The Pattern and Practice of Making Zekku: The Poetical Style of Gozan Temple at the Poetry Contest of the Bunmei Period

Abstract

In the fifteenth year of the Bunmei Period Ashikaga-Yoshihisa, the ninth shogun of the Muromachi government, held a poetry contest where the court nobles and the Zen monks of Gozan Temple were invited to sing zekku or poems written in four lines with seven Chinese characters in each line. According to the poetical convention of zekku, all the competitors had to present a given theme in the first two phrases and develop the theme or pay a tribute to the host in the last two phrases. Faithfully adhering to the pattern of composition, however, the monks showed more skills in making tasteful songs than the noble poets. Here I will explicate the unique style of Gozan Temple by reading the monks' poems at the contest.