Ann Kameoka and H. E. Davey: Excerpt from The Japanese
Way of the Flower
Artlessness
Kado has been influenced by a number of the Japanese
philosophies and religions that make up the traditional
Japanese cultural matrix. These sources of inspiration
include Zen and other forms of Buddhism, Shinto, and
Dokyo. Dokyo, also known as Taoism, is not always mentioned
as an influence on many Japanese arts, since its origins
are in China with Lao Tsu. However, direct and indirect
influence (via Zen, which originated in China through a
combination of native Taoism and Indian Buddhism) on the
concept of artlessness is clear. In kado and Taoism, less
is more, and noninterference with nature allows the creative
process of the universe to flow through the artist. Lao Tsu
wrote:
In the pursuit of learning, every day something is
acquired.
In the pursuit of Tao, every day something is dropped.
Less and less is done
Until non-action is achieved.
When nothing is done, nothing is left undone.
The world is ruled by letting things take their course.
It cannot be ruled by interfering.
[from Tao Te Ching, trans. Gia-Fu Feng and Jane
English. Vintage Books, 1972.]
To understand what we have termed "artlessness,"
you will need to become familiar with several Japanese
aesthetic concepts, including wabi and sabi.
"Wabi" means "poverty." Dave Lowry,
author of Persimmon Wind, wrote about the term:
Its connotation was as negative as the English translation
implies. Rikyu [founder of the tea ceremony] imbued the
term with a wholly different flavor, though. He used wabi
to mean a poverty of materialism, of superficial
appearances. Wabi he defined as the minimizing of things,
the better to gain a spiritual insight into oneself and
the world around.
[from Persimmon Wind: A Martial Artist's Journey
in Japan. Charles E. Tuttle, 1998]
Wabi hints at a sort of beauty perhaps best exemplified by
nature or natural surroundings. Imagine a rustic lodge,
standing alone in the wilderness. It is constructed of
unpainted wood that has faded and aged to a soft warm
color, the beauty of its grain clearly visible. Surrounding
the cabin are weathered rocks covered with moss and lichens.
The sense of humbleness, quiet solitude, and aged patina
evoked by such an image may approach wabi. However, wabi
is not to be mistaken for that which is merely soberly
sedate, reserved, dull, and without character. When artists
strive for wabi, but achieve only commonplace dullness, this
is called jimi in Japanese art. Wabi transcends
intellectual entanglement, all forms of self-importance
and pretense, and uncovers the simple truths of nature,
which underlie the diversity of relative phenomenon. Since
nature is asymmetrical, uneven, even "imperfect,"
wabi is the impeccability of natural imperfection.
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