Today let's talk about Basho being honored as "Haiku Saint" and his famous Haiku: Sound of old pond and fog jumping in.
Lately I read an article about if Basho was a possible ninja. To be frank, I'm a little shocked at the beginning, since I always regard him as a recluse or a monk. However, after reading the article, I just draw a conclusion that he was actually a ninja, instead of a possible ninjia, combined with my personal life experience.
My reasons are as follows:
Reason 1: Just as the article says,
Japan at the time(during the Edo period) was relatively closed. One could not travel freely, as there were checkpoints and post towns along all the major roadways. Basho could travel freely. And he carried a pen(brush) and paper with him at all times, writing notes as he travelled and visited a number of important figures, including daimyo at their homes and castles along the way. The perfect way to obtain intelligence information.
Yeah, if Basho wasn't a ninja, how could he have done so？Here we must know Basho was born to a low-ranked class, which means he absolutely couldn't be allowed to enjoy a series of privileges like the noble class, such as travelling the nation freely, let alone keep in touch with the VIP(very important person)/posh friends. Being a ninja for him was the only way to move in high society circles. Why am I so sure of it？Because I am well aware of what "a relatively closed society" is like since I am just the citizen of a country with "the Great Firewall". Certainly, the privileged class in China can travel abroad/the developed countries freely, whereas common Chinese even have no way to know the outside world directly, being forced to live like the blind and deaf. Do you guess what？ The government is keeping foreign media from reaching its people. I know it sounds rather weird in our modern world where the internet seems ubiquitous. Maybe you have heard that China owns the advanced technology such as online payment, high-speed train, etc. Yeah, it is true. But the whole Chinese internet is similar to a large LAN/local area network compared to the World-Wide-Web. Only a few foreign websites you can enter, most of them you can't unless you go round these barriers with the help of VPN. The Firewall is just like "the checkpoints and post towns along all the major roadways. " Even worse, every once in a while, the Great Fairwall will be upgraded. It means the present VPN you make great efforts to obtain is unavailable again. You must look for the next new proper VPN. The biggest challenge is how and where for you to get a proper VPN if you are trapped in LAN where all VPN resources/suppliers in public have been banned.
Reason 2: Let's appreciate the famous Haiku "Frog" at first!
"In an old quiet pond,
a frog leaps at one blow,
and soon the pond is calm again."
Obviously, such kind of zen-style poem describing an arcane world is just an iconic example of the life of ninja. The old pond is always so peaceful and quiet! Who can realize there was once a frog jumping into the water？Like who can notice a ninja has ever come and gone？
What is a nijia？
A person skilled in ninjutsu, a Japanese martial art characterized by stealthy movement and camouflage.
This Haiku also depicts my condition vividly！Yeah, from the appearance, nothing changed! I am the same as before. Nobody knows how I have gone through such huge kind of ups and downs and enjured such a tremendous tragedy that seems inexplicable! It is just due to the fact that nobody can understand my unspeakable story and suffering that tortures me deeply. Even if I was overwhelmed by the weight of my anguish so that my whole soul was shattered into pieces and drained out of my body, no one knows! Likewise, when I was overwhelmed by the love's ecstacy and my wildest dream became true, who knows？But only I know there is a special arcane world full of the cry of supreme joy and sorrow which exists. It is just a Haiku world where ninja belongs to.
A Special World
A special world for you and me
A special bond one cannot see
It wraps us up in its cocoon
And holds us fiercely in its womb.
Its fingers spread like fine spun gold
Gently nestling us to the fold
Like silken thread it holds us fast
Bonds like this are meant to last.
And though at times a thread may break
A new one forms in its wake
To bind us closer and keep us strong
In a special world, where we belong.
I think it is just the reason why Haiku is so charming and long-lasting.
Attached is a little poem I wrote not long before!
记忆锦盒
The brocade box of memory
把你的一切锁进记忆的锦盒
I locked all of you into a brocade box of memory
再裹上厚厚的红丝绒
Then wrapped it with the thick red velvet
如同尘封一坛女儿红
As if sealing a pot of yellow wine(According to the traditional Chinese custom, the family will seal and preserve a pot of yellow wine when daughter is born. Then the wine keeps intact until the daughter gets married.)
交给岁月，交给时光
Hand it over to the years and time
会是哪位幸运的诗人打开锦盒？
Which lucky poet will there be to open this brocade box?
惊喜地发现那口被深埋的爱之井
依然鲜活如初
To his surprise, he finds the well of love being deeply buried so long is still vivid as in the beginning
且愈加香醇
And more aromatic and sweeter