Renga (, linked poem) is a genreCarter, Steven D. Three Poets at Yuyama, University of California, 1983, p.3 of Japanese collaborative poetry in which alternating stanzas, or ku (句), of 5-7-5 and 7-7 morae (sound units or syllables per line) are linked in succession by multiple poets. Known as tsukuba no michi ( The Way of Tsukuba) after the famous Tsukuba Mountain in the Kantō region, the form of poetry is said to have originated in a two-verse poetry exchange by Yamato Takeru and later gave birth to the genres haikai () and haiku ().Kaneko, Kinjirō. Rengashū, Haikaishū. Tōkyō: Shōgakkan, 2001. Print.
The genre was elevated to a literary art by Nijō Yoshimoto (, 1320–1388), who compiled the first imperial renga anthology Tsukubashū () in 1356. The most famous renga master was Sōgi (, 1421–1502), and Matsuo Bashō (, 1644–1694) after him became the most famous haikai master. Renga sequences were typically composed live during gatherings of poets, transcribed oral sessions known as rengakai (), but could also be composed by single poets as mainly textual works.
History
Classical and early medieval The "origin" of renga is traditionally associated with a passage in the , wherein Prince Yamato Takeru speaks to an old man and inquires, by way of a katauta poem, how many nights he had slept since passing Nabari and Tsukuba, to which the old man responds by way of another kata-uta poem, which combined form a single sedōka. Later medieval renga poets, out of reverence for this exchange, would refer to their art as "the Way of Tsukuba", and the first imperial renga anthology, the Tsukubashū, alludes to it in the title.
The earliest extant renga appears in the Manyoshu (), with its 5-7-5 mora jōku ( first stanza) written by Ōtomo no Yakamochi (, 718-785) and its 7-7 mora geku ( last stanza) written by a Buddhist nun ( ama) in an exchange of poems.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. This two-stanza form is now called tanrenga () to differentiate it from chōrenga (), the hyakuin renga ( 100-stanza renga) to which the general term renga refers.
The tanrenga form was popular from the beginning of the Heian Period until the end of cloistered rule ( insei) and would sometimes appear in imperial anthologies of waka, which it closely resembled at a glance. It was during the insei period that the form began to take shape and evolve into chōrenga. The Kin'yōshū () was the first imperial waka anthology to include an explicit section on renga thanks to its compiler Minamoto no Toshiyori (, also Minamoto no Shunrai; ~1055–1129), who was the first to write about renga theory in his poetic treatise Toshiyori Zuinō ().
As tanrenga gained traction and began to feature more intricate and technically complex links between its two stanzas, the genre gained popularity as a game, and events were held to create the best links. Participants began going beyond the original two stanzas of tanrenga, leading to the creation of a chōrenga form more formal than games like iroha renga, in which 47 stanzas beginning with each of the 47 characters of the hiragana writing system were linked. Around the same time, a more straightforward style of linking developed, which also helped to spur the lengthening of the form. Eventually, this 100-stanza renga, which alternated 5-7-5 and 7-7 mora verses (known as tanku and chōku respectively), became the basis for what we know as renga today.
The vocabulary of hyakuin renga was largely limited to the that had been established in the Kokinshū. 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.
A comparable, though less evolved, tradition of 'linked verse' (lián jù —the same characters as 'renku')—evolved in Qin dynasty China,Reckert, Stephen, Beyond Chrysanthemums: Perspectives on Poetry East and West, Oxford University Press, 1993, , p.43 and this Chinese form may have influenced Japanese renga during its formative period.Sato, Hiroaki. One Hundred Frogs, from renga to haiku to English, Weatherhill 1983, p.11 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.Keene, Donald, Japanese Literature: an Introduction for Western Readers, (New York: Grove Press, 1955) p. 33–34.
Around the time of the Shin Kokin Wakashū (, 1205) during the rule of Emperor Go-Tōba, hyakuin renga developed enough to gain its first real independence from waka. In the courts, ushin mushin renga () sessions were held in which poets and non-poets were divided into ushin and mushin respectively to link stanzas. The ushin side would offer orthodox elegant stanzas while the mushin side would offer comical or aesthetically "wilder" stanzas ( kyōka), and while submissions from both sides were accepted as appropriate links, the ushin were favored. While this practice ended with the Jōkyū Disturbance (1221), it served as an important foundation for the further development of hyakuin renga, which placed more emphasis on the skill of poets, and stanzas by many major renga participants of the Go-Tōba court such as Fujiwara no Teika (1162–1241) were later anthologized in the Tsukubashū.
After the Jōkyū Disturbance, renga moved out of the courts. In the popular hana no moto renga ( "renga under flowers"), commoners would gather for renga sessions under the flowering trees in spring, a tradition that is estimated to have been around for about 100 years by the start of the Nanboku-chō Period. Some of the later resulting works were anthologized in the Tsukubashū. Jige renga ( "underground renga") was born out of hana no moto renga and was pervasive through the Mongol invasions of Japan (1274–1281) and after. The jige renga poets were led by Priest Zen’a (, ??–1312), who built upon the rules of hana no moto renga but also deviated from them, creating new versions of forms such as 1-day 1000-stanza renga ( ichi nichi senku renga)—telling of the genre's wide scale. Renga continued to flourish in the courts as well, and the era saw splendid renga gatherings of even 10,000 verses a day, as well as prominent women poets such as the Buddhist nun Nijō ( nijō no ama).
It was during the Kamakura Period that the rules ( shikimoku) of renga began to develop.Carter, Steven D. The Road to Komatsubara, Harvard University Press, 1987, , pp. 33–72. At the time, one of the most important rules was fushimono (), titular prompts that had to be followed by every stanza in the entire sequence. For instance, a white-black fushimono would call for each verse to alternate between including a white object and a black object. Others fushimono might be more linguistic, such as requiring odd verses to include three-mora phrases that became a different word upon removal of the middle mora, and even verses to include four-mora phrases that became a different word upon removal of the first and last mora.
Late medieval
In the Nanboku-cho Period, renga began to take form and establish itself as a literary genre, largely owing to the efforts of Nijō Yoshimoto (, 1320–1388), who compiled the first imperial renga anthology Tsukubashū () in 1356. As reflected in the collection, aesthetic and linguistically polished hyakuin renga that embodied the spirit of the renga session became the foundation for the genre as it is known today.
Yoshimoto was a disciple of Gusai (, also Kyūsei or Kyūzei; 1281–1376), who was taught by Zen’a. Gusai, a commoner priest, was a leading jige renga poet and key collaborator in the compilation of the Tsukubashū. Yoshimoto was an aristocrat who served in the Northern Court of the Ashikaga Shogunate. He was originally a waka poet, and his relationship with Gusai, who also had training in courtly literature, brought together common and courtly renga traditions. Yoshimoto was the first to write extensively on renga theory, creating many works laying out the genre’s structure, aesthetic standards, shikimoku, and more. One major change he made was to the fushimono, which remained part of the title but now only applied to the first verse rather than the whole sequence. Other important rules delineated the maximum numbers of stanzas in which certain topics could appear in a row, and maximum numbers of stanzas in which certain topics could appear across the whole sequence. Many of his aesthetic treatises became important pedagogical artifacts for future renga poets. Through his theoretical work and compilation of the Tsukubashū, Yoshimoto elevated renga to the status of an independent literary genre, setting a crucial foundation for its golden age.
The golden age of renga is widely regarded as the Muromachi Period, during which many of the greatest renga masters were active. The era is epitomized by the poet Sōgi (, 1421–1502) and his compilation of the renga anthology Shintsukubashū (, lit. "New Tsukubashū).
Prior to Sōgi, Ichijō Kaneyoshi (, also Kanera; 1402–1481) aimed to succeed his grandfather Nijō Yoshimoto with his compilation of the Aratamashū (), which he worked on with the priest Sōzei (). However, the anthology was lost and the creation of the next major anthology was completed instead by Sozei’s disciple, Sōgi. Sōzei was one of the "seven sages," a group of poets all active around that time. They consisted of Priest Chiun (, 1448–1471), Priest Sōzei (, ??–1455), High Priest Gyōjo (, 1405–1469), Priest Nōa (, 1397–1471), Clergyman Shinkei (; 1406–1475), High Priest Senjun ( 1411–1476), and Priest Sōi (, 1418–1485). Their work was later anthologized by Sōgi in his anthology Chikurinshō (), for which Kaneyoshi wrote the preface.
Sōgi, a commoner priest, studied literature extensively, learning renga from Sōzei and classical literature from Kaneyoshi among others. He spent much time travelling the country as a professional renga poet despite the tumultuous political context of his era. His works often feature the relationship between humans and nature. His anthology Shintsukubashū became the successor to the Tsukubashū, and he also composed many other major works, the two most famous being "Three Poets at Minase" ( Minase Sangin Hyakuin) and "Three Poets at Yuyama" ( Yuyama Sangin Hyakuin). Both sequences were composed by Sōgi and two of his disciples, the priests Shōhaku (, 1143–1527) and Sōchō (, 1448–1532), in 1488 and 1491 respectively. The former was created as an offering for Emperor Go-Toba, the compiler of the Shinkokinshū, making it a formal piece with ceremonial grandeur.Carter, Steven D. "Three Poets at Yuyama. Sōgi and Yuyama Sangin Hyakuin, 1491." Monumenta Nipponica, vol. 33, no. 3, Sophia University, 1978, pp. 241–83. JSTOR, JSTOR, doi:10.2307/2383991. "Three Poets at Yuyama," on the other hand, was created in a more relaxed setting and enjoyed greater popularity in its time. It did, however, maintain also many conventions of renga despite its greater flexibility. The two are now considered the most canonical renga sequences and were widely used pedagogically as standards for the genre.
Sōgi’s death in 1502 was followed by a peak in popularity and then decline of renga as the new genre haikai developed. Sōgi’s lineage of disciples continued the renga tradition that ended with the death of Jōha (, 1524–1602), who is considered to be the final major renga poet.