Old Taoist

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Rooting around in a Kyoto antique shop, Stephen Addiss came across a fine example of literati painting by a hand he didn't recognize. Little did he know then that he had discovered an artist he now calls the last of Japan's great literati, Fukuda Kodojin. Kodojin, who styled himself "Old Taoist," should have gone the way of other effete scholars with Japan's radical 19th-century modernization. Instead he wandered in the boundless realms of the three treasures--painting, poetry, and calligraphy--until his death in 1944. Addiss discovered the genuine article, a scholar of cultured sensibility who had mastered the ancient Chinese arts and expressed them with a style all his own. Addiss introduces us to that style through dozens of examples of Kodojin's painting and calligraphy, and over 250 poems. To translate the Chinese poetry, he recruited Jonathan Chaves, who shows the scholar's work to be elegant and wistful, echoing themes of Confucianism and Taoism. Kodojin's work transports us back to a time when art was a way of communicating among friends and not cheapened by exchanges of money. Old Taoist reminds us that even in a modern world, the pursuit of beauty and genuineness are not only possible but necessary. --Brian Bruya


David Pollack, University of Rochester
Kodôjin´s poems and paintings reveal both the triumphs and the ambiguities of Japan´s new age. . . . A triumph of modern scholarship.


Review
"Kodôjin's achievement, although eccentric, was nonetheless remarkable. Its quality and variety are well-represented in this handsome volume, which rescues and revives his work for modern readers." -- Japan Times


Review
"Written in clear prose and complemented by skillful translations of Kodôjin's poetry, this richly informative volume brings the reclusive painter-poet to life for scholars and general readers alike." -- Karen M. Gerhart, associate professor of Asian humanities, Northern Arizona University


Review
Kodôjin´s poems and paintings reveal both the triumphs and the ambiguities of Japan´s new age, rooted in the Chinese past, nourished for centuries on Japanese soil, and now turned with both expectation and trepidation toward the West. His work caps the rich Japanese heritage. . . . The story of Addiss´s patient unearthing of this unusual life and work, very nearly lost to history, itself makes a gripping narrative, and is a triumph of modern scholarship.


Book Description
In the literary and artistic milieu of early modern Japan the Chinese and Japanese arts flourished side by side. Kodôjin, the "Old Taoist" (1865-1944), was the last of these great poet-painters in Japan. Portraying this last representative of a tradition of gentle and refined artistry in the midst of a society that valued economic growth and national achievement, this beautifully illustrated book includes a wide selection of his finest poems, paintings, and calligraphy.


About the Author
Stephen Addiss is Tucker-Boatwright Professor in the Humanities in the Department of Art at the University of Richmond. His many books include The Art of Zen: Paintings and Calligraphy by Japanese Monks 1600-1925 and How to Look at Japanese Art.Jonathan Chaves is professor and chair of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at George Washington University. He is the editor and translator of many works, including The Columbia Book of Later Chinese Poetry, and is the coauthor, with J. Thomas Rimer, of Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing (Columbia 1998).J. Thomas Rimer is chairman of the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures at the University of Pittsburgh. His many works include Modern Japanese Fiction and Its Traditions: An Introduction, and he is the coauthor, with Jonathan Chaves, of Japanese and Chinese Poems to Sing (Columbia 1998).


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Addiss (humanities, U. of Richmond) characterizes Kodojin as the last great poet-painter in Japan inspired by the literary and artistic milieu of early modern Japan in which the Chinese and Japanese arts flourished side by side. He composed a number of Taoist-influenced Chinese and Japanese poems and created lively ink paintings. Jonathon Chaves (East Asian languages and literatures, George Washington U.) contributes translations and commentary on the Chinese poems. Among the illustrations are eight colored reproductions. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)


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