Chapter 17 Centennial Immortal Soul - Kenji Miyazawa

Ryefield Editorial Department If a person has a long and short life, if he can live as Tagore said: "When you are born, you are as beautiful as summer flowers, and when you die, you are as beautiful as autumn leaves!" 'Then, it can be called brilliant without regret. Kenji Miyazawa, who lived for only thirty-seven years, with his sharp and refined pen, as well as his compassionate and selfless heart, his living life is indeed as splendid as a flower!And after death, because literary works live forever in the world, they are not only as beautiful as autumn leaves, but also as beautiful as summer flowers, and even freeze for a moment, becoming eternal.

Kenji Miyazawa was born in Iwate Prefecture, Japan in 1896.Iwate Prefecture is located in the northeast of Japan. It is the poorest county in Japan. The land is very barren. Coupled with windstorms and rain disasters, the life of local farmers is very difficult. However, Miyazawa Kenji himself came from a local prominent family. A wealthy merchant who runs a pawn shop.Growing up in a wealthy family but living in a generally poor environment, this kind of contradiction is often a conflict and struggle for the extremely sensitive Kenji Miyazawa.Because of this, his relationship with his father has always been antagonistic and tense.As the eldest son who is supposed to inherit the family business, he has been restless about his fate throughout his life, like a flying horse, galloping for his own thoughts.

Miyazawa Kenji's growth background, in addition to the conflicts between rich and poor, capital and labor, religion is also an extremely important part.The Miyazawa family are devout followers of the Pure Land Shinzong.Xianzhi followed his family to chant scriptures in front of the Buddhist altar in the morning and evening since he was a child. Religion has long taken root in his heart.A little longer, when he came into contact with the Lotus Sutra from his elders, he was deeply impressed and turned to believe in the Nichiren School (Fahuazong).The Nichiren sect urges people to enter the world and sacrifice their lives for the well-being of all living beings in the world.Therefore, he wholeheartedly dreamed of creating a home without poverty and full of art and dreams, and worked hard for the true happiness of all living beings with a compassionate heart and selfless dedication.So for most of his life, he almost devoted himself to agricultural reform and soil improvement; when he was 30 years old, he even left home to set up the Luoxudi People's Association, held farmers' education seminars, led farmers to enjoy music and perform Drama, telling fairy tales to peasant children, etc., all these are to realize the "ideal hometown" in his heart.And these thoughts are also concentrated in his works, especially religious thoughts, which are the important essence of Miyazawa Kenji's works.

Miyazawa Kenji is a simple yet complex person.His complexity lies in the fact that he is difficult to locate and has multiple and rich faces. He is not only a poet, a fairy tale writer, but also a teacher, an agricultural reformer, and a religionist; but he is also a simple and sincere person with dreams from beginning to end. The poet Kenji Miyazawa also occupies a place in the Japanese poetry circle.Because of his keen sensibility, he wrote poems; because he wrote poems, his words were full of sound; and his religious mind enriched his philosophical thoughts. His poems are vivid in imagery and touch the soul, and they are still widely read today.

Kenji Miyazawa's literary works combine gods, humans, ghosts, plants, animals and nature together, with strong religious philosophy, Buddhist thought, unique voice and writing, and vivid brushwork. Miyazawa literature has an irreplaceable position in the hearts of Japanese people. Miyazawa Kenji presents himself to the world with various appearances.But the greatest legacy he left behind should be a series of fresh and simple fairy tales that you will never get tired of reading.His fairy tales have already broken the limitation of "children" and become ALL AGE reading without age distinction.For example, "Kazemata Saburo", which combines nature and boys, describes the friendship between children in a simple and simple way, which is so light and unburdened, but it can make readers feel like the wind blows Seemingly full.

"Restaurant with Varieties of Patterns" is about a pair of urban hunters who encounter a supernatural event in the mountains, satirizing the pastime that the so-called civilized class in society engages in, which is actually taking pleasure in depriving animals of their lives. 'Cat Office' satirizes modern bureaucracy and uses it to spy on human nature. 'Gush the Cellist', through a poor violinist, points out the interaction between humans and animals.Ge Xu, the big handle, was ridiculed because of his poor technique.One night, when he was practicing the piano, a group of animals came to him for help. While giving, he also learned various skills of playing the piano from the animals.

Integrating Miyazawa's Buddhist thoughts, implying reincarnation of cause and effect, and pursuing the eternal world, "The Bear of Namidougu Mountain" and "Nighthawk Star" are telling about the touch of life and the ignorance of death. fear.For Kenji Miyazawa, life and death are not opposites. He always believes that there is another eternal existence on the other side of life.And this existence dispelled the fear of death.Due to the blurring of the boundary between life and death, Kenji Miyazawa's works always have a kind of grandeur and open-mindedness that transcends time and space.Just like his immortal masterpiece: "Night on the Milky Way Railway", a train running on the Milky Way runs through the two realms of life and death.In addition to his usual colorful and audible words, the text conveys the calm and lightness of death, which makes people think twice while covering the book.

When it comes to the outlook on life and death, apart from religious influences, I have to mention Miyazawa Kenji's younger sister Dengzhi.The relationship between their siblings is very good, and Dengzhi is also the relative in the family who can best understand his thoughts and appreciate his talents.The early death of Deng Zhi's Fanghua was a heavy blow to Miyazawa Kenji. He once wrote poems such as "Yongjue Zhichao", "Pine Needles", and "Silent Lamentation" to express his mourning.Such a sorrow undoubtedly deepened his nostalgia for the eternal world.

Miyazawa Kenji devoted himself to writing during his lifetime, but he was not taken seriously. Instead, he became famous after his death.Two years ago (1996) coincided with Kenji Miyazawa's 100th birthday, Japan once again set off Miyazawa fever.In the Japanese literature circle, Miyazawa tends to be deified. In addition to the special style of his works, it is also because his works always contain endless profound meanings, which seem to be endless.Publishing houses are competing to publish various versions of the complete works of Kenji Miyazawa, as well as his biography, works research, even the constellations that appear in his works, illustrated books of plants, and movies about his life, etc.!In addition to discussing his works in detail, he also made an all-round discussion on his background, thoughts, and concepts.In order to present the most complete presentation of Miyazawa Kenji with various appearances.The Japanese cultural publishing industry seems to be holding a Miyazawa Festival.

It must be mentioned that although Kenji Miyazawa created a lot of works, most of them were unpublished works during his lifetime.Moreover, Miyazawa always revises his works again and again, many of which are unfinished and unfinalized.Therefore, Miyazawa's works seen today are not complete, and there are often missing words or scattered paragraphs in the text.Since it was sorted out by later generations, under the principle of respecting the original creators, many creations retain their incomplete original appearance.However, given Kenji Miyazawa's status in the Japanese literary world, even the remaining words are regarded as treasures.What's more, even if there are some omissions, it will not hinder the excellence of his works and the coherence of his style.This has even become a feature of Miyazawa's literature.See the possibility of perfection in imperfection!Maybe it will arouse people's interest in exploring Miyazawa's literature!

The long river of time will always remove the chaff and save the essence for the world, and select the eternal good chapters from the vast sea of ​​books.The era of Kenji Miyazawa is nearly a century away. Perhaps the great wheel of civilization moves forward mercilessly, but there are always some eternal tracks left behind, that is, the yearning for a pure heart and the eternal life. The pursuit and the wishful hope of insisting on dreaming!And these, as early as a century ago, Miyazawa Kenji, through his pen, turned into a piece of absolute sound, ringing in our ears and hearts, can we not make people feel excited?