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The shakuhachi |
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Japan's vertical bamboo flute, has a long, but mysterious history. Most authorities believe it is related to the Chinese ch'ih-p'a' first brought to Japan in the 4th century. Many speculate that it is called the Shakuhachi because its length corresponds to one shaku, eight sunan in an ancient measurement system.
Buddhist monks
are thought to have first played the instrument in the 15th century. In
the 17th century, some of these monks became the Komuso, itinerant
monks of the Fuke order of Zen Buddhism.
The monks
of the Fuke sect were explorers in the world of sound through their repeated
exercises with Kisoku (spiritual breath). Their aspiration to
reach the level of ichi on jobutsu (absolute sound) - attainment
of Buddhahood through a single note - became the important aspect of blowing
Zen. These pieces of music are called Honkyoku. Zen priest
Ikkyu (1394-1481) wrote this Kyoushu poem about Tonami, an earlier priest:
"The
incomparable Tonami Read about musician Allen Nyoshin Steir |
