Summaries from Number 46
国際基督教大学キリスト教と文化研究所発行
国際基督教大学学報 IV-B
『人文科学研究（キリスト教と文化）』
International Christian University Publication IV-B
Humanities: Christianity and Culture
Two Psychoanalytical Readings of The Little Prince. . . . . . Christine de Larroche-Kodama
This is the presentation and analysis of two books written by two psychoanalysts about Saint-Exupéry’s Le Petit Prince (The Little Prince).
Marie-Louise von Franz gave a series of twelve lectures during the winter semester 1959-60 at the Jung Institute in Zurich on the subject of the eternal youth type. The first eight lectures consisted in an analysis of Saint-Exupéry’s book, the French pilot and writer being presented as a prototype of The Problem of the Puer Aeternus published in 1970.
Eugen Drewermann, a German theologian and psychoanalyst, also gave his own interpretation of The Little Prince in a book published in 1984 without any reference to Franz. After a detailed presentation of each book, the two psychoanalytical interpretations are compared. A quick overview of La Sagesse du Petit Prince (The Wisdom of the Little Prince) by the psychologist Pierre Lassus, published in 2014 shows, by contrast, the depth and perspicacity of the two psychoanalytic readings complementing each other and offering a new perspective on Saint-Exupéry himself and his most famous work.
The Current Discussion on the so-called Deuteronomistic History: Literary Criticism and Theological Consequences. . . . . . Thomas C. Römer (Professor, Collège de France / Université de Lausanne)
This article deals with the current debate about the so-called “Deuteronomistic History” (DtrH). It presents the different positions in Old Testament scholarship and argues for a model that takes into account as many observations as possible brought forward by the tenants of different positions. An analysis of Deut 12 shows that there is indeed evidence that one should distinguish in the dtr edition of the books from Deuteronomy to Kings three main layers and eras: a first dtr edition in the 7th century BCE, a second revision dealing with the problems of the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem during the 6th century and a last revision in the first half of the Persian period in a segregationist perspective. This threefold edition can also be detected in three different conclusions of the DtrH. When Deuteronomy was cut off from the following books in order to become the conclusion of the Pentateuch, it underwent a redaction that emphasizes its function as the last book of the Torah.
Natural Theology and Natural Religion in the Scottish Enlightenment. . . . . . Gordon Graham (Professor, Henry Luce III Professor of Philosophy and the Arts, Princeton Theological Seminary)
In the period of the Scottish Enlightenment the term ‘natural religion’ was used to refer to two important different phenomena — theological beliefs based on evidence drawn from the natural world, and the religious impulses that can be found ‘implanted’ in human nature. This paper takes two works by David Hume as exemplifying this difference. It critically investigates what Hume has to say about natural religion in the second sense, and compares it with the approach of his friend and contemporary Adam Smith. The paper argues that, though in general the two philosophers have much in common, on the matter of the place of religion in human nature, and its social accommodation, they differ significantly, and a case is made for thinking that Smith’s account of religion is superior to Hume’s.
社会、言語、思想──スコットランド啓蒙の諸相──. . . . . . 古家 弘幸（徳島文理大学准教授）
[Society, Language, and Ideas: Aspects of the Scottish Enlightenment. . . . . . Hiroyuki Furuya]
本稿はスコットランド啓蒙が果たした大きな思想的貢献として、道徳哲学と経済学を取り上げる。そしてスコットランド啓蒙思想全体に共通する特徴の一つとして、人間の持つ自然な社交性についてのストア的分析について紹介する。
スコットランド啓蒙の道徳哲学において、ハチスンはキケロの中で規範主義的なストア哲学に好意的な部分を重視しつつキケロをストア派として読んだが、ヒュームはキケロを懐疑派として理解し、特に確率や錯覚、美や徳の判断基準としての功利性の重視など、懐疑派の現実主義的な側面を評価し、そこに自身が構想する実験的方法に基づく道徳論との親近性を見ていた。スミスは、マンドゥヴィルの逆説をストア哲学の厳格主義的な道徳論を放棄することで解決しようとしたヒュームの方法には賛成できなかったが、ヒュームがエピクロス派や懐疑派の道徳論から受け継いだ現実主義的な側面は評価し、むしろハチスンが好意的に受け入れたストア哲学の規範主義的な側面に批判の目を向けた。スミスは慈善や憐憫を説き富や地位の魅惑に警告を発する道徳家たちを尻目に、身分の上下や社会秩序と平和が、目に見えにくく不確実な知恵や徳ではなく、明白に違いが分かる出自や富に基づいているという現実を、道徳家たちの教えの正しさとは別に事実として認め、むしろ肯定的に捉えている。スミスの道徳哲学はストア哲学やハチスンを始め、伝統的な道徳哲学の権利問題重視から、ヒュームに影響を受けて現実問題重視にスタンスを変えた点に長所があり、それゆえに経済学の源泉となり得たのだと見なすことができる。
スコットランド啓蒙の経済学において、スミスの「見えざる手」のコンセプトは、社交性や社会の調和、独立した個人の行動の背後で働く神の摂理の導きなどのストア派の思想の再考と言語の革新を通して練り上げられた成果であった。『道徳感情論』と『国富論』の両著で頻繁に使われる「ひとりでに」（of its own accord）などのスミスの言い回しは、ストア哲学の言語が、経済の各部門・各産業が独立しつつ相互に協調し合うことで最大の利益を生み出す「自然的自由」の状態をスミスが描写するために応用され洗練される過程の中で、経済学の言語として昇華された典型的な表現である。キケロを通じたストア哲学の言語を発展させていったことは、ストア哲学に強く影響されたハチスンの道徳哲学をヒュームが既に破壊してしまった後の時代にあって、それでもスミスをしてヒューム的な懐疑論に陥ることなくマンドゥヴィル批判を可能にした戦略であり、スミスが創り上げた経済学の言語はその産物であった。
ストア哲学の言語は、自然法学とシヴィック・ヒューマニズムという相反する思想的伝統の双方の言語の源流であり、両者の思想的伝統がどのように18世紀スコットランドにおいて再融合し、啓蒙思想の形成に寄与したかという複雑な思想史を解き明かしていく上で結節点を占めている。
尊厳死・安楽死・PAD. . . . . . 村上 陽一郎（名誉教授）
[On Death with Dignity, PAD and Euthanasia. . . . . . Yoichiro P. Murakami]
医療技術の高度化に伴い、〈死への道程〉（deathではなくdying）は人為的にかなりな程度引き延ばされるようになった。そこで起る諸問題に対して、倫理的にも、法制上も、正面から向き合う時間のないままに、突出した事例（意図的と偶発的とを問わず）がしばしば起るようになり、対応も後追いの状態が続いている。しかしここ十年ほどの間に、先進圏では、国民的な議論を踏まえて、ラディカルな法整備に舵を切る例が見られるようになってきた。本稿では、そうした諸例に学びながら、日本社会として、どのような選択を行うべきかを考える。
「戦さは男の仕事」？ ──『イリアス』第6歌におけるヘクトル像再考──. . . . . . 川島 重成
[“War will be the concern for men” — ?: Hector in the Iliad VI Reconsidered. . . . . . Shigenari Kawashima]
「戦さは男の仕事、このイリオスに生を享けた男たちの皆に、とりわけてわたしにそれは任せておけばよい。（6.492-3）」――これはヘクトルが妻アンドロマケに、「機を織れ」と勧告した直後に発したあまりにも有名なセリフである。機を織るのは女性の典型的な仕事であり、戦さは男性に課せられた固有の役目だというのである。しかし『イリアス』第6歌の有名な「ヘクトルとアンドロマケの語らい」の場をつぶさに観察するに、二人のありようは男と女の硬直した関係に終始しているとは言い難い。ヘクトルの世界はアンドロマケによって、そして彼女に先立ち、ヘカベとヘレネ（とパリス）によっても、つまり女性的なるものによって次第に影響され、浸潤されてゆくように思われる。
二人の出会いの場は、男の世界と女の世界の境界線たるトロイア城のスカイア門である。アンドロマケは「万一あなたを失うことになったら、墓の下に入る方がずっとましだとわたしは思っています（6.410-1）」と夫に迫る。他方ヘクトルは常に第一線で戦えと教えられてきたという。ヘクトルの言動を支配している名誉と恥の念の背後には、トロイア陥落の日が近いとの予感があった。この運命感、突きつめて言えば、人間は皆死すべき者である、という生の感覚は、女性にも等しくあった。しかしそれに対処する仕方が、男と女では違っていた。
スカイア門でアンドロマケに相対しているヘクトルは、彼女の存在そのものが発する女性固有の内的力に感応したのか、あるいはそれに先立つヘカベ、パリス、特にヘレネとの出会いと折衝に次第に影響されたということもあってか、彼の男性性を規定する恥と名誉を相対化する視点をすでに獲得し始めていた。彼はトロイア陥落後、妻に襲いかかる悲惨を想像し、次のように言う。「わたしはそなたが敵に曳かれながら泣き叫ぶ声を聞くより前に、死んで盛り土の下に埋められたい。（6.464-5）」この二行は明らかに、上に言及したアンドロマケのあの死の希求（6.410-1）を受け、それを引き継いだものである。ヘクトルはここで妻に限りなく近く寄りそい、ついに彼女の言葉（女性の言葉）を用いて、彼女の心の琴線に触れたのである。
しかしこの女性的なるものの価値を知り、その魅力に引きつけられるヘクトルは、それだけ一層、その価値の担い手たちの生存をトロイアの男として守るために、「戦は男の仕事」の理念に立ち戻らざるをえない。ヘクトルはこの矛盾を終始生きてゆかねばならなかった。
立てかけられた箒：日常と驚異についての考察. . . . . . 岩切 正一郎
[Balai contre un mur : étude sur le quotidien et le merveilleux. . . . . . Shoichiro Iwakiri]
Suzaku, film de Naomi Kawase réalisé en 1997, raconte la vie d’une famille que vient frapper un drame. Le chef de famille, Kozo, se donne la mort, ce qui entraîne la dispersion des membres de la famille. Il leur a laissé un film 8 mm qu’ils décident de regarder avant de se séparer. Ce sont des choses ordinaires et des gens de village qui ont été filmés et, tout au début du film, on peut voir l’image d’un balai appuyé contre le mur du seuil de la maison.
Quelle est la nécessité de cette image en apparence insignifiante dans un film de second niveau inséré dans la diégésis du film de premier niveau qu’est Suzaku ? Notre étude a tenté une interprétation comme réponse à cette question.
Nous avons pris comme point de départ de notre discussion la pensée sur le quotidien avancée par M. Sheringham qui le définit, à l’instar de Blanchot, comme l’absence d’événement. Nous avons ensuite constaté, en nous référant à « Une lettre » de Lord Chandos de Hofmannsthal et À la recherche du temps perdu de Proust, que c’est au coeur de cette absence même que quelque chose d’essentiel et d’ineffable émergeait dans la littérature du XXe siècle.
En même temps, à partir de l’indication faite par Chandos du charme que révèle un objet banal dans un moment privilégié, nous nous sommes référés à une photo intitulée « The Open door » (1844) de l’album The Pencil of Nature de Talbot, qui représente un balai appuyé au seuil d’une maison vue de l’extérieur. On peut alors remarquer que l’image d’un balai qu’on voit dans le film de Kozo, pris à contre-jour, agit comme si on voyait le balai de Talbot de l’intérieur de la maison. Et si on pense à l’idée de ce dernier sur la photographie, qui considérait qu’elle permettrait de saisir, tel l’oeil de l’artiste, la beauté d’un objet banal à laquelle l’oeil ordinaire ne paie pas attention, et que l’art photographique pourrait fournir à l’homme ordinaire un moyen de la saisir, on est alors en mesure de dire que le film de Kozo, homme ordinaire, nous fait signe pour nous faire remonter jusqu’au charme originaire de la photographie et du film lui-même, comme l’ont constaté les premiers spectateurs de films des Frères Lumière. À travers le film de Kozo, on reçoit un message du cinéaste ou du directeur de photographie qui nous révèle qu’au-delà ou en-deçà de la vie menacée par la crise économique et la politique utilitaire, réside ce qui nous transmet le vrai sens de notre existence.
「契約の書」、「申命記法典」、「神聖法典」の相互的影響関係とその時代背景. . . . . . 魯 恩碩
[The Mutual Relationships between the Covenant Code, the Deuteronomic Code and the Holiness Code in their Historical Context. . . . . . Johannes Unsok Ro]
The dating and the historical background of the Covenant Code (CC) are much debated. CC has long been regarded as the oldest law code in Israelite history. However, in our view, it would be more appropriate to refrain from using labels such as J, E and JE for the characterization of the pre-priestly Tetrateuch and, accordingly, reconsider the dating and historical background of CC. Regarding the final stage of the composition, our contention is that CC derives from Judean society in Persian era Palestine. The main purpose of this article is to indicate several pieces of evidence that support this hypothesis. The biblical law codes each reflect the specific perspectives of the communal networks in Judean society of Persian era Palestine. Since no subgroup in Palestine occupied an overpowering position, the law codes were simply juxtaposed, under the political pressure of the Persian empire, in order to shape a document of consensus.
ヒュームにおけるスピノザ的諸主題. . . . . . 矢嶋 直規
[Spinozistic Themes in Hume’s Philosophy. . . . . . Yajima Naoki]
スピノザは彼以降の西洋近代哲学の展開に大きな影響を与えた哲学者である。ヒュームの哲学もまたスピノザの影響を受けて成立した体系の一つである。スピノザとヒュームに共通する最大の主題は「自然」である。両者は、倫理を自然によって基礎づけることを哲学の根本的な目的としていた。ヒュームにってhuman natureとはいわゆる人間本性ではなく、人間に固有の知覚の連合とそれに基づいて成立する現象の総体としての自然を意味する。ヒュームもスピノザも因果の本質が必然性にあると見なしている。ただしスピノザの必然性が理性により認識されるのに対し、ヒュームの必然性は感覚によって感じられるという違いがある。ヒュームとスピノザの体系の共通点と相違点を理解する上でスピノザの「一般的概念（notiones universales）」とヒュームの「一般観念（general ideas）」の関係を考察することが重要である。スピノザは「一般的概念」を第一種認識に属する想像力の働きに基づく人間の誤謬の源泉として批判している。それに対してヒュームはロックの「抽象観念（abstract ideas）」を批判しながら、一般観念に独自の理解を付与している。とりわけヒュームはロックによる抽象観念を、人間精神の有限性を根拠として批判しており、この点でヒュームとスピノザは共通の認識に基づいている。スピノザは一般的概念を理性による「共通概念（notiones communes）」によって克服し、十全な認識としての第二種認識へと移行する。それに対してヒュームは一般観念に止まりつつ、一般性の拡大によってより妥当な認識が成立していくという観念の自然な発展の理論を提示する。ヒュームの一般観念は習慣から社会的な慣習へと発展することで単に個人的な主観的認識に止まるものではなくなる。スピノザもヒュームもそれぞれの哲学によって他者と協働して幸福を達成する筋道を示そうとする。ただし、スピノザが哲学的認識による理性的主体自身の救いを目的とするのに対してヒュームは一般的認識の成立に基づく共同体全体の安定を目的としている。安定した共同体は富と学芸を生み出し、人間性そのものを発展させる。ヒュームにおいて個人の救いは、個人の理性による哲学的認識にではなく共同体全体の力に委ねられるのである。
Wordsworth’s Cabinets and Virtuosi: Unstable Forms of Knowledge in The Prelude. . . . . . Christopher E. J. Simons
This paper examines examples of the language of the Kunstkammer or
Wunderkammer (the collector’s cabinet of art, antiquities, ‘curiosities’, and ‘wonders’), and the character of the ‘virtuoso’ (the collector, antiquary, connoisseur, and natural philosopher) and its parodies in William Wordsworth’s autobiographical epic poem, The Prelude (completed 1805). The paper uses a theoretical methodology based on ideas in Foucault’s The Order of Things and Horst Bredekamp’s The Lure of Antiquity and the Cult of
the Machine. It further draws on the historical context of tensions between scholasticism and naturalism in the work of writers including Basil Willey, Walter Houghton, and John Brewer. Close readings of four passages in The
Prelude related to cabinets and virtuosi then invite discussion of the text’s complex positions on nature, classification, and mechanistic philosophy in the context of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century epistemologies. The
paper argues that the images of the ‘cabinet’ and the ‘virtuoso’ are highly unstable signifiers in their historical contexts. These images allow the poem to simultaneously critique opposing forces in intellectual history. On the one hand, these images critique the naturalism of the ‘New Science’ of the Enlightenment—the legacies of Bacon, Kepler, Descartes, and Locke— while making assumptions about its mechanistic and utilitarian goals, and its devotion to classifying and categorising objects and phenomena. On the other hand, these images also carry an implicit critique of the supernatural scholasticism of the classical and pre-Early-Modern periods, which manifests in the late eighteenth century as retrograde antiquarianism, scientific dilettantism, and the character of the myopic antiquary or
collector. Here the text makes contrasting assumptions about the disorder, anti-historicism, and superstitions of the Kunstkammer as the prototypical museum. While the Prelude texts generally position Wordsworth against
mechanistic natural philosophy, in favour of a more superstitious scholasticism, they simultaneously display a methodical, analytical Enlightenment mind at work. Through readings of passages of cabinets and virtuosos in Books 2, 3, and 5 of The Prelude, the paper concludes that Wordsworth’s occasional use of these images in his work—what he might term objects removed from context in order to be classified, arranged, and positioned ‘In disconnection, dead and spiritless’—significantly bears on a central concern in his poetry: the relationship between history, nature, and the creative imagination.
Haunted Homes and Uncanny Spaces: The Gothic in the Poetry of Emily Dickinson. . . . . . Samantha Landau (Lecturer, Showa Women’s University)
This essay will explore the image of the Gothic home in Emily Dickinson’s poetry using close readings of her poems and historical sources. Analysis of nineteenth century Gothic texts will provide evidence that an admiration of female Gothic authors lead Dickinson to emulate many of the themes, motifs, and symbols they used. Their influence combines with her preoccupation with the space of the home, a predilection reflected in her letters and her poetry. Readings of Dickinson’s poems demonstrate that the home may be seen as both a physical space (the house) and a mental space (the mind). These spaces present positive possibilities as well as menacing confinement, a duality fundamental to the Gothic genre. Dickinson also discusses houses in a similar way to Gothic authors—namely, she writes of the house’s dual nature, that it can be both familiar and frightening, and that it is an uncanny space. She treats the house as an ambiguous subject and a powerful setting that can indicate a radical differentiation between the meaning and unmeaning of events, and the significance or insignificance of persons.
Overall, Dickinson’s poetry presents the reader with a phenomenology of home inextricable from the Gothic mode. Tangible constructions in the form of architectural metaphors lend support to her inherently ambiguous and often uncanny subject matter. Behind the doors and the windows, inside the chambers and underneath the gables of the houses in her poems, there exist social values of hospitality, gentility, and distinction, the joy and comfort associated with a happy home, but also anxieties, guilt, and fears. She employs numerous themes and symbols to illustrate the various significances attached to space, but her poems are most Gothic in their use of the loss of the house, which condemns her narrators to a marginal existence, disturbed, and unable to find a place to call “home.”
内村鑑三における預言者研究の特色とその思想史的意義──ロバート・N・ベラーの議論をてがかりに──. . . . . . 柴田 真希都
[Characteristics and Historical Significance of Uchimura Kanzo’s Study of the Hebrew Prophets: With Aid from Robert N. Bellah. . . . . . Makito Shibata]
The purpose of this paper is twofold. First, it aims to clarify the characteristics of the study of the Hebrew Prophets by Uchimura Kanzo, who is called “a prophet in the modern era” both in Japan and abroad. Second, this paper also attempts to show the significance of his study on the Prophets in the history of Japanese thought in the light of Robert N. Bellah’s concept “prophetic individualism”.
In Section 1, I examine this concept of Bellah. About half a century ago he introduced this concept in his discussion on “political loyalty” and “the resistance to power” in the history of Japan’s modernization. More attention needs to be paid to the implications of the fact that, at the end of this discussion, Bellah gives special regard to Uchimura and his role in Japan’s history of “prophetic individualism”. In Section 2, I turn my discussion to Uchimura’s study of the Prophets. Its aim is to show that his presentation of each Prophet’s personality and actions is quite multifaceted in approach and rich in content. Section 3 presents three notable images of the Prophets, which are found in Uchimura’s study. Those images are: Prophets as revolutionaries or progressivists; Prophets as “the friend of humankind” in the sense that they severely criticized people for their unmoral behavior; and, Prophets as the instrument of God as a result of being called by Him against their own will.
In the following two sections I examine Uchimura’s political and social thought by focusing upon (1) his critique of patriotism and (2) his pacifist thought; both of which are closely linked to his study of the Prophets. Section 4 considers Uchimura’s critique of his contemporaries’ idea of patriotism and his own alternative to it. My aim is to explain the reasons why he regarded the patriotism of the Prophets as the best alternative for leading each nation to a morally right direction. In Section 5, I give the examples of how Uchimura’s interpretation of the images of the Prophets in the Old Testament is related to his analysis of peace issues. These examples prove, I argue, that in his pacifist thought the images of his Prophets constitute not only the models for him to be followed in order to show an absolute faith in God, but also the starting points to discover what human beings must do as their duty in this real world.
In Section 6, the relation of Uchimura’s study of the Prophets with his social realism is examined on the basis of my discussion above. Referring to Bellah’s concept of “prophetic individualism” again, I demonstrate that Uchimura was well aware of the limits of human nature but, at the same time, founded his hope on the historical potentials which he detected in “the courage to stand utterly alone” from the Prophets in his study. This recognition played a key role, I argue, in Uchimura’s realistic judgment of social situations in his contemporary period. The virtues shown by the Prophets as well as their courage to fulfill their own duties led Uchimura to follow the footsteps of those predecessors in his own public life. This is one of the most significant legacies that he left in Japan’s history of ethics.
乾山焼──発想とデザインの資源──. . . . . . リチャード・ウィルソン，小笠原 佐江子
[Kenzan Ware: Conceptual Basis and Design Sources. . . . . . Richard L. Wilson and Saeko Ogasawara]
Ogata Kenzan (1663-1743) was no ordinary potter. The scion of a highly cultured Kyoto family, he spent his early adulthood pursuing Zen and studying Chinese poetry and calligraphy. When he finally took up ceramics at age thirty-seven, it wasn’t to display manual skill, but rather to translate the world known to him into ceramic design. This “world” can be divided into one, the resources that supported Kenzan’s education and profession, and two, the resources that supported Kenzan designs. The purpose of this article is to survey both areas and link them to specific concepts and works asociated with Kenzan.
Kenzan grew up in a period where private teachers and study in private academies were well within the reach of wealthy urban commoners. Although no direct references remain as to how Kenzan was educated, inferences can be made based on evidence surrounding his great uncle Honami Koetsu (1558-1637), his father Ogata Soken (1621-1687), and Confucian scholar Ito Jinsai (1627-1705), related to the Ogata through marriage. We conclude that Kenzan was trained by his father and select private teachers. Education included reading as well as receiving lessons: Kenzan inherited the family library, and the authors speculate about its contents. Subsequently, when Kenzan took up ceramics he accessed a completely different set of personnel. The occupational dictionary Jinrin kinmozui (1690) permits a reconstruction of crafts producers and merchants working in specialties that supported Kenzan ware directly or indirectly.
Printed and illustrated books inform almost all of Kenzan’s work. As the authors introduced in 2004, the inscriptions on Kenzan’s Chinese-style ceramics derived from the Ming anthology Yuanji huofa (J: Enki kappo), and those on Japanese-style ceramics were largely based on Sanjonishi Sanetaka’s waka anthology Setsugyokushu. This article reveals many more. Sources for Kenzan-ware painted designs can be located in esho, ehon, gafu and hinagata which were burgeoning in Kenzan’s day. In addition to their value as source materials, these books also help to reconstruct the expectations of Kenzan’s patrons. It is no exaggeration to say that Kenzan ware was purchased, used, and enjoyed by a new generation of bibliophiles.
Considering that he was raised in a family that purveyed luxurious textiles to the court, it comes as no surprise that textile art should serve as a source for Kenzan’s designs. However to date researchers have only been able to vaguely—and anachronistically—link the mid-seventeenth century kosode designs in the family archives to Kenzan’s style. This article places more emphasis on kosode designs published in Kenzan’s lifetime. The authors have found that Kenzan appropriated hinagata patterns from the period between the 1680s and mid-1710s. These appear in his ceramics from the Shotoku-era (1711-1715), when he began to cater to the mass market. At the same time the name of Kenzan’s older brother Korin (1657-1716) was popularly linked to textile design, and from the Kyoho era (1716-1736) the so-called “Korin kosode” designs form a common horizon with designs on Kenzan ware.
The tea ceremony integrates material environment, ritual performance, and cultural memory. Kenzan can only be linked to formal tea study (Omotesenke) posthumously, but his works leave no doubt that he was thoroughly familiar with vessels for drinking tea and meal service.
Kenzan was cognizant of the current developments in fine dining. The kaiseki tradition of the tea ceremony formed a foundation, but new elements in Kenzan’s day include enhanced food classification systems, codes of etiquette, and enhanced food visuality. Against this background, Kenzan was not content to create generic pots. Inscriptions on matching boxes that accompany certain Kenzan ware refer to specific vessel types or uses. The authors have matched these functions with their appearance in contemporary cuisine manuals (ryori-bon).
Together with ceramics, lacquerware is central to the tea ceremony, its food service, and more abbreviated customs of eating and drinking. Additionally, as a long-treasured implement for writers, lacquerware is associated with poetry and calligraphy. In appropriating a wide variety of lacquerware shapes in his ceramics, Kenzan added a layer of value. Especially the use of lacquer-inspired rectilinear forms, which are congenial with writing and painting, must be recognized as a major contribution of Kenzan-ware design. The flat square dish (suzuributa) and smaller square dish with rounded corners and shaved surfaces (kannamezara) were favorite shapes for Kenzan, and they emerge as key vessels in serving hors d’oeuvres (kuchi-tori) that augment set menus in kaiseki or stand alone in more informal entertainments.
Finally, Kenzan’s designs are rooted in earlier traditions of decorated ceramics. He borrowed elements from Chinese Cizhou stoneware and Jingdezhen and Zhangzhou porcelain, Vietnamese porcelain, Thai stoneware, Dutch earthenware, and Korean stoneware. Domestically, sources can be found in Mino stoneware, Karatsu stoneware, Hizen porcelain, and Omuro (Ninsei) ware. Many of these products are described in the contemporary connoisseurship manual Wakan sho dogu kenchi-sho (1694), and thus link Kenzan design to a booming ceramics market.
In surveying these resources and their applications, two things stand out. One is the sheer breadth of sources utilized, evoking Kenzan’s personal resourcefulness and encyclopedic knowledge of cultural traditions, behaviors, and material traces. The encyclopedic aspect connects to a second element: Kenzan ware succeeded because it resonated with upwardly mobile audiences, proud of their newfound access to many forms of knowledge. Performing thusly, Kenzan ware can be situated well beyond the conventional boundaries of premodern Japanese ceramics.