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{{about|the poetic genre|the rock band|La Renga}}
{{about|the poetic genre|the rock band|La Renga}}
{{nihongo|'''''Renga'''''|連歌||extra=collaborative poetry}} is a genre<ref>Carter, Steven D. ''Three Poets at Yuyama'', University of California, 1983, ISBN 0-912966-61-0 p.3</ref> of [[Japanese poetry|Japanese]] [[collaborative poetry]]. A ''renga'' consists of at least two {{nihongo|''ku''|句}} or stanzas. The opening stanza of the ''renga'', called the {{nihongo|''[[hokku]]''|発句}}, became the basis for the modern [[haiku]] form of poetry.
{{nihongo|''' a genre<ref>Carter, Steven D. ''Three Poets at Yuyama'', University of California, 1983, ISBN 0-912966-61-0 p.3</ref> of [[Japanese poetry|Japanese]] [[collaborative poetry]]. A ''renga'' consists of at least two {{nihongo|''ku''|句}} or stanzas. The opening stanza of the ''renga'', called the {{nihongo|''[[hokku]]''|発句}}, became the basis for the modern [[haiku]] form of poetry.


Two of the most famous masters of ''renga'' were the Buddhist priest [[Iio Sōgi|Sōgi]] (1421–1502) and [[Matsuo Bashō]] (1644–1694).
Two of the most famous masters of ''renga'' were the Buddhist priest [[Iio Sōgi|Sōgi]] (1421–1502) and [[Matsuo Bashō]] (1644–1694).
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The rules of ''touki'' and {{nihongo|''taigendome''|体言止||ending sentences with an indeclinable}} must be followed. -->
The rules of ''touki'' and {{nihongo|''taigendome''|体言止||ending sentences with an indeclinable}} must be followed. -->


* {{nihongo|''daisan''|第三}}: The third stanza of a ''renga'' with a 5-7-5 mora count. It must end with the ''-te'' form of a verb to allow the next poet greater freedom in creating the stanza.
* {{nihongo|''daisan''|第三}}: The third stanza of a ''renga'' with a 5-7-5 mora count. It must end with the ''-aki'', ''daisan'', and ''ageku''.


''ku'' each poet read.
* {{nihongo|''hiraku''|平句}}: Refers to all verses other than the ''hokku'', ''waki'', ''daisan'', and ''ageku''.

* {{nihongo|''ageku''|挙句}}: The last stanza of a ''renga''. Care should be taken to wrap up the ''renga''.

* {{nihongo|''kuage''|句上げ}}: A note made after the ''ageku'' to indicate how many ''ku'' each poet read.


* {{nihongo|''kōgyō''|興行}}: To hold a ''renga'' gathering. May also be called {{nihongo|''chōgyō''|張行}}.
* {{nihongo|''kōgyō''|興行}}: To hold a ''renga'' gathering. May also be called {{nihongo|''chōgyō''|張行}}.


* {{nihongo|''wakiokori''|脇起り}}: To start with the ''hokku'' of a famous poet such as Bashō and make a new ''waki'' verse to follow on from there.


* {{nihongo|''tsukeai''|付合}}: May also be called {{nihongo|''tsukekata''|付け方}} or {{nihongo|''tsukeaji''|付け味}}. Refers to the mixing and matching of unlikely word combinations to spur imagination or evoke an image. One of the interesting features of ''renga''.
* {{nihongo|''tsukeai''|付合}}: May also be called {{nihongo|''tsukekata''|付け方}} or {{nihongo|''tsukeaji''|付け味}}. Refers to the mixing and matching of unlikely word combinations to spur imagination or evoke an image. One of the interesting features of ''renga''.


* {{nihongo|''maeku''|前句}}: The verse in which ''tsukeai'' happens.
* {{nihongo|''maeku''|前句}}: The verse in which ''tsukeai'' happens.* {{nihongo|''uchikoshi''|打越}}: The verse before the ''maeku''.

* {{nihongo|''uchikoshi''|打越}}: The verse before the ''maeku''.


* {{nihongo|''shikimoku''|式目}}: A set of rules to lay out the stylistic requirements for change throughout the poem and to prevent a ''renga'' from falling apart.
* {{nihongo|''shikimoku''|式目}}: A set of rules to lay out the stylistic requirements for change throughout the poem and to prevent a ''renga'' from falling apart.


* {{nihongo|''[[renku]]''|連句}}: Modern ''renga'' in Bashō's style.
* {{nihongo|''[[renku]]''|連句}}: Modern ''renga'' in Bashō's style.

* {{nihongo|''kukazu''|句数}}: Literally, "the number of verses". When the theme of a section is a popular topic such as "Love", "Spring", or "Fall", the ''renga'' must continue on that theme for at least two verses but not more than five verses. This theme may then be dropped with one verse on any other topic.

* {{nihongo|''sarikirai''|去嫌}}: A rule to prevent loops repeating the same image or a similar verse.

* {{nihongo|''rinne''|輪廻}}: The name for a loop where the same theme, image, or word is repeated. Term taken from [[Buddhism]].

* {{nihongo|''kannonbiraki''|観音開き}}: A type of loop where the ''uchikoshi'' and ''tsukeku'' have an identical image or theme.

* {{nihongo|''haramiku''|孕み句}}: A stanza prepared beforehand. Should be avoided as stanzas should be created on the spot.

* {{nihongo|''asaru''|求食る}}<!-- Are these really the right kanji? -->: To make two stanzas in a row. Happens frequently when the ''dashigachi'' rule is used. Should be avoided to let others join.

* {{nihongo|''dashigachi''|出勝ち}}: A rule to use the stanza of the first poet to create one.<!-- But above it says "better"? Quicker is not necessarily better...? -->

* {{nihongo|''hizaokuri''|膝送り}}: A rule whereby each poet takes a turn to make a stanza.

* {{nihongo|''renju''|連衆}}: The members of a ''renga'' or ''haikai'' gathering. The members of a ''renga'' gathering are also called {{nihongo|''kaishū''|会衆}}.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://dic.yahoo.co.jp/dsearch?dtype=0&dname=0ss&index=120821600000|title=''Daijirin'' entry for ''renju''|accessdate=16 January 2013}}</ref>

* {{nihongo|''ichiza''|一座}}: Literally, "one seating". Describes the group when the ''renju'' are seated and the ''renga'' has begun.

* {{nihongo|''sōshō''|宗匠}}: May also be called {{nihongo|''sabaki''|捌き}}. The coordinator of an ''ichiza'', he or she is responsible for the completion of a ''renga''. Has the authority to dismiss an improper verse. The most experienced of the ''renju'' should be the ''sōshō'' to keep the ''renga'' interesting.

* {{nihongo|''kyaku''|客}}: The main guest of the ''ichiza'' and responsible for creating the ''hokku''.

* {{nihongo|''teishu''|亭主}}: The patron of a ''renga'' gathering, who provides the place.

* {{nihongo|''shuhitsu''|執筆}}: The "secretary" of the ''renga'', as it were, who is responsible for writing down ''renga'' verses and for the proceedings of the ''renga''.

* {{nihongo|''bunnin''|文音}}: Using letters (i.e. the post), telegraph, telephone, or even fax machines for making a ''renga''. Using the internet is also considered a form of ''bunnin''.

==Resources==

*Earl Miner, ''Japanese Linked Poetry'', Princeton University Press 1979 ISBN 0-691-06372-9 cloth ISBN 0-691-01368-3 pbk (376 pp.&nbsp;6 ''renga'') A discussion of the features, history and aesthetics of ''renga'', plus two ''renga'' sequences with [[Iio Sōgi|Sōgi]] and others, three haikai sequences with [[Matsuo Bashō]] and others, and one haikai sequence with [[Yosa Buson]] and a friend.

==See also==
*[[Hokku]], the opening verse of ''renga'' and ''[[renku]]'', as well as a standalone 17-mora poem, which developed into the independent [[haiku]]
*[[Renku]], the popular derivative of ''renga'', which reached its artistic peak in the 17th century
*[[Renshi]], modern development of ''renga'' and ''renku''
*''[[Renri Hishō]]'', an influential text on ''renga'' poetics
*[[Collaborative poetry]]

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Japanese poetry]]
[[Category:Collaborative poetry]]
[[Category:Stanzaic form]]
[[Category:Japanese literary terms]]

Revision as of 18:18, 6 December 2013

This article is about the poetic genre. For the rock band, see La Renga.

{{nihongo| a genre[1] of Japanese collaborative poetry. A renga consists of at least two ku (句) or stanzas. The opening stanza of the renga, called the hokku (発句), became the basis for the modern haiku form of poetry.

Two of the most famous masters of renga were the Buddhist priest Sōgi (1421–1502) and Matsuo Bashō (1644–1694).

History

Renga was one of the most important literary arts in pre-modern Japan.[citation needed] The earliest surviving renga is in the Man'yōshū, where Ōtomo no Yakamochi and a Buddhist nun (尼, ama) made and exchanged poems with sound unit counts ("on") of 5-7-5 and 7-7.[2] This two-verse style is called tan-renga (短連歌, "short renga"). Other styles are called chō-renga (長連歌, "long renga"). A comparable, though less evolved, tradition of 'linked verse' (lián jù 連句 - the same characters as 'renku') - evolved in Chin-dynasty China,[3] and this Chinese form may have influenced Japanese renga during its formative period.[4] However there are major differences between the two, the Chinese having a unity of subject and a general lightheartedness of tone, neither of which characteristic is present in Japanese renga; furthermore, the history of Japanese poetry shows renga as an apparently natural evolution.[5]

Around the time the Shin Kokin Wakashū was compiled, the renga form of poetry was finally established as a distinct style.[citation needed] This original renga style, hyakuin renga (百韻連歌, "100-stanza renga") consisted of one-hundred links, used only the standard poetic diction (歌言葉, utakotoba) that had been established in the Kokinshū, used sound unit counts of 5-7-5 and 7-7, and finished with two lines of 7 sound units each. At this time, poets considered the use of utakotoba as the essence of creating a perfect waka, and use of any other words was considered to be unbecoming of true poetry.

Many rules or shikimoku (式目) were formalized in the Kamakura and Muromachi periods specifying a minimum number of intervening stanzas before a topic or class of topics could recur.[6] Renga was a popular form of poetry even in the confusion of Azuchi-Momoyama period. Yet by the end of this era, the shikimoku had become so complicated and systematic that they stifled the active imagination that had been a part of the renga's appeal. During the medieval and Edo periods, renga was a part of the cultural knowledge required for high society.

In the Edo period, as more and more ordinary citizens became familiar with renga, shikimoku were greatly simplified. The 36-verse Kasen became the most popular form of renga, and commonly spoken words as well as slang and Chinese words were allowed. With this relaxation of the rules, renga were able to express broader humor and wit. This style of renga came to be called haikai no renga ("comical linked verse") or simply haikai, and Matsuo Bashō is known as the greatest haikai poet.

The most favored form of renga in the Edo period was the kasen (歌仙), a chain consisting of 36 verses. As a rule, kasen must refer to flowers (usually cherry blossoms) twice, and three times to the moon. These references are termed hana no za (花の座, "the seat of flowers") and tsuki no za (月の座, "the seat of the moon").

The first stanza of the renga chain, the hokku, is the forebear of the modern haiku. The stand-alone hokku was renamed haiku in the Meiji period by the great Japanese poet and critic Masaoka Shiki. Shiki proposed haiku as an abbreviation of the phrase "haikai no ku" meaning a verse of haikai.[7]

For almost 700 years, renga was a popular form of poetry, but its popularity was greatly diminished in the Meiji period. Masaoka Shiki, although himself a participant in several renga,[8] claimed that "(Renga is) not literature" (「文学に非ず」, Bungaku ni arazu)"連歌・連句 (Renga, Renku)". Japan Dictionary (日本辞典, Nihon-Jiten). Retrieved 23 December 2012. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameters: |1=, |2=, |3=, |4=, and |5= (help). The renga's appeal of working as a group to make a complete work was not compatible with the European style of poetry gaining popularity in Japan, where a single poet writes the entire poem.[citation needed]

Renga outside Japan

An early attempt at renga in English appeared in 1968 in Haiku Magazine,[9] and the same magazine published an issue in 1976 devoted to renga and haibun.[9]

Formats of renga

Here follows a list of the most common formats in which renga have been written, both ushin (orthodox) renga, and mushin (renku)[10]

Name of format Number
of stanzas 		Number of kaishi
(writing sheets) 		Number
of sides 		Originator Date of origin
Hyakuin[11] 100 4 8 unknown 13th century
Senku 1000 40 80 unknown
Gojūin 50 2 4 unknown
Yoyoshi 44 2 4 unknown
Kasen 36 2 4 unknown 1423[citation needed]
Han-kasen (i.e. half-kasen) 18 1 2 unknown 17th century
Shisan 12 2 4 Kaoru Kubota 1970s
Jūnichō 12 1 1 Shunjin Okamoto 1989[citation needed]
Nijūin 20 2 4 Meiga Higashi 1980s
Triparshva[citation needed] 22 1 3 Norman Darlington 2005
Rokku (aka on za rokku)[citation needed] variable variable variable Haku Asanuma 2000

Renga terminology

  • hokku (発句): The first stanza of renga with a 5-7-5 sound unit count. This stanza should be created by a special guest when present, and is considered a part of the greeting in a renga gathering. It must include a kigo (季語, "seasonal word"), as well as a kireji (切字, "cutting word" - a break in the text, usually, but not always, at the end of a line). The kigo usually references the season the renga was created in. Hokku, removed from the context of renga, eventually became the haiku poetry form.
  • waki (脇): The second stanza of a renga with a 7-7 sound unit count. The one who helped to organize the gathering is honored with creating it.
  • daisan (第三): The third stanza of a renga with a 5-7-5 mora count. It must end with the -aki, daisan, and ageku.
ku each poet read.
  • kōgyō (興行): To hold a renga gathering. May also be called chōgyō (張行).


  • tsukeai (付合): May also be called tsukekata (付け方) or tsukeaji (付け味). Refers to the mixing and matching of unlikely word combinations to spur imagination or evoke an image. One of the interesting features of renga.
  • maeku (前句): The verse in which tsukeai happens.* uchikoshi (打越): The verse before the maeku.
  • shikimoku (式目): A set of rules to lay out the stylistic requirements for change throughout the poem and to prevent a renga from falling apart.
  • renku (連句): Modern renga in Bashō's style.
  1. ^ Carter, Steven D. Three Poets at Yuyama, University of California, 1983, ISBN 0-912966-61-0 p.3
  2. ^ Keene, Donald, The Comic Tradition in Renga, in Japan in the Muromachi Age, edited by John Hall and Takeshi Toyoda. Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1977. p. 244.
  3. ^ Reckert, Stephen, Beyond Chrysanthemums: Perspectives on Poetry East and West, Oxford University Press, 1993, ISBN 0-19-815165-9, p.43
  4. ^ Sato, Hiroaki. One Hundred Frogs, from renga to haiku to English, Weatherhill 1983, ISBN 0-8348-0176-0 p.11
  5. ^ Keene, Donald, Japanese Literature: an Introduction for Western Readers, (New York: Grove Press, 1955) p. 33-34.
  6. ^ Carter, Steven D. The Road to Komatsubara, Harvard University Press, 1987, ISBN 0-674-77385-3, pp. 33-72.
  7. ^ Miner, Earl. Japanese Linked Poetry. Princeton University Press, 1980. ISBN 0-691-01368-3 pbk.
  8. ^ Higginson, William J. The Haiku Seasons, Kodansha, 1996, ISBN 4-7700-1629-8 p.55
  9. ^ a b Van den Heuvel, Cor. The Haiku Anthology, 2nd edition. Simon & Schuster, 1986. ISBN 0671628372 p12
  10. ^ Miner, Earl. Japanese Linked Poetry, Princeton University Press, 1979, ISBN 0-691-06372-9.
  11. ^ Carter, Steven D. The Road to Komatsubara, Harvard University Press, 1987, ISBN 0-674-77385-3.
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