The Old Taoist

Fukuda Kodojin (1865-1944) was known as the “Old Taoist” because he carried the old traditions of the sage-poet-painter into the modern age. He studied with a few haiku masters including Shiki who, although he was two years younger than Kodojin, was paving the way for haiku reform by way of “direct observation and natural language” (Stephen Addiss, “The Haiku of the Old Taoist,” Simply Haiku, September-October ’04).

Here is a haiku that shows simple, clear language as well as the theme of the old and the new:

A small boat
next to the battleship
casting for mullet

I like this one too:

Short summer night –
passing through the gate
two nuns


According to Addiss, Kodojin explored the “tradition of midnight visits to temples.” In this haiku, there is a strong image that requires, at least for me, the formula of proportions: “Short summer night” is to Zoka as “passing through the gate” is to the “two nuns.” Examining the first line, the kigo, we have to reflect on the symbolism of the topic “short summer night” in light of the universal Creative, Zoka. The temperature is changing and the days are getting shorter. Time is precious. Just let that sink in.

As for the base, there is ambiguity as well as a precisely-rendered image. We don’t really know if the nuns are arriving at the temple or leaving it. Are they going out to enjoy the night or are they going into the temple because of the night? The haiku deepens considerably when the interpretation is that they are so inspired by the brevity of the summer night that they want to be in the temple: Zoka is awakened in the nuns (and potentially the reader) by seasonal fullness and transcendence, which is portrayed by the image of them passing “through” the gate. The transition is as brief as the summer night. The use of “two” suggests communion and flow, oneness of mind, between the nuns.

So there are vertical structures of mind – between Zoka consciousness and the poet/reader – and horizontal, between the nuns and between poet and reader. This structure is very tight and boundlessly expressive.

This haiku is perfectly balanced. The “short summer night” inspires the nuns and instead of rushing out to enjoy the moment, they turn inward. Balance of consciousness through “acts of attention” (Ed Block, “Poetry, Attentiveness and Prayer” in New Blackfriars, March 2008) lets things be absorbed rather than superficially experienced. This way, the event becomes part of consciousness rather than a deflation of ecstatic momentum fueled with imbalance.

--Madeleine Findlay