Manyoshu: Do the Mountains and Sea Die?

Recently, I finally finished my book on the Manyoshu. I can’t read Japanese fast, so it took me a year to finish, but it was satisfying to finish an adult-level book in another language, even if I relied heavily on dictionaries. I learned a lot! I hope you enjoyed some of the related posts here too.

Anyhow, the end of the book explored some miscellaneous poems, and this one really stood out to me for its Buddhist theme, and the unusual format. This is poem 3852:

Original Manyogana	Modern Japanese	Romanization	Rough Translation
鯨魚取	鯨魚取り	Isanatori	While fishing, I wonder
海哉死為流	海や死にする	Umi ya shinisuru	if the seas will die,
山哉死為流	山や死にする	Yama ya shinisuru	and the mountains die
死許曽	死ぬれこそ	Shinure koso	They will surely die
海者潮干而	海は潮干て	Umi wa shiohite	for the tides recede,
山者枯為礼	山は枯れすれ	Yama wa karesure	and the mountains wither.

This poem is a rare example of a Japanese sedōka-style ( 旋頭歌 ) poem, which has 5-7-7-5-7-7 syllables. Compare this to the later waka style poem of the Hyakunin Isshu (and the vast majority of the poems in this blog) which are 5-7-5-7-7, and haiku which are 5-7-5. Sedoka poems are an early stage of Japanese poetry that wasn’t used much beyond that as Waka (then later Haiku) became more popular.

Still, this poem is quite interesting. In fact, it was used in a famous Japanese pop song a few generations ago.

Nonetheless, the Buddhist themes of impermanence are hard to miss here, even with my amateur translating skills. The poet asks if even the seas and mountains will wither and die, and indeed, since the tides come in and out, and the mountains dry up (during the summer?), this can only mean “yes”, they won’t last forever.

Similarly, there is another Buddhist poem in the Manyoshu worth looking at:

Original Manyogana	Modern Japanese	Romanization	Rough Translation
生死之	生き死にの	Ikishini no	The two oceans
二海乎	二つの海を	Futatsu no umi wo	of life and death
厭見	厭はしみ	Itowashimi	are odious,
潮干乃山乎	潮干の山を	Shioi no yama wo	I imagine them as a
之努比鶴鴨	偲ひつるかも	Shinoitsuru kamo	mountain where the tide has receded.

The two oceans maybe an allusion that mirrors Shandao’s Parable of the Two Rivers (in my other blog), or the general Japanese-Buddhist concept of Ohigan. We also see the theme of mountains drying up, and seas receding again.

But if you thought this was vague, poem 3850 is even more straightforward in its meaning:

Original Manyogana	Modern Japanese	Romanization	Rough Translation
世間之	世間の	Yo no naka no	This troublesome,
繁借廬尓	繁き刈廬に	Shigeki kari o ni	temporary world we
住々而	住み住みて	Sumi sumi te	reside in,
将至國之	至らむ国の	Itaramu kuni no	how I long for someplace else
多附不知聞	たづき知らずも	Tazuki shirazumo	yet I know not the way.

This poem alludes to another place, which again can mean the world of peace or enlightenment, or allude to the notion of a Buddha’s Pure Land. It doesn’t specify which Buddha (Amida, Shakyamuni, etc), but I am inclined toward this latter interpretation. I suppose it doesn’t really matter. The sentiment is the same: this world is impermanent and troublesome, and the author longs for something better, but is unsure of the path to follow.

I think we can all empathize with this at some point in our lives…