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#51 2009-05-19 02:34:58

Jeff Cairns
teacher, performer,promoter of shakuhachi
From: Kumamoto, Japan
Registered: 2005-10-10
Posts: 517
Website

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

rpowers wrote:

. . . has anyone directly experienced for themselves pragmatic reasons for its use ?

Kel

I started playing shakuhachi because I needed a reason to qualify for a cultural visa many years ago in Japan, and having played the transverse flute before that,  took the leap at shakuhachi at the suggestion of a student, though I didn't have a clue about it at the time.  How's that for pragmatic?


shakuhachi flute
I step out into the wind
with holes in my bones

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#52 2009-05-19 02:36:18

Jeff Cairns
teacher, performer,promoter of shakuhachi
From: Kumamoto, Japan
Registered: 2005-10-10
Posts: 517
Website

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

On second thought, it may have been more in line with lunacy, though it served its purpose and then some.


shakuhachi flute
I step out into the wind
with holes in my bones

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#53 2009-05-19 02:48:33

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

Jeff Cairns wrote:

I started playing shakuhachi because I needed a reason to qualify for a cultural visa many years ago in Japan, ?

Hey that's not fair! sad to get my cultural visa here in Australia I had to prove that I ALREADY did something!

cool


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

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#54 2009-06-16 01:10:03

Justin
Shihan/Maker
From: Japan
Registered: 2006-08-12
Posts: 540
Website

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

I knew about the trend of tengai gradually covering more of the face over time, but hadn't given it much further thought until this thread made me think about it more carefully. That's the kind of thing I love about this forum. So I went back over pictures I have seen to see when the changes seem to have occurred. The earliest pictures I could find of the hats were from the first half of the 17th century. They seem to be pretty much like the hats of some monks today, not the ones with totally rounded profiles but those with the more triangular profile. Like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8CSY14WSKc&NR=1

Some seem to be covering slightly more of the face, some slightly less, than today's monks, but all pretty normal looking. These differences could be due to variety in reality or just due to the artists. The differences I can notice do not seem to show any trend with time, being more or less consistently monk-like until the 1750s, when the more rounded basket-like shape appears. From the pictures I have seen at least, this seems to indicate a relatively sudden change. These still seem to be wider than they are tall, so you can still see out of them, i.e. see where you are walking. To look at people seems like you'd have to bend your head back or lift the hat up a little (they do these actions in the pictures sometimes). Then in the 1820s there is the longer version, taller than it is wide, which is the norm today. And it is only in these that the artist has identifiably drawn little holes to see out of, which would be necessary by that stage of development. I haven't looked at so many of the more modern pictures so the trend of totally covering may have appeared earlier than the 1820s. Anyway, those are the trends I have noticed so far.

Justin
http://senryushakuhachi.com/

Last edited by Justin (2009-06-16 01:12:13)

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#55 2009-08-02 10:57:17

lait
Member
Registered: 2009-05-25
Posts: 3

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

Please help me. I know that there are 2 types of hakamа: trousers and skirt. What types of hakamа suitable for shakuhachi players for the concert ?

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#56 2009-08-02 11:29:57

Justin
Shihan/Maker
From: Japan
Registered: 2006-08-12
Posts: 540
Website

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

Trouser-type if possible. Skirt type is cheaper but in seiza you can't notice anyway, but even standing you may be fine. If you have to choice, trouser type of real silk is best.

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#57 2009-08-08 20:47:12

lait
Member
Registered: 2009-05-25
Posts: 3

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

Thank you for this advice

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#58 2010-08-06 08:55:01

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

Yeah right.

Back to topic, I think we should ask Shigeru Ban to design a modern flat pack tengai for us from cardboard. Or Issey Miyake. Anybody know those dudes?


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

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#59 2010-08-06 09:46:48

edosan
Edomologist
From: Salt Lake City
Registered: 2005-10-09
Posts: 2185

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

[Pssssst....hey Brian: that there's spam, right there.]


Zen is not easy.
It takes effort to attain nothingness.
And then what do you have?
Bupkes.

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#60 2010-08-06 10:20:13

Tairaku 太楽
Administrator/Performer
From: Tasmania
Registered: 2005-10-07
Posts: 3226
Website

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

edosan wrote:

[Pssssst....hey Brian: that there's spam, right there.]

I know but I was relishing the illusion that we gained a bit of estrogen in this shakuhachi pit.


'Progress means simplifying, not complicating' : Bruno Munari

http://www.myspace.com/tairakubrianritchie

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#61 2010-08-07 21:42:49

Jeff Cairns
teacher, performer,promoter of shakuhachi
From: Kumamoto, Japan
Registered: 2005-10-10
Posts: 517
Website

Re: Thoughts on Tengai

lait wrote:

Please help me. I know that there are 2 types of hakamа: trousers and skirt. What types of hakamа suitable for shakuhachi players for the concert ?

The trouser type of hakama is most common, but the skirt type is used by some.  The skirt type does have its conveniences especially in the drainage department.  Hiking a tightly tied hakama around when nature calls is quite a feat and there's vulnerable excess material just sort of hanging in the way just waiting to be christened.  That all being said, I suppose that it's something of a more modern development and as such, hasn't really taken hold.
I can also say that, though silk lends itself to a kind of status ranking and it is beautiful, it isn't absolutely necessary and usually is cost prohibitive especially if you rarely use the hakama.  There are synthetics that look good, are perfectly suitable and won't cost an arm and a leg.


shakuhachi flute
I step out into the wind
with holes in my bones

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