tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786207835641480928.post3880254540925399066..comments2024-03-28T12:59:41.910-04:00Comments on NeverEnding Story: One Man's Maple Moon: Forest Tanka by Marilyn Humbert Chen-ou Liu, 劉鎮歐http://www.blogger.com/profile/06235248170011255532noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786207835641480928.post-61743960131117293122013-09-26T09:23:57.485-04:002013-09-26T09:23:57.485-04:00The compound “yūgen” 幽玄 (lit., depth and mystery) ...The compound “yūgen” 幽玄 (lit., depth and mystery) is made of two Chinese characters: “Yū” means “faint, dim,” and also “deep;” “gen” indicates the black color, the color of heaven, something far away, something quiet, and an occult principle. We find the character “gen” used in the Tao Te Ching (Classic of the Way and Integrity) to describe the “Way:"<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />These two -- the nameless and what is named -- emerge from the same source yet are referred to differently. Together they are called obscure (Chinese, xuan; Japanese, gen), the obscurest of the obscure, they are the swinging gateway of the manifold mysteries.1<br /><br /><br /><br /><br />Thus, “yūgen” is something well beyond the reach of man’s immediate perception and understanding, since it is too deep and too far for humans to reach, even conceptually. In ancient China, yūgen came to indicate the other world, as well as the Taoist Way and Buddhist enlightenment.2 -- Yūgen by Michael F. Marra<br /><br />For more info., see my Poetic Musings post, titled Ezra Pound’s "Metro Poem" as a Yugen Haiku, which can be accessed at http://neverendingstoryhaikutanka.blogspot.ca/2013/04/poetic-musings-ezra-pounds-metro-poem.htmlChen-ou Liu, 劉鎮歐https://www.blogger.com/profile/06235248170011255532noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-786207835641480928.post-15000045317364348462013-09-26T09:21:00.472-04:002013-09-26T09:21:00.472-04:00This is a rare atmospheric poem that conveys a str...This is a rare atmospheric poem that conveys a strong sense of yugen through riveting images, especially through those in the lower verse.Chen-ou Liu, 劉鎮歐https://www.blogger.com/profile/06235248170011255532noreply@blogger.com