The Shisan: An Appreciation

Renga has a long history, going back to the 13th century. For a long part of its history the dominant form consisted of 100 verses; known as the Hyakuin. The great practitioner of Renga, Sogi, 1421-1502, wrote in this form.

Renga has had periods of popularity followed by periods of neglect. It is usually revived by some significant poet who is attracted to the form and shows people, once again, its potential. Basho, 1644-1694, revived Renga for his time and used a 36 verse form known as the Kasen.

The tendency in the history of Renga has been towards shorter and shorter forms, and this has continued into the modern era. Today there are a number of 12 Verse forms that are used widely by Renga poets, both in Japan and outside of Japan. The two I am most familiar with are the Junicho and the Shisan. Of the two I want to talk about the Shisan here.

The Shisan was first proposed by Kaoru Kubota who, I am told, was a noted Renga poet. I have not been able to find out anything about him beyond this stated fact; anyone with further information please feel free to post details. (When I google his name, I discover that it is fairly common in Japan; there is a noted Doctor and Engineer both of whom have the same name, but almost nothing about our poet.) It is not even clear to me exactly when Kubota proposed the Shisan; but I suspect it was sometime in the 70’s or 80’s. In any case, let me take this opportunity to express my thanks to Mr. Kubota for taking the time to propose this form. It has become my personal favorite.

Here are a few reasons for why I find the Shisan such an attractive Renga form:

1. It is compact. After acquiring a feel for the form, and some skill in it, I find it doesn’t take too long to write a Shisan. A couple of hours is usually enough time. In contrast, the Kasen, and certainly the Hyakuin, take an extended time commitment.

2. Kubota managed to keep the essentials of the Renga, its distinguishing features, even though the form is only 1/3 as long as the Kasen, and just a little over 1/10th the size of a Hyakuin. That is impressive. When I first heard about it I wasn’t sure how it could be done, but Kubota showed that it is possible. By retaining the “blossoming tree”, “love”, and “moon” verses, and also the seasonal flow, Kubota created a beautiful miniature Renga that nevertheless incorporates all the perspectives of the larger, more traditional, forms.

3. Kubota did change one characteristic of Renga. He altered the traditional seasonal scheme. In the traditional Renga forms, such as the 36 Verse Kasen, and the 100 Verse Hyakuin, the order of the seasons is not the natural order. The order of the seasons is dictated according to affective, felt, or feeling based associations. Thus traditional Renga seasonal schemes are poetically meaningful, but do not follow the natural seasonal order. Kubota was the first, as far as I know, to introduce a Renga scheme that follows the natural order. I find this attractive and efficacious. First, because so much of Renga is nature based to begin with. The opening verse, for example, should be a scene from nature and often significant, foreground, verses are also about nature. It has often struck me as odd that such a strongly nature based tradition wouldn’t follow the natural seasonal flow; although I admit the traditional scheme works. But Kubota’s change feels more unified to me; just as individual verses, like the seasonal verses, and the opening verse, are embedded in nature, so the entire Renga, in a Shisan, becomes embedded in nature as it actually appears. Second, I think it makes the Shisan easier to learn; one simply follows the natural flow of the seasons instead of having to learn a series of seasonal templates. Here I think Kubota has helped to integrate Renga more closely to the natural world.

4. As I previously posted, I have become fond of writing solo Renga and the Shisan is the solo form I write most frequently. In terms of the level of complexity, I suspect that the Shisan is roughly equivalent to a Sonnet, particularly if one pays attention to the Sonnet rhyme scheme, stanza divisions, and closely follows standard iambic requirements. That’s a lot to juggle. Similarly, the Shisan requires that the poet pay attention to syllabics, topics, seasonal flow, link and shift. The Shisan, by being short and focused, allows for solo expression in the same way that the Sonnet, in its brevity, allows for solo expression. They are both about the same length; the Shisan is 46 syllables longer than the Sonnet or about four Sonnet lines longer. In terms of length the Shisan is like adding another quatrain. This is a good length for a medium sized poem; long enough for individual expression, yet tight enough so that the poet can’t meander.

5. It is an excellent form for introducing Renga to newcomers. Because of its brevity the newcomer won’t feel overwhelmed by the complexity or the amount of time needed to write it. Because of its natural seasonal flow it will seem more intuitively accessible than other Renga forms. Because it is a good vehicle for solo poetry, the newcomer can start the practice of Renga without having to wait for a group of like- minded people.

So three deep bows to Kaoru Kubota. May the Shisan flourish far and wide.