Waga sono a Heian Waka featuring plum blossom

#wagasono #waka #plum #heian

MYS XIX:4140
Ootomo Yakamochi 718-85

Waga sono no sumomo no hana ka?
Niwa ni furu hadare no imada nokaritaru mo.

This is one of those seeming so simple poems that has a few twists.

(in) my garden is that the plum blossom?
In the yard falling (like rain) patches still are lingering.

Sono seems to be his outer garden and niwa his inner yard implying the blossom is falling all through his property. As a Heian aristocrat he may have had a property large enough to have a outer garden surrounding the pavilions and some enclosed private yards as well.
But is it plum blossom (sumomo is a type of plum) or patches of something else like snow implied by hadare?

While I've seen texts of this poem written in a mixture of kana and kanji note that this poem has NO chinese loan words and can be written entirely in kana.

Hokusai Plum and Moon

I've been sick and had to take a break but will try to do double or triple posts this week to update and continue the PLUM SERIES .

#Hokusai #Plum and #Moon #print

After the Cherry Blossom one of the most popular plants as an art theme was the flowering plum tree. Like the Chinese and other nations the Japanese used plums as fruit fresh or preserved and in sauces medicines and drinks as well as planting them for their beauty and to attract birds like the bush warbler.
Technically this prunus species is also known as the japanese apricot due to the fruit color.

Plum Series - Jin Nong

One of the most famous painters of #Plum trees and blossoms and other plants  was *JinNong  / #ChinNung a 18th c. Qing dynasty member of the 8 eccentrics of Yangzhou.

He combines the boneless / mogu technique with a lighter more delicate touch for the blossom which contrasts with his unique calligraphy style a fusion of three different scripts types!

Plum Haiku by YAYOO

A #haiku by an 18th c. poet Yayoo

Ume no chiru / atari ya sumi no / akidawara

This sounds rather plain in translation

Plum ( presumably blossoms not fruit sicne the verb is chiru) scatter
touching ! charcoal empty sack

aki is a prefix here and means empty

sumi no so not just black or dark but speficially charcoal !

Plum blossoms in Japan can be white or crimson

a breeze or wind is implied

An empty sack has been placed outside or near a door to be refilled

and three separate ordinary events and things become one vivid image of the beauty of simple things.

PLUM TEST

#plum #hanzi #kanji #test
A test of #Cultural #differences.
Do you respond to the colors in this image by thinking of fruit or flowers?
I've tried to include within the gradient and stroke colors seen on fruit and blossom or jam.

Do you think of blood plums or red fruit with orange gold flesh or purple or crimson fruits or plum jam?

Do you think of plum sauce preserved plums plum blossom white or crimson or given which kanji / hanzi I used do you think of a whole tree and its branches?

Let me know !

New Technozi Series Plums !

The next #technozi series will be on the topic of #plums #plum #plumblossom

the #plum in art and poetry particularly #haiku and of course #hanzi / #kanji too

Don't forget there are two separate characters one for the tree and another for the fruit and blossom. Please Follow this blog or follow me on Google Plus or Twitter  to get notifications of exactly when I add new posts to this series.

Thank You

The 3 Friends of Winter

The Three Friends of Winter is an theme in #chineseart that groups #bamboo #pine and #plumblossom

I suspect its popularity is partly due to it being a great way to show you have mastered a variety of brush techniques !

In this one piece you have an outline style for the blossom solid ink for the bamboo leaves and fine yet strong lines on the branches and pine needles.

Note also how the three plants  contrast in both tone and texture and the use of angles in the composition.

The Chinese Plum or Japanese Apricot er Plum

Translating plant names from Chinese into English can be tricky.

Possibly whoever chose PLUM to translate MEI either hadn't seen the fruit or was familiar with one of the varieties of plum that have golden orange flesh and a slight golden tinge rather than being deep red or purple.

MEI is PRUNUS MUME

Notice the color of the fruit. Its not very sweet and is used for making plum and other sauces that require a touch of sourness to counterbalance sweetness.

I have no idea if there is an equivalent Chinese fruit to our purplish plums. Perhaps the LI plum is sweet.

There's a wide variety of Prunus trees grown in China.

I suspect what caused the confusion is the color of the flowers which range from white to pink.

ENJOY