The were wandering non-monastic lay Buddhists from the warrior-class (samurai and ) who were noted for wearing straw basket hats called tengai and playing the bamboo flute, nowadays called . During the Edo period (1600–1868) they obtained various rights and privileges from the , the ruling elite.
The 18th and 19th century saw a popularization of -playing among lay-people, accompanied by the interpretation and legitimation of this laicization in spiritual and esthetical terms derived from the Zen-tradition, to which the nominally belonged. In the 19th century the tradition became known as the or Fuke Zen, after the publication of the (1795), which created a fictitious Rinzai Zen lineage starting with the eccentric Zen master Puhua (J. Fuke) of Tang China. This narrative legitimized the existence and rights of the , but also ushered in the "bourgeoisization" of -playing in the 19th century.
The rights of the were abolished in 1867, like other Buddhist organisations. Interest in their music style stayed alive in secular audiences, and a number of the pieces they composed and performed, called , are preserved, played, and interpreted in the popular imagination as a token of Zen spirituality, continuing the narrative which developed in the 18th and 19th century.
Etymology Wandering musicians were known at first as . By the mid-17th century, different characters were used for the same pronunciation, resulting in as (also romanized or ), "priest of nothingness" or "monk of emptiness". The first two characters, (or ) mean "nothingness, emptiness", with (or ) meaning "nothing, empty, false", and meaning "nothing, without". The last character, , means "priest, monk".
, from Fuke (Chinese- Zhenzhou Puhua), an eccentric Zen master mentioned in the Record of Linji a Chinese Chan Buddhist and shū, meaning school or sect.
History The understanding of the history of the and the Fuke-shu had long been dominated by the Keichô Okite Gaki () and the Kyotaku denki Kokuti Kai (1795), a forged Governmental Decree and a fictional origin-narrative, respectively. Historical research by Nakazuka Chikozan in the 1930s showed the spurious nature of these texts, and a revised history has emerged since then, as set out by and .
Boro and komosō (14th–16th century) Predecessors of the komuso's were beggar-monks with unshaved heads known as boro's, boroboro or boronji, mentioned in the Tsurezurega (c. 1330). These boro merged in the late 15th century into the komosō ("straw-mat monks", named after the straw sleeping-mats which they carried along), which played the shakuhachi, and are depicted in paintings and texts from around 1500 onwards. The komosō came to be known as . There is no evidence of any earlier tradition of -playing monks, and it is recorded that in 1518 the was regarded by some as an instrument for court music (), not for religious music.
The earliest , predecessors of the later "priests of nothingness", were poor beggar monks without any social status in society. The later , on the other hand, had to be of samurai family, even though the practice of teaching to townspeople had become very popular already in the early 18th century.
Institutionalization and privileges (17th century) The were initially a loose affiliation of monks and lay pilgrims, but solidified as an organized group in the 1600s. After the civil wars of the 15th–16th century, masterless samurai () joined the . Several uprisings involving took place during the first half of the 17th century, and the Tokugawa Shogunate tightened its control of the and and other deviant groups, "extending authority through the Buddhist institutions". In response, the "banded together and formed a sect", members of which, by their own regulations had to be of samurai descent. Due to the temperaments of the rōnin, the sect gained the reputation of harbouring troublemakers.
Simple lodges provided accommodation for the komoso, and the komoso lodge at Shirakata in Kyoto was chosen as its headquarters, calling it Myōan-ji. A temple was needed to be regarded as a religious sect, and Myōan-ji was recognized as a temple in the early 17th century, at the beginning of the Edo period. While first a subtemple of Reiho-ji, in the 18th century a relation with Kōkoku-ji, founded by Kakushin, was forged, and officially acknowledged in 1767; a move which was apologized in the Kuotaku Denki. At the request of the government, the headquarters of the were transferred to two temples in Edo, where they could better be controlled. A directive from the government from 1677 marks this recognition, and control over, the , as a distinct institution.
The purportedly oldest document granting privileges to the is the Keichō Okite Gaki (Governmental Decree of the Keichô Years, 1596–1615), a falsified decree signed 1614 but actually dated to around 1680, intended to lend legitimacy to already existing -practices. Presented with this forgery, the shogunate eventually accepted it, to provide refuge to ronin and gain control over them.
Several versions of this document exist, which can be divided in short and long versions, reflecting the power-struggle between the and the government. The short versions show that the government designated the institutionalisation for the lodging of ronin, limiting and policing the , and instructing them to act as spies.
Travel around Japan was heavily restricted in the Edo period, but the longer versions gave the a rare exemption from the Tokugawa shogunate, most likely for political reasons. To be given a free pass in these times was a highly unusual and very special exemption from travel restrictions, and rumors from the period held that in return for this privilege the had to report back to the central government about conditions in the provinces, a practice which helped seal the group's demise when the government itself fell. The authenticity of this decree was in doubt, despite it being treated as legitimate and amended by future leaders within the shogunate.
In the longer versions, komuso's were also given exclusive right to play the instrument during the Edo period by the Bakufu as a way to identify them, a provision missing from the shorter versions. They were not recognized as a legal monastic entity beyond these token exemptions by the shogunate, and were not eligible to participate in the Danka system.
While there were over 120 komuso-associated "temple-lodges", early 17th century, their number decreased, as membership of the komuso was strictly restricted to the samurai.
Oldest documented (1664) The oldest documentation of any named piece is in the (Collection of Pieces for beginners on Strings and Bamboo, 1664). This text mentions , , and other pieces, but it does not mention any of the pieces considered to be the "three classics" (, , ).
The Kyotaku denki and the Fuke-shū (18th–19th century) The name Fuke-shū does not appear before the 19th century, and the sect has never been officially acknowledged as a distinct Zen-school. The name is derived from the Kyotaku denki, a text in classical Chinese that was published in 1795 together with a Japanese translation and commentary, the Kokuji Kai, "to create a legitimate affiliation between the komusō and the Rinzai-shu." It was published at a time when the komusō faced difficulties and started to lose privileges, and its publication may have been an attempt to strengthen their position. The legend itself seems to be older, already mentioned in the Boro-no Techô (1628) and the Shichiku Shoshin-shû (1664).
The Kyotaku denki pictured a lineage back to the eccentric Zen master Puhua (J. Fuke) of Tang China, a clown-esque figure from the Record of Linji. According to legend, Puhua roamed the streets ringing a bell while preaching. A man named Zhang Bai asked to become Puhua's student, but was rejected. He then made an instrument of bamboo to imitate the bell.
According to the Kyotaku denki, Fuke Zen was brought to Japan by (心地覚心) (1207–1298), also known as Muhon Kakushin (無本覺心) and posthumously as Hotto Kokushi (法燈國師). Kakushin had travelled in China for six years and studied with the famous Chinese Chan master Wumen (無門) of the Linji lineage. Kakushin became a disciple of the lay-teacher Chôsan, who claimed to be a 16th generation dharma-heir of Puhua.Fuke Shakuhachi Official Site
Yet, no mention is made in Kakushin's diaries of the shakuhachi, and the four "disciples" who purportedly returned with him to Japan were just servants. No Fuke-school is known from China, and the Fuke-shū seems to have been a Japanese creation. Typically, its "members" had no doctrines or scriptures, nor any parishioners, and Fuke-adherents rarely chanted sutras or other Buddhist texts.
Codification, laicization, spiritualization and decline (18th–19th century) Initially, membership was restricted to the samurai, but after the mid-18th century restrictions watered down, and non-samurai who could pay the entrance fee were also admitted. Discipline laxed, and members joined who were only attracted by the privileges of the komuso. By the late 18th-century, the komuso had lost their usefulness as spies, due to the peaceful life-circumstances created by the Tokugawa shogunate, which no longer tolerated their privileges. Playing the shakuhachi lost its distinguishing feature, as lay-people from the richer classes learned to play the instrument, a development accompanied by the development of a Zen-derived spiritual narrative, building on the Zen-narrative of the komuso.
Kurosawa Kinko (1710–1771) Historically, approximately forty komuso temples across Japan nurtured their unique collections of Honkyoku. In the 18th century, the master Kurosawa Kinko (1710–1771), the founder of the Kinko-ryu, embarked on a journey to these temples, seeking out local compositions. He meticulously 'arranged' or 'composed' over 30 pieces, shaping the cornerstone of the Kinko school's Honkyoku repertoire today.Stanley Sadie; John Tyrrell "Japan. SII, 5(ii): Emergence of the Modern Shakuhachi In The New Grove Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians, edited by Stanley Sadie and John Tyrrell. London: Macmillan, 2001. Volume #8: 833-834 According to Deeg, "the systematisation of certainly already existing elements legitimising Fuke-shu in the Denki, probably originated in the proto-organisation of the Kinko-ryu which was itself starting towards the end of the 18th century. This proto-organisation, with its legend and related musical tradition, consolidated the Fuke-shu as a Zen denomination in its own right."
Kinko's influence extended beyond musical creation; he played a pivotal role in introducing Fuke shakuhachi teachings to lay practitioners, fostering the ascent of Fuke shakuhachi in the Japanese cultural landscape while supplanting its precursor, the hitoyogiri shakuhachi. Kinko was also instrumental in the spiritualization of the shakuhachi.
Hisamatsu Masagoro Fuyo (1790–1845) Deeg notes that in the 19th century there was a process of laicization, spiritualization and aesthetization of the distinguishing feature of the komuso, the playing of the shakuhachi. According to Deeg, "The only extant writing which really has Zen-inspired content was composed by Hisamatsu Masagoro Fuyo (1790–1845)", namely Hitori-gotoba (獨言, "Monologue", before 1830), Hitori-mondo (獨問答, "Monologous dialogues", 1823) and Kaisei-hogo (海靜法語, "Dharma-words of the silent sea", 1838). Hisamatsu Fuyo frequently uses expressions like ichion jobutsu (一音成仏(佛), "to achieve enlightenment by one sound", chikuzen ichinyo (竹禅一如), and "bamboo [the shakuhachi] and Zen are one and the same"; the shakuhachi is called hoki (法器), "instrument of the dharma".