Page 61 - Designing_Nature_The_Rinpa_Aesthetic_in_Japanese_Art Metropolitan Museum PUB

Central to the discussion of the Rinpa aesthetic is waka, the
laconic form of Japanese court verse written in five lines containing 5-7-5-7-7
syllables, respectively. Since ancient times, any member of Japanese palace society

would have been able to compose waka when the occasion called for it. Poetry
played an instrumental role in court ceremony and social interaction and was even
a crucial part of courtship, since it was customary for lovers to exchange poems in

their own elegantly brushed calligraphy as a way of demonstrating cultural compati-
bility. Indeed, just as important as the content and sound of a poem was the way it
appeared on paper, especially if it was to be presented as a gift or token of affection.
Part of calligraphy’s important place in East Asian cultures can be attributed to
its close relationship with the other arts. Although legibility of writing remained a

primary goal for religious and official documents, from early on calligraphy in East
Asia acquired status as a means of artistic expression. An eighth-century Chinese
emperor referred to calligraphy, poetry, and painting as the Three Perfections, or

supreme arts. In Japan, the tradition of inscribing poetry on sumptuously decorated
papers reached its zenith in the late Heian period. The diaries of Heian courtiers
poems and court ladies reveal a remarkable enthusiasm for exchanging elegantly rendered

poems and letters, prompting Arthur Waley, translator par excellence of the East

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