Carpe Diem Tan Renga Challenge Month May 27th: "such a still water" by Tan Taigi (1709 -1771)

Dear haijin, visitors and travelers,

It is a pleasure to bring a new episode of Tan Renga Challenge Month to you. This time I have chosen for a haiku by a classical haiku poet named Tan Taigi (1709-1771), a contemporary of Yosa Buson. Tan Taigi and Buson by the way were friends and Buson created several haiga inspired on the poems by Tan Taigi.

Let me first tell you a little bit more about Tan Taigi.

Tan Taigi was a haiku poet of the mid-Edo-period. At the age of 40 he became a priest at the temple Daitoku-Ji in Kyoto. Later in his life, he stayed in a hermitage called Fuya-An (Hermitage with no night) in the precincts of the courtesan pleasure quarters Shimabara in 1748 and lived as a friend of Yosa Buson. He liked to socialize and drink sake and used to say

"When praying to Buddha I write haiku, when praying to the Shinto gods I write haiku".

Because of his heavy drinking he suffered a brain hemorrhage and died in the Year 1771. He is buried at the temple Korin-ji in Kyoto.

Daitoku-Ji temple Kyoto

Here is the "hokku" by Tan Taigi to reform into a Tan Renga by adding the second stanza of two lines of approx. 7-7 syllables. You have to use the scene, images or associations you have with the "hokku".

Such a still water
even the dragonfly
splash it with the tail

© Tan Taigi (Tr. Gabi Greve)

As I first read this haiku I had some trouble to understand the scene, but after a while and re-reading it again I think the understanding came. So here is my attempt to create a Tan Renga of this "hokku".

such a still water
even the dragonfly
splash it with the tail                            (Tan Taigi)

throwing flat pebbles across
circles get bigger and smaller               (Chèvrefeuille)

Not as strong as I had hoped, but in a way I like the scene as it turns into the movement of the water.

This episode is NOW OPEN for your submissions and will remain open until May 31st at noon (CET). I will publish our new "hokku" on our Twitter account.

PS.: As you maybe have noticed I have taken away a few of the CDHK e-books from our homepage. You can find them now in our CDHK Library