Isolation & Creativity

For the next week or so, I'll present a petite thesis on the idea that isolation breeds creativity.

A Country in Isolation

The Great Peace began when the Tokugawa Shogunate closed Japan to most foreigners. A few ships from the Dutch and China were allowed at one port.

Edo Period

• 1600s to late 1800s
• Sakoku - policy of isolation from foreign influences
• Cities grew
• Merchants & Artisans flexible income.
• Daimyo patrons.
• Samurai, Nobility, Clergy - fixed income.

During this Isolation

• Banraku Theatre
• Geishas
• Kabuki
• Higher literacy
• All under a Confucius - influenced shogunate.

Both Hokusai and BashO are examples of artists that defined the Edo Period.

Hokusai

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Yellow-covered books

36 views of Mt Fuji

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Anything before 70 years not worth counting

Haiku

• Shortest of Japanese poetry
• Dense language - a sketch
• Objective description
• Subjective - left to interpretation.

And

• 5, 7, 5
• Seasonal word - implied or not.
• See viewing parties

Evolution of

• Renga, linked poem, a haiku with two extra lines - yes, that’s a tanka poem. (5-7-5-7-7)
• The difference, one person does the first stanza, and another second one.
• Seasons are a traditional theme, although not as much now.

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A catpillar
This deep in fall —
Still not a butterfly....

Speed Renga

• One starts with the 5-7-5
• A second person adds two lines 7-7
• A third person 5-7-5
• And so on.
• I’m not worried about a seasonal theme.
• Go

Lesson 2

Exploring BashO

Alas! The firefly seen by
darling
is nothing but a red-necked insect.
BashO

Senryu

• human haiku
• Written in present tense and only references the human condition
• Irony and humour are key

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• I am told I look young
• That is how I know
• I am not young anymore.

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• I would like to switch
• To remote work
• But I don’t have a job

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• I go by car
• To the gym
• To ride a bicycle

Even a mole
Sometimes makes a
False step - up

A butterfly
That goes straight
Has free time
Kao

Gorilla Senryu

• In place of one Japan Centre
• Compose your own senryus
• Choose 5 strong ones
• Place them in public areas in a surprising manner
• Document them to share in class

Does isolation breed creativity across cultures?

Philosophies that use isolation as a creative tool

Ryokan & Thoreau

Ryokan

• Born 1758 village of Izumesaki
• Studied Chinese & Japanese Literature
• Left a hereditary position to study Zen

Zen

• From Chinese Chan Buddhism
• Self control, meditation, acting on insight into the Buddha nature.

Only thing
The thief left behind
Moon in my window

Practiced poetry and calligraphy

Legend says Ryokan practiced his calligraphy brushwork in the air

Training period

Wandering Period

Mature Period

10 000 leaves anthology

8th CE

Longed to follow Dogen's teachings - brought Zen to Japan.

@ 69 too weak to live alone, moved into a woodshed in a village.

First student, a nun (Tenshin). They conversed via poetry.

Dew on the Lotus
Tenshin's memoir of Ryokan

Ryokan

• Zen Buddhist monk
• Wrote poetry & calligraphy
• Lived in poverty - wandering or in isolation
• One student

Some Ryokan poetry

as long as I don't aim,
I won't miss.
With a catalpa bow
I shoot an arrow
Towards the open sky

mountain storm
Don't blow so hard
At night on my journey.
I sleep on one sleeve
Of my white robe.

In one thousand years
How can I
Live up to
The true path
Even for a single day?

See and realize
That this world
Is not permanent
Neither late nor early
Flowers will remain.

Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau

• American essayist, poet, philosopher
• Best known for “Walden - Life in the Woods”
• Born July 12, 1817
• Ralph Waldo Emerson friend and mentor (key role in the National Park Movement)
• Transcendentalist movement of 19th century America
• What is transcendentalism?

What is Transcendentalism?

• Commun with Nature
• Civil disobedience
• Self Reliance
• Education Reform
• Women’s Rights

Through Emerson was exposed to transcendentalism.

Thoreau lived for a time with Emerson. Emerson used his influence to promote Thoreau’s writings and gave him access to land (Walden Pond).

Walden Pond

• In 1845, Thoreau built a small home on Walden Pond (Emerson’s Property).
• He spent 2 years, 2 months and two days on this social experiment.

Forgoing the Protestant work ethic (6 day on, one off), Thoreau spent time writing and philosophizing.

Notable works

• A week on Concord & Merrimack Rivers
• Live in the Woods (Walden)
• Civil Disobedience

1862, succumbed to tuberculosis after decades fighting it.

Thoreau Influenced

• His work disobedience influenced …
• Martin Luther King Jr & Ghandi have referenced that work as an important catalyst.

A Transcendentalists and a Zen monk both used isolation to forward their philosophical practices. A creative process was a byproduct of this practice.

Other Examples

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