Since today falls on the autumnal equinox day, I searched old Chinese poems associated with the season, only to find dismal passages like this one. As a matter of fact, in the daytime summer heat still remains, though. “Only plaintive autumn wind moves spikes of rice and millet, in other words, there is no one to hold a conversation with.”
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今日は秋分の日なので、秋に纏わる漢詩を探そうとしたら、こんな暗い一節ばかりが出てきました。実際には、日中はまだ夏の暑さです。「秋の物悲しい風が稲や黍の穂を動かす、つまり、風が吹いているだけで、語り合う人もいない。」
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This is a passage from an old-time Chinese poem about chrysanthemums’ fragrance. Apparently, it expresses moon lit chrysanthemums, insects’ chirping, chrysanthemums’ fragrance, namely, a variety of autumnal beauties competing with one another.
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古い中国の詩の一部です。月光に照らされた菊花、虫の声、菊の香りなど秋の美しさの競演のようだという意味らしいです。
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Today falls on August 15th in the old calendar, the day of the harvest moon. We Japanese have a custom of appreciating the moon. And I thought arranging my calligraphy with some Japanese silver grass and a small chestnut branch with a fruit would look nice because those plants are often associated with full moon. I wrote a passage from an old Chinese poem and a Japanese modern haiku. Both of their motif is the harvest moon.
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今日は中秋の明月にあたりますので、月と似合いそうなすすきや栗などと取り合わせました。明月を謳った古い中国の詩と日本の現代俳句です。
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I am afraid I am rather careless by nature. And as I broke my long-time favorite pair of glasses, I bought these new ones. Then the world started to look brighter and clearer, so I guess it worked out in the end.
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私はどうもそそっかしい人間で、長年愛用した眼鏡を壊してしまいました。それで眼鏡を新調したところ、世の中が明るく綺麗に見えるようになって、結果オーライです。
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Near-future/
Reflected by/
New glasses/
Calligraphy and translation by Chio
This is the seasonal phrase for this time of the year. “Black birds” here mean house swallows and the whole phrase means house swallows leave for the south in fall. According to a folklore, swallows have always been a symbol for happiness. The story goes if they come to your house and build a nest every year, they should bring happiness. My mother’s natal home was just like that, which made my grandpa very happy.
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この時期の七十二候の名称です。燕が南国に向けて帰っていく時期だという意味だそうです。燕は昔から、毎年家に来て巣を作ると縁起がいいとされていたようで、母の実家でも毎年燕の一家が春に来て秋に帰っていくので、祖父が喜んでいました。
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I thought I would change things about me. First, I have been gradually shifting my longtime theme color. That is, from pink to green, which I remember was my late father’s favorite color. On top of that, the Chinese characters for “green” 緑and “human bonds” 縁look alike.
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ちょっと気分転換したくて、随分長い間イメージカラーだったピンクからグリーンに変えようと思い立ちました。確か父の好きな色だったと思います。それに「緑」という字は「縁」に似ています。
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A neighborhood lady took me to a suburban area north of Kyoto which many people find to be an old place of Japanese people’s hearts. I just kept enjoying the views around sitting on the passenger seat and I realized it was such a beautiful place.
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ご近所さんが、京都の山里と呼べるところに連れて行ってくださいました。私はただずっと助手席に座って、周りの景色を楽しんでいました。確かに美しいところだと思いました。
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Deep human empathy in the mountain village/
Inn of autumn leaves/
Calligraphy and translation by Chio
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This is a modern haiku that expresses how beautiful and clear the autumn sky is. I chose this one as a material for my calligraphy because I really found it beautiful.
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綺麗に澄み渡った秋空の句です。綺麗だなと思ってこれを選びました。
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Forgot to put back one piece of cloud/
Where it was/
Autumn sky/
Calligraphy and translation by Chio
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My present calligraphy teacher often says to us during her class something like “when you teach calligraphy…”. However, I don’t feel much interest in teaching. Having said that, because I define my ultimate goal as “to spread this art and culture called calligraphy to the whole world”, I think I need to be prepared for the day when someone comes to me asking to teach them calligraphy. So, the photo shows my examples for beginners to practice.
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今の先生はお稽古の途中でよく「皆さんが教えるときにはね・・・」とお話ししてくださいますが、私は教えることにあまり興味がありません。けれども、「書という芸術であり文化であるものを世界中に広める」が私の最終目標だとする限りは、いつか誰かが教えてほしいと言ってくださったときのために準備はしておかなければと思うのです。そこで、初心者のお稽古のための例として書いてみました。
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I posted photos of my teacher’s models of tasks for a test of teacher’s qualification that my teacher gave me about forty years ago and my present results practicing them. They were of print style and semi-cursive style. Now the photo here are my present results practicing with my teacher’s models of cursive style and kana, Japanese phonogram. I have identified myself as a qualified teacher of the school established by my teacher for more than forty years and now after those many years, I can’t help but wonder what level of calligraphy I handed in and got this qualification at the time.
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以前、40年ぐらい前にいただいた受傳試験の課題のうち楷書と行書のお手本とそれを今習った私の字を投稿しましたが、この写真は草書と仮名の課題をもう一度習ったものです。私は40年以上の間新日本書道会の師範を名乗っていますが、当時はいったいどれほどの字を提出してこの資格をいただけたのかしらと考えてしまいます。
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