The Rhythm Divine

Sometimes called the Gregorian chant of Japan, shomyo is Buddhist ritual chant that goes back more than 1000 years. The two major schools of shomyo, Shingon and Tendai, were transmitted by Japanese priests from T'ang dynasty China in the 9th century. Beautiful and hypnotic, shomyo is the voice of a 1000 years. We'll also hear the Japanese bamboo flute, the shakuhachi, played by two masters currently in Australia for the World Shakuhachi Festival, Kaoru Kakizakai and Christopher Yohmei Blasdel. And one of Japan's greatest living shakuhachi players, Katsuya Yokoyama, will explain some of the Zen concepts underlying the honkyoku, the sacred music of Zen.

Transcript

Tokyo is the noisy capital of Japan and world capital of cool. But beneath this appearance of ultra modernity lies a culture firmly attached to the past. Japan's native religion is Shinto, but it has been Buddhist since the 6th century and over that time has developed traditions of ritual music and chant that are unique in their use of silence and sound. Tonight we'll hear two of those Buddhist traditions, the vocal chant known as shomyo, and later the Zen Honkyoku, played on the bamboo flute, the shakuhachi.

Sometimes called the Gregorian chant of Japan Shomyo relies on slow unison chanting by monks using elongated syllables, with subtle inflections that change over a long duration. The chant itself first came to Japan from China in the 6th century but the two major schools of shomyo, Shingon and Tendai, were transmitted by Japanese priests from T'ang dynasty China in the 9th century using texts that included some written in Sanskrit from India. As a result shomyo uses three languages, Japanese, Chinese and Sanskrit to chant the Buddhist scriptures.

Our music tonight come from a CD called Sonbou no Toki by the Japanese composer Ushio Torikai, using chants from the Tendai and Shingon sects with the monks of Shomyo no-Kai.

Voices of a 1000 Years
Beautiful and hypnotic, shomyo is the voice of a 1000 years and considered to be the starting point for Japanese vocal music. If you've ever been to see the great statue of the Buddha at Nara in Japan, Todaiji, built in 752, the chanting done at its consecration ceremony was in that very style.

Unlike the austere style of Zen, Shingon and Tendai monks when they perform dress in colorful robes of emerald green, vermilion and purple. They stand, and sit, in rows, and occasionally use small drums, conch shells and hand bells. Some of the important scriptures include the Sutra of Perfect Wisdom and the Great Wisdom Sutra which is spectacular to watch as they monks let the paper volumes of scripture unroll from one hand held in the air to the other. Both of schools however stress that enlightenment comes from understanding teachings.

The Single Tone
Enlightenment is a key concept for Zen as well. And we'll hear an interview I did a couple of years ago with one of the great masters of the Zen bamboo flute, the shakuhachi, Katsuya Yokoyama. Yokoyama and his interperet Christopher Yohmei Blasdel discuss the Zen idea of enlightenement in a single tone. It's a facsinating idea. But first one of Yokyama's students and a shakuhachi master in his own right, Kaoru Kakaizaki and Hon Shirabe.

A History of Shomyo
According to Kojun Arai, Head Priest of Hogyokuin temple of the Buzan branch of the Shingon sect and a leading member of the performance group called 'Shomyo-no-Kai - Voice of a Thousand Years', "Shomyo is Buddhist scripture that is set to melodic phrasing and chanted at Buddhist ceremonies in temples by a chorus of male monks or priests."

"You might call it a form of Buddhist canticle which admires Buddha and teachings of Buddhism. It was born in India with the development of Buddhism and was subsequently transmitted to China and the Korean Peninsula before coming to Japan. Buddhism was first brought to Japan in the 6th century, but historical records trace the first appearance of shomyo in Japan to a ceremony for the consecration of the Great Buddha at Todaiji temple in 752 AD. It is written in this record that 10000 priests and monks from all over the nation gather for this ceremony and 420 of them chanted scripture together in the shomyo style."

Arai san continues: "Early in the 9th century Kobo Daishi (Kukai) brought 'Shingon Shomyo' to Japan from China, and in the mid-9th century Jikaku Daishi (Ennin) introduced 'Tendai Shomyo', and these traditions developed separately within the different Buddhist sects over the centuries. The most important period of shomyo development was from the Heian Period (9th to 12th centuries) into the Kamakura Period (13th century). It was during this era that the musicology of shomyo, the form of musical notation and the collections of the musical scores were compiled and the methods for teaching them were set down. In 1472 a collection of shomyo scores "Collection of Shomyo 1472 version" was printed at the temple complex of Koyasan, and this is said to be the oldest existing printed musical score in the world. The printing of this collection led to the spread of shomyo throughout the country. And, it is interesting to note that the oldest known printing of scores of Gregorian chant dates to 1473. So, we were just a year earlier (laughs). Talk about music history tends to bring to mind Western classical music, but as this proves, Japan has also made important contributions to the world history of music."

"There are three kinds of shomyo chants that have been handed down to us today. One is the Sanskrit chants from India, the second is the Chinese chants that composed independently in China later on, and the third is the Japanese-language chants composed in Japan. What we use in Buddhist ceremonies in Japan today is a well-arranged mix of the three."

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Further Information

World Shakuhachi Festival 2008
A world-wide gathering of renowned shakuhachi players, Living National Treasures from Japan, professional performers, scholars, absolute beginners and shakuhachi enthusiasts will be held in Australia for the first time, 4-8 July. You can find a list here of concerts by some of the world's best shakuhachi players, beginning on Friday 4 July at the City Recital Hall in Sydney.

There will also be concerts mixing traditonal and contemporary music, including In The Between: Meditations and Illuminations on the Tibetan Book of The Dead on Saturday 5 July at 10.00pm and 12.00pm at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music.

Shomyo
A Wikipedia entry on Shomyo that is brief but has links for further exploration.

Kojun Arai - bringing Shomyo to the concert hall
Interview with Kojun Arai, Shomyo practitioner and member of Shomyo no Kai - Voices of a Thousand Years.

The Zen Priests of Nothingness
We travel to Tokyo and Kyoto to meet a Zen sect with a tradition of music as spiritual practice whose influence continues today. They were the Fuke sect, and the wandering monks of this Buddhist lineage, known as the komuso, became famous as the Zen Priests of Nothingness. First broadcast on Encounter, ABC Radio National, 1 April 2007.

Music

CD title: Sonbou No Toki
Track title: Shakujo-Ichijo/ Shakujo-Nijo
Artist: Ushio Torikai/ Shomyo No Kai/ Sennen No Koe
Composer: trad and Torikai
CD details: JVC VZCG 563
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ushio_Torikai

CD title: Kaoru Kakizakai
Track title: Hon Sirabe
Artist: Kaoru Kakizakai
Composer: trad.
CD details: Victor VZCG 304
URL: http://www.komuso.com/people/Kakizakai_Kaoru.html

CD title: Visionary Tones: Traditional and Contemporary Kinko Style Shakuhachi Music
Track title: Kagero
Artist: Christopher Yohmei Blasdel
Composer: trad.
CD details: Bright One Records/ JASRAC BOCH-0001
URL: http://www2.gol.com/users/yohmei/Ebottom.htm

Presenter

Geoff Wood

Producer

Geoff Wood