I’m a poor wayfaring stranger,
… journeying through this world of woe,
… there’s no sickness, toil, and danger,
In that bright world to which I go.

anonymous, American Folk Song

It was the first year of Jokyo, autumn, the eighth moon. As I left my ramshackle hut
by the river, the sound of the wind was strangely cold.

Matsuo Basho, Nozarashi Kiko, introduction, 1684

This hill though high I covent ascend; The difficulty will not me offend; For I perceive the way of life lies here. Come, pluck up, heart; let’s neither faint nor fear.

John Bunyan, The Pilgrim’s Progress

Matsuo Basho, a Pilgrim Poet

David Barnhill and other students of the poet Matsuo Basho have referred to him as the “Pilgrim Poet” because of his frequent journeys, the first one beginning with Nozarashi Kiko in 1684 and the most famous. This one, and the ones to follow, give first person accounts of travels along well known routes like the Tokaido and Nakasendo Roads, as well as a rambling foray into Japan’s Northern Interior (Oku no Hosomichi). Along the way, Basho, traveling alone or with companions, visited religious and historical sites, meeting with inn keepers and commoners, recording their thoughts, as well as his.

[Dear Reader, this post, rattled off quickly, may contain many mistakes. Let me come back like Robert Frost on his less traveled path. But I must, like Basho, be moving on. ]

This said, I find “curious” the “coincidence” in name of The Pilgrim’s Progress from This World, to That Which Is to Come,* written by John Bunyan in 1678. Coincidence, is perhaps not the word, for “pilgrim” had a highly religious connotation to it in Western literature. Japanese had no such direct translation, but monk, or traveling monk, like Saiygo, Matsuo Basho’s idol might be a good example. Pilgrim’s Progress also differs from Basho’s writings in that Bunyan was a novelist in the sense, his book was pure fiction. Bunyan’s story relates the journey of Christian, and later, his wife and sons through a world of sin, avoiding temptation and despair.

Bunyan’s book was singular, to use Sherlock Holmes’ word, in that it was considered the first English novel. One might add to that “stream of consciousness,” for like James Joyce and others, Bunyan’s thoughts came from the mind of the Christian traveler. Although Basho’s account was certainly not fictional, it was a “stream of conscious” narrative, and at times a personal inquiry into Basho’s own religious beliefs.

David Barnhill, in his article mentioned above, states that Basho was not strictly a “Buddhist,” stating that Basho was somewhere between the common man and the priest. Labels have always bothered me. To say that one is not Buddhist unless he has shaved his head and lives in a cave does not describe what being “Buddhist” is. Buddhism, like Christianity, or any religion or faith, is the belief in the tenets of that faith. In this sense, Basho was certainly Buddhist, like the monk Saiygo, who chose to live alone, and travel between city and country, writing his thoughts as he went.

One only need look at the introduction to Nozarashi Kiko and its reference to “nothingness.”

I set out on a journey of a thousand leagues, packing no provisions. I leaned on the staff of an ancient who, it is said, entered into nothingness under the midnight moon.

Matsuo Basho, Nozarashi Kiko, introduction, 1684

What I find refreshing is Basho’s honesty. He seeks Enlightenment, but never quite achieves it. He is merely an observer, recording his impressions. He has not fully discarded his wants and desires, for enjoys a glass of sake now and then at the house of friends. Then too, Basho likes to escape into isolation in his cottage in Fukagawa, the Basho-an.

Having discovered Matsuo Basho late in life. Having now known him for a few years, I wonder what is the universal attraction of someone who lived a short 50 years. Certainly, part of it is the nature of the haiku — a short poem, a bit-size morsel, like a Doritos potato chip, or a chocolate sweet from a candy box. You can’t eat just one.

What is also intriguing, is that Basho is one of us, a wayfaring stranger, traveling alone, trying to figure it out.

Notes. Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress was translated into Dutch in 1681. And as the Dutch traded with Japan, it is remotely possible, but unlikely, that Basho might of seen a copy of the book. I say unlikely because the Japanese authorities were highly suspicious of Christianity and had removed all Christians from the island.

Travelogues

I have only briefly touched upon the idea of Matsuo Basho as the Pilgrim Poet. I have ignored older Japanese sources. (There are many.) I have not looked at other Japanese (or Chinese) stories of pilgrimages. Saiygo is a good place to start. Nor European ones. Geoffrey Chaucer’s Canterbury Tales is a good one. The historical figures who traveled the Camino de Santiago in Spain would be another interesting look at the past.

There is simply too much for one sitting.

Sources:

Basho as Bat, David Barnhill, Jstor.

Journal of Beached Bones in a Field (Nozarashi Kiko) translated by David Barnhill.