Mujitsu and Tairaku's Shakuhachi BBQ

On second thought, it may have been more in line with lunacy, though it served its purpose and then some.

I knew about the trend of tengai gradually covering more of the face over time, but hadn't given it much further thought until this thread made me think about it more carefully. That's the kind of thing I love about this forum. So I went back over pictures I have seen to see when the changes seem to have occurred. The earliest pictures I could find of the hats were from the first half of the 17th century. They seem to be pretty much like the hats of some monks today, not the ones with totally rounded profiles but those with the more triangular profile. Like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W8CSY14WSKc&NR=1

Some seem to be covering slightly more of the face, some slightly less, than today's monks, but all pretty normal looking. These differences could be due to variety in reality or just due to the artists. The differences I can notice do not seem to show any trend with time, being more or less consistently monk-like until the 1750s, when the more rounded basket-like shape appears. From the pictures I have seen at least, this seems to indicate a relatively sudden change. These still seem to be wider than they are tall, so you can still see out of them, i.e. see where you are walking. To look at people seems like you'd have to bend your head back or lift the hat up a little (they do these actions in the pictures sometimes). Then in the 1820s there is the longer version, taller than it is wide, which is the norm today. And it is only in these that the artist has identifiably drawn little holes to see out of, which would be necessary by that stage of development. I haven't looked at so many of the more modern pictures so the trend of totally covering may have appeared earlier than the 1820s. Anyway, those are the trends I have noticed so far.

Justin
http://senryushakuhachi.com/

Last edited by Justin (2009-06-16 01:12:13)

Trouser-type if possible. Skirt type is cheaper but in seiza you can't notice anyway, but even standing you may be fine. If you have to choice, trouser type of real silk is best.

Yeah right.

Back to topic, I think we should ask Shigeru Ban to design a modern flat pack tengai for us from cardboard. Or Issey Miyake. Anybody know those dudes?

edosan wrote:

[Pssssst....hey Brian: that there's spam, right there.]

I know but I was relishing the illusion that we gained a bit of estrogen in this shakuhachi pit.