It is often said that Nishiyama-Sōin, the master of
renga linked verse, had started rendering
haiku poems as a hobby since he became a Buddhist priest. This article will point out the falsehood of this view to review what it was to make
renga and
haiku poems in his literary and religious career. He actually started
haiku not as a hobby but for a more practical purpose; he became so much engaged in social intercourse after entering the priesthood that he exploited
haiku to facilitate his public life. This is why he used a different poetical pseudonym according to whom he entertained. Taking advantage of the rise of Ōbaku, the third sect of Zen Buddhism, Sōin gained a good reputation as a
haiku poet with his songs of the culture of western Japan. Meanwhile he also continued to play a leading role in the
renga circle of Ise Shrine. In short, he shrewdly adopted a double persona as a
renga master and as a
haiku poet to attain secular popularity.
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