Nishiyama Sōin

Nishiyama Sōin (西山宗因, born Nishiyama Toyoichi (西山豊一) March 28, 1605 in Higo Province, Japan – May 5, 1682 in Kyoto) was a haikai-no-renga poet of the early Tokugawa period.

R H Blyth called Sōin "one of the Fathers of Haiku".^[1]

Influence and importance

Sōin founded the Danrin school of haikai poetry, which aimed to move away from the serious 'bookishness' popular in Japanese poetry at the time and become more in touch with the common people, infusing a spirit of greater freedom into their poetry. Their poems explored the floating world of popular urban amusements in a fully colloquial style.^[2]

Sōin's haikai (comical renga) became the transition between the light and clever haikai of Matsunaga Teitoku and the more serious and aesthetic renku of Matsuo Bashō.^[3]

Disciples

Among the most important members of his school were Ichū, a versatile figure who also painted and wrote waka, and Saikaku.^[4]

References

^ R H Blyth, A History of Haiku Vol I (1963) p. 82
^ Nobuyuki Yuasa trans., The Narrow Road to the Deep North (1983) p. 17-8
^ Soin
^ L Zolbrod, Haiku Painting (1982) p. 7

External links

Works by or about Nishiyama Sōin at Wikisource
Media related to Nishiyama Sōin at Wikimedia Commons
A Brief Selection of Poems by Nishiyama Soin

[1] R H Blyth, A History of Haiku Vol I (1963) p. 82

[2] Nobuyuki Yuasa trans., The Narrow Road to the Deep North (1983) p. 17-8

[3] Soin

[4] L Zolbrod, Haiku Painting (1982) p. 7

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

v t e Japanese poetry
Major forms	haikai kanshi waka haiku hokku renga renku senryū tanka
Poetry works and collections	List of Japanese poetry anthologies Kaifūsō Man'yōshū Nijūichidaishū Kai Ōi Iroha
Individuals and groups of Japanese poets	Japanese poets (category list) Thirty-Six Immortals of Poetry Rokkasen
Individual poems	Articles with poems

Authority control databases
International	ISNI VIAF FAST WorldCat
National	Germany United States Japan
Academics	CiNii

Influence and importance

Disciples

See also

References

External links