Sagano Moon #112 Tachibana no Shusai

Chapter 5: Ryoun 10

Tachibana no Shusai

If one were to ask who the greatest artist of this era was, the people of the capital would surely have answered with his name.

Although he was born into the noble lineage of the imperial family, his family had fallen into ruin during the generation of his grandfather, who was accused of treason. His father died when he was eighteen, and his future was sealed, with little hope of ever being granted the Fifth Rank in his lifetime.

At twenty-two, he staked his life on volunteering for the mission to Tang China, crossed the sea at the risk of his life, and learned the latest calligraphy styles and music in Chang'an, bringing them back to Japan.

When he held a brush, he wrote characters that only he could write; when he held an instrument, he played melodies that only he could play.

The master of calligraphy, Ryu Sogen, was captivated by his extraordinary talent

and bestowed upon him the title of

Tachibana no Shusai (Tachibana the Genius).

From then on, Tachibana no Hayanari would continue to be called Tachibana no Shusai even after his return to Japan.

Late spring, 818 (Konin 9).

The dry sensation of his shoes crunching on the white sand in the palace garden was pleasant. Hayanari loved this season, when the wisteria had fallen and the air was perfectly dry before the rainy season arrived.

On this day, Hayanari was carrying a long, thin cloth bundle as if he were cradling a small child.
When a palace official saw this and said, "You could have your attendant carry your luggage, you know," Hayanari looked up sharply and declared,

"A musician never lets go of their beloved instrument, no matter the time or place."

The official could only shrug and say, "I see..." Everyone in the palace knew how deeply Hayanari was devoted to music.

When Hayanari arrived at a room in the palace with particularly tight security, he told the guard his name and rank, and the guard's face flushed with excitement as he said,
"I have been looking forward to your visit, Tachibana no Shusai," and ushered him inside.

"I'm coming in."

As Hayanari announced himself, the sound of papers being hurriedly cleared away could be heard through the door.

When he was told, "Please, come in," and opened the door, Kukai, who had been pushing his desk aside, sat down on the floor in a hurry, slightly out of breath, to welcome his old friend.
In fact, Kukai had been confined to this room in the palace for about two months under the Emperor's secret orders, writing something. It seemed to be a private task given by the Emperor in exchange for the granting of Mount Koya, but

the secrecy was so thorough that Kukai was kept in the palace in secret, and even his disciples were not allowed near him.

It was as if Kukai were being held under house arrest due to the Emperor's whims.

Thinking this, Hayanari had asked the Emperor for permission to visit him through his cousin, Empress Kachiko, and upon receiving it, he immediately opened the cloth bundle in front of Kukai and took out a qin.

The qin of this era refers to a stringed instrument known as the seven-stringed zither transmitted from the ancient continent, made of paulownia wood with a black lacquer finish, measuring over three shaku in length and less than five sun in width.

Using thirteen markers called hui, one uses the fingers of the left hand to divide the length of the strings to create pitch, and plucks the strings with the fingers of the right hand.

Unlike the koto, the qin does not use bridges or plectrums, and it was popular in Tang China as a stringed instrument that intellectuals should enjoy.
"I thought I would bring you some music to cheer you up, since you must be tired from being cooped up in this room."

"That is very kind of you."

Hayanari placed the qin on the desk assigned to Kukai and began to play a piece said to have been composed by Confucius, Jieshidiao Youlan No. 5.

Although it did not produce the brilliant high notes of a koto, the low, resonant sound unique to the qin calmed the head that had been throbbing from working in the confined room.

"...My, Hayanari-dono, your sound seems to have gained even more depth since your return to the country."

"If we could have combined it with the Genjo (a biwa) I gave you, we could have produced the ultimate sound."

Kukai was taken aback as his past blunder from over ten years ago was brought up again.

The details were as follows.

After Kukai and Hayanari returned from their studies in Tang China, while they were being detained at the Korokan in Dazaifu, they had nothing to do but inspect the artifacts they had brought back, so they killed time playing Go.

When Hayanari was called away by an official for the inspection and returned, he was tilting his head, saying something was wrong, so when Kukai asked, "What is the matter?"

"No... the biwa Genjo that I received from my music master is nowhere to be found in any of the luggage. I gave it to you, so is it not in your luggage?"

Hearing that, Kukai realized for the first time that he had made an irreparable mistake.

In fact, when Kukai was leaving his lodging at Ximing Temple in Chang'an, he had prioritized his esoteric Buddhist artifacts and left the biwa he had received from Hayanari behind in his room.

"Well... that... actually..."

As Kukai stumbled over his words, which was rare for him, and offered an explanation and an apology, Hayanari said,

"So, Genjo is not here, then."
He nodded as if convinced, and with a thin smile, he flipped the Go board in a fit of rage, and while the black and white stones scattered, he climbed on top of Kukai and punched his face repeatedly.

The people in the square were stunned, unable to believe the sudden violence between a nobleman and a monk, but the Go master Tomo no Okatsuo stepped between them and shouted,

"It is certainly Kukai's fault for forgetting the treasure. But Kukai Ajari is a national treasure, stop laying hands on him!"

The commotion subsided there.
Hayanari did not speak to Kukai for over ten days, and Kukai spent that time with a bruise on his face.
Okatsuo, who was now the Go instructor for Emperor Saga, told the story during a lecture to the Emperor,

"My, at that time, I was shown the extraordinary devotion of Hayanari-dono, who would never forgive anyone who treated music carelessly."

They were schoolmates who were so close they could be called intimate friends.
"Do those two fight as well?"
When Emperor Saga asked this while holding a white Go stone, Okatsuo nodded and said,

"In Tang China, it was all the time. It felt like Kukai was scolding the somewhat unreliable Hayanari-sama, but they would make up immediately without letting a day pass."

He said this while placing a black stone on the board.

"That relationship is something I envy... You two gained the greatest treasure of friendship in Tang China; you should be proud of it."

Emperor Saga laughed lightly while thinking about his next move.

That biwa, Genjo, was brought to Japan twenty-four years later in August of 839 (Jowa 6) by the next envoy to Tang China, Fujiwara no Sadatoshi, and became the favorite instrument of Prince Masara, the future Emperor Ninmyo.

Thirteen years after returning from Tang, thirty-six-year-old Tachibana no Hayanari was busy every day as the Emperor's calligraphy instructor in the palace and as a guide for Tang music at the Gagakuryo (Bureau of Music).

"Tachibana no Shusai-dono, could you teach my son the latest calligraphy style?" he would go to noble residences if requested, and

"Tachibana no Shusai-dono, about the interpretation of this score..." if asked by a new boy at the Gagakuryo, he would patiently teach them until they were satisfied, saying, "Ah, that is like this."

"The people around you keep calling you Tachibana no Shusai... but aren't you working a bit too hard for an Emperor who is cold-hearted enough not to even give you the Fifth Rank yet?"

Are you not doing work that is not worth the compensation?

His fellow envoy Okatsuo said this out of concern just when Hayanari was relaxing with his wife and children at his own residence.

Heian-kyo had entered the rainy season, and people were avoiding going out as much as possible during this time when rain poured down on the ground and the plants in the garden without knowing when it would stop.

After returning from Tang, Hayanari married Kiyoko, the niece of Takashina no Toonari, and was blessed with four sons and one daughter, becoming a devoted father who willingly took care of his children at home.

Even now, he was teaching his youngest daughter, Itsuko (later Myocho), how to write, praising her characters by saying, "Good, that's good!"

"I know Okatsuo is concerned for my well-being. But I grew up being told I was sickly and a useless Tachibana, so I am incredibly happy to be needed by those around me now."

Besides, Hayanari said with a chuckle, holding his daughter on his lap,

"It is not in my nature to rise to the Fifth Rank, write stiff memorials, and bow before the Emperor."

"I should leave that to Fuyutsugu-dono and Mimori-dono, the Fujiwara nobles, and I am satisfied with my current life where I can support my wife and children without hardship by receiving lecture fees from the nobles."

I don't have to be afraid of political strife, conspiracies, or life-threatening dangers like in the old days; this peaceful life I have now is thanks to the reign of the current Emperor.

Hayanari was deeply grateful to Emperor Saga, the husband of his cousin.
"Besides, Okatsuo, Kukai is going to Kii in the autumn, so the Emperor seems to have thought of some grand event."

"An event? Is it another banquet?"

"He seems to be proceeding without Kukai finding out, but if you look at the movements of the craftsmen, you can generally guess."

"What on earth is the Emperor planning to do? Please tell me, Hayanari-dono~"

That is... Hayanari grinned and remained silent for a while, but then ended the conversation by saying, "It's a secret after all."

Eventually, the rainy season ended, and the event that Emperor Saga had been secretly planning was announced.

It was to have the gate plaques of the Heian Palace's Daidairi rewritten by the hands of the calligraphers active today.

Emperor Saga himself rolled up his sleeves and wrote the three eastern gates (Agata-inukai Gate, Yamamon, and Takerube Gate) and the three western gates (Tamate Gate, Saeki Gate, and Ifukube Gate),

and Tachibana no Hayanari was given the honor of writing the plaques for the three northern gates (Amainukai Gate, Ikai Gate, and Tajihimon Gate)

and Kukai was given the honor of writing the plaques for the three southern gates (Mibu Gate, Otomo Gate, and Wakainukai Gate)

and the main gate of the Chodoin (Hasshoin), which was inside the Daidairi and was the place where government affairs and important ceremonies were held within the imperial court,
the Otenmon Gate.
Scaffolding was set up, and the plaques written by the hands of Emperor Saga, Kukai, and Tachibana no Hayanari, who would later be called the Sanpitsu (Three Brushes), were hung above the twelve gates of the Daidairi. "An opportunity like this won't come even once in a hundred years!" the literati of the capital looked up and walked around the perimeter of the Daidairi, which was over four square miles (about 5.2 kilometers).

When the plaque was finally hung on the Otenmon Gate, Emperor Saga, the calligraphers Kukai and Hayanari, and the Emperor's close aides from his time as a prince who had now risen to the rank of Sangi, such as Fujiwara no Mimori, Fujiwara no Fuyutsugu, and Yoshimine no Yasuyo, all watched the characters on the new plaque with excitement.
...Oh, what powerful characters! The strokes of the character 'Ten' (Heaven) on the Otenmon Gate look as if they are about to soar into the sky.

However, the moment he saw the characters on the plaque, he could not shake the feeling of discomfort that arose in his heart, and he tilted his head, unable to figure out what it was. But,
"Why did he fail the starting point of the first 'O' (Response)?"

It was none other than Hayanari who pointed out Kukai's incredible blunder in a relaxed tone.

Everyone's eyes gathered on the character 'O', and indeed, looking closely, the first stroke of 'O' was missing. (In other words, the radical for 'O' had become the radical for 'Gan'.) Emperor Saga and everyone present let out a voice, "Ah..." and it was almost at the same time that Kukai himself shouted, "...Ah!!" with his face turning bright red.

Fortunately, the scaffolding was still up, so Kukai climbed up and added the dot to the plaque to complete it, so the matter was resolved without incident, but,

"The awkward faces of the nobles when I climbed down from the scaffolding, and the Emperor's expression as if he wanted to say something but couldn't. I have never felt as embarrassed in my life as I did at that moment..."

In the autumn of the following year, 819 (Konin 10), Kukai, who had been called back to the capital from Mount Koya, told a young nobleman he happened to meet under the Agata-inukai Gate in the north of the Daidairi about his state of mind at that time.

"So even Kukai Ajari makes mistakes..."

The young man who heard the story looked up at the plaque of the Amainukai Gate again and said,

"The eastern and western plaques have exquisite characters, and the southern ones have vigor, but I still like the characters on the three northern plaques. I feel like the openness of the person who wrote them comes through."

He declared that he liked Tachibana no Shusai's characters after all.

To be able to understand the essence of the writer just by looking at the characters, what a promising young man, thought Kukai, and when he asked, "Which young master are you?" the young man replied,

"I am Takamura, the son of Ono no Minemori," and he shrank his large body and laughed shyly.


"Between forgetting the biwa in Tang China and the plaque at the Otenmon Gate, it is my hopeless nature to panic and fail at the most important jobs, but
'A person who never fails and has no gaps has no charm or interest. You are balanced as a human being because you occasionally make mistakes.'"

Hayanari-dono said that on the spot and saved my heart."

The piece called Youlan that Hayanari played for him when he visited him while he was confined in the palace last year is said to have been born from the legend that when Confucius was wandering through various countries and was not employed, he saw an orchid blooming in a quiet valley on his way back to Lu, and entrusted his own lack of employment to the orchid, composing a poem called Yilancao.

In the world of Chinese poetry, there are many poems that compare excellent people and noble-minded people to orchids, but

Kukai thought of the person Tachibana no Hayanari as an orchid flower that just blooms there without seeking worldly reputation, without realizing that he himself was one.
That may be why the people around him found him among the many literati in the capital and were attracted to everything he expressed.

"If I am gone, please think of this bayberry tree as me."

Fujiwara no Mimori's wife, Tachibana no Yasuko, often said that while she was alive.

So today, I will report something happy to you.

"Yasuko, a new family member is coming to this house today."

Sangi Fujiwara no Mimori spoke to the bayberry tree in the garden again this day.

Court lady Tachibana no Yasuko had complained of a headache while working in the palace two winters ago, left, and after losing consciousness at her residence, passed away from a stroke.

Mimori's grief at losing his beloved wife was deep, and even though he handled his official duties flawlessly, he clearly lacked his usual spirit to those around him.
"Rest a little, Mimori; everyone will be in trouble if you collapse like this."
Pointed out by his brother-in-law Fuyutsugu, he realized that he had been filling the hole in his heart where his wife used to be with work, and that this had actually made his concubines and children feel lonely.

Since then, Mimori tried to return home as much as possible when he had free time to spend with his family, and after nearly two years, he had finally regained his natural brightness.

"That family member is... the person you were angry at for a while, saying, 'What an outrageous child!' for breaking the branches of this tree."

Mimori chuckled at the tree.

But he is a young man with a kind heart, and our daughter, Mutsuko, is already fourteen, so you will forgive us, right?

Before long, the groom and his parents arrived for the wedding ceremony that night, and the young man Mimori had chosen as his son-in-law, Ono no Takamura, had grown nearly a foot taller since they first met and greeted him with a carefree, "Mimori-dono!" in a resonant, loud voice.

Mimori was convinced that this marriage was not a mistake by the words Takamura said when he looked at the bayberry tree next.
"Look, Father-in-law... the sparrows have returned!"

Postscript
Even Kobo makes mistakes in writing. Mimori's eye for people was certain in the marriage with Ono no Takamura.