese scholar and Haiku Poet Teitoku is credited with creating and imposing guidelines in what is known as the Teitoku school. Despite Teitoku’s encouragement of the less serious form (known as mushin) to provide laughter and stand as “the voice of the happy people”, the Teitoku school of poetry stood for much of the opposite of this sentiment. To create some kind of structure to the linked style of poetry called renga, the Teitoku school became widely regarded as a primarily deliberate and serious (known as ushin) form by which to write, as Teitoku had penned rules for writing. Directly predating the Master of Haiku’s poetry, which was written during the Edo period, the Teitoku school in which Bashō was taught became a foundation for his own writing. With the underlying formula of the Teitoku school of poetry, Bashō would learn from and create his own great works with the knowledge of the creed on hand. As Bashō and his employer Yoshitada studied under Kigin, one of the disciples of Teitoku, they wrote poems in which the influence of the serious school of Teitoku is apparent. Both boys were interested in, actively studying, and subsequently learned in the Teitoku school that heavily influenced their initial poetic style. Historians have gathered that Yoshitada himself had been a fairly adequate poet; he was given a pen name similar in resemblance to that of his teacher. Later, as a more experienced poet, Bashō made critical remarks stating that the linked verses of renga in combination with the mechanical school of Teitoku could often strip poetry of its natural beauty when applied methodically as Matsunaga Teitoku had. Bashō had indeed learned from the colloquial yet overly-deliberate style of renga that Teitoku had implemented and later immensely improved upon these ideas as he perfected haiku poetry. 

Renga: Linked Poem

Predating the haiku, poetry consisting of 31 syllables in five lines of 5-7-5-7-7, known as waka, was an ancient Japanese form of poetry, somewhat similar in nature to but a bit longer than the later derivation of the haiku. Witty takes on the verse would intentionally split the lines in different groupings to create a stylistic poem. As this was done through the Heian period of years 79-1191, the groupings commonly fell into 5-7-5 followed by the coupling of the ending 7-7 lines, planting the seeds for the haiku as we know it; Today’s haiku is generally defined simply as a three line poem of 17 syllables in a 5-7-5 line form. Following in this stylized break from the traditional form of waka, there came about a method of writing linked pieces of verse known as renga. Renga was styled in the manner that each poem would give way to the next, creating a progressive flow between each of the poems. Renga was typically written by multiple poets sitting together and writing in turn, reading what had previously been written and drawing inspiration from those verses, relating the preceding poem, through methods of witful meaning or word play, to the addition of their own. The starting piece of a series of renga is significant in its setting of the direction that the subsequent poems will take. As such, the privilege of writing the first three syllabic 5-7-5 lines was granted to the most experienced poet amongst those collaborating. This initial poem was called the hokku and paved the way for the stand-alone haiku that Bashō is renowned for perfecting. In the later years of the Heian period and popularly throughout the Kamakura period of 1192-1392, the amount of poems joined in renga grew to encompass more than thirty or even fifty poems within a linked sequence. Waka, and subsequently renga and haiku, has rich historical Japanese traditions and remains singular in its form befitting the expression of observations in nature and emotional sentiments.

Bashō’s Universal World

Following the death of his young friend and employer Yoshitada at the age of 25, Matsuo Bashō enshrines his friend’s mortuary tablet by Yoshitada’s father’s command. He then requests to resign from serving the Tōdō family, yet he is denied this and runs away to Kyōto, a nearby location where he is believed to have stayed at the Kinpukuji Temple. During the five years Bashō spends in Kyōto, it is generally surmised that through various mentors, including the disciple of Teitoku named Kigin, he worked towards gaining an education of the Japanese and Chinese classics and calligraphy. During this time, the relaxation that resulted from his leaving the employ of the ruling Tōdō family can be felt within the shift of his poetry. There becomes a more relaxed form that deviates from the Teitoku school that Bashō is practiced in. After a short return to his home city of Ueno to present his first anthology of poetry called Kai Ōi to the Tenman Shrine, Bashō humbly evaluates the flaws within his own anthology. However, he was not dissuaded from his ultimate goals, as shortly after the stay at his home city, Bashō moved on to Edo (the former name of Tokyo) which was at the center of political Tokugawa government activity and generally new in its formation and development. Within this environment, Bashō became a prominent literary figure, mastering the haiku through his tactical use of techniques that his predecessors had employed such as metaphor, called gūgen, and incorporating both jitsu, substance, and kyo, essence in his poetry to craft a balanced and universal approach to his art. 

In his composition of renga poetry, Bashō has a one of a kind way of connecting his poetry to each other. A gradual accumulation of wisdom is demonstrated throughout Bashō’s literary journey. As the master of haiku veers from the methodical style of the Teitoku school of poetry, there is a greater freedom for poetic workmanship in a style that is unique to Bashō. Upon reaching a point of maturity in his craft, the flamboyant characteristics that were once present in some of his poetry has now been completely erased. “The most important Haiku philosophy is ‘the universality’ (Fueki-Ryukou)”, according to Bashō, who was one of the first great poets to remark on the invariable component that is inherently contained within the art that is poetry. As much of his poetry has to do with universal ideas applicable to all humans throughout time, Bashō resultantly remains one of the longest standing poets due to his timelessly relevant poetry. The collection of poetry gathered in the anthology of The Narrow Road to the Deep North often utilizes fueki, meaning immutable, within each of the poems. For example, one of the most commonly quoted and commented upon works from Bashō is the following translated by Nobuyuki Yuasa:

“Breaking the silence

Of an ancient pond,

A frog jumped into water — 

A deep resonance.”

As described in Yuasa’s introduction to Bashō in The Narrow Road to the Deep North, an account of how the poem came about details how one of Bashō’s disciples offered an alternate beginning to the poem so that the beginning two lines would instead read:

“Amidst the flowers

Of the yellow rose,”

The difference between the suggested opening lines of one of Bashō’s disciples shows the mastery that Bashō had obtained over the universal nature of poetry. While the disciple’s lines are scenic and depict the nature of the area beautifully, it is strictly observational and does not have the same effect on the reader as Bashō’s chosen lines do. There is a profundity in the way the haiku begins with the word “breaking”, as the frog breaks the silence of the area surrounding the water, similarly thrust into the scene is the reader, upon the initial word of action. There is also a timeless element of this poem, as nature will always exist, however it may become altered over time. In an article describing the significance of this poem, author Yoshinobu Hakutani explains how there is a spiritual element to the scene of the poem as well. There is a setting of tranquility, the ancient pond, that is suddenly interrupted by the frog plunging into the water. While at first this seems as though it could cause an inconvenience in the meditative state of the writer as the amphibian not only breaks the water and the silence but also the concentration of the meditator, there can be found deeper meaning to this deceptively simple scenario. Had the frog not jumped into the water, the “resonance” may not have been recognized because there would have been no contrast present to make note of. The sudden sound of the frog in the water brings an appreciation for the resulting silence that now sounds deeper because there is a sound to compare the silence to. Meditation was a common practice for spiritual people during the 17th century in Japan and especially so for Bashō as he became a Zen Buddhist and worked through meditative practices to throw out the external world around him in favor of spiritual growth. Zen is from a Japanese sect of Mahayana Buddhism that involves the practice of meditation to achieve enlightenment. Within Bashō’s poem on the subject of the frog in particular, Bashō combines the spiritual world with the physical and “this fusion of humanity and nature is called spontaneity in Zen.” The finality of the poem with the word “resonance” leaves a lasting impression upon the reader as they consider the meaning of what the author is referring to. Does the resonance allude to the now echoing sound caused by the frog? Or does it perhaps refer to a more profound spiritual resonance: an acceptance of the spontaneity of the world we live in.

Discussion Questions

The following questions are starting points to help you evaluate your writing style and apply the author's lessons to your own work. Feel free to comment below or answer the questions and prompts privately. Pick and choose what works for you.

1. Traditional Japanese renga or “linked” poetry was written by multiple poets in a collaborative environment. As an exercise to bring a new perspective to your own writing, allow a fellow writer (or better yet, multiple writers you trust) to either begin a prompt for you to follow, or invite them to build off of what you have previously written. Examine how differently the direction of the piece moves when there are different writers with various ideas playing a part in its creation.

2. In Bashō’s first anthology of poetry, Kai Ōi, he includes a personal criticism of his work. While important to remain aware of unconstructive and dissuasive comments, there are great benefits to critiquing your own pieces with the intention of analyzing what can be better and growing from the lessons your mistakes teach. It is always a good idea to have a second set of eyes on your work, but first allow yourself the time to revise your own words as a result of your own proofreading. Others may assist to teach us, but we learn on our own and in our own ways. What is the greatest lesson you have taught yourself?

3. Universal aspects are vital in any work that is able to last throughout time. If a piece does not have some relevance to readers as politics, structures, and general consensus’ shift, it will most likely not stand the test of time. How can you incorporate the universal theme of the natural world and the quest for spiritual growth as Matsuo Bashō did into your own writing?