Hōjōki

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Hōjōki (方丈記^?), variously translated as "An Account of My Hut" or "The Ten Foot Square Hut", is an important short work of the Kamakura period (1185–1333) in Japan by Kamo no Chōmei. Written in 1212, it describes disasters that befall the people of Kyoto from earthquakes to famine and fire. Chōmei becomes a Buddhist monk and moves farther and farther into the mountains, eventually living in a 10-foot square hut. It belongs to the zuihitsu genre.

The opening sentence of the Hōjōki is famous in Japanese literature as an expression of mujō, the transience of this world:

Ceaselessly the river flows, and yet the water is never the same, while in the still pools the shifting foam gathers and is gone, never staying for a moment... (Sadler)

The text was heavily influenced by Yoshishige no Yasutane's Chiteiki (982).^[1] In addition, Chōmei based his small hut on the accounts of the monk Vimalakīrti from the Vimalakīrti Sūtra.^[2]

Contents 1 Manuscripts 2 See also 3 Notes 4 References 5 External links

[edit] Manuscripts

While Chōmei's original manuscript is no longer extant, numerous copies have been copied and circulated. These are divided into two major categories: kōhon (complete) and ryakubon (incomplete). The kōhon category is further subcategorized into kohon (old) and rufubon (popular), while the ryakubon is subcategorized into Chōkyō, Entoku, and Mana. The Chōkyō and Entoku editions are named after the era date in the afterward and both include extra passages. The Mana editions are written entirely in kanji replacing the kana in the kohon editions.^[3]

[edit] See also

• Chiteiki

[edit] Notes

[edit] References

• Kamo, Chōmei; Yanase, Kazuo (ed.) (1967) [1212]. Hōjōki. Kadokawa Bunko. ISBN 4-0440-3101-0. 
• Kamo Chōmei; Trans. Yasuhiko Moriguchi and David Jenkins (1996). Hojoki: Visions of a Torn World. Stone Bridge Press. ISBN 1-880656-22-1. 
• Kubota, Jun (2007) (in Japanese). Iwanami Nihon Koten Bungaku Jiten. Iwanami Shoten. ISBN 978-4-00-080310-6. 
• Trans. A. L. Sadler (1971). The Ten Foot Square Hut and Tales of the Heike. Tuttle Publishing. ISBN 0-8048-0879-1. 
• Trans. A. L. Sadler (1928). The ten foot square hut and Tales of the Heike. Angus & Robertson, Sydney. OCLC 326069. 

[edit] External links

• Hōjōki, original text at Aozora Bunko (Japanese)
• English translation of Hōjōki by Robert N. Lawson, on Washburn University website