Foreign Word of the Day: Yūgen

There are words we need to borrow from other languages.  From Japanese, that word of the day is “Yūgen” (幽玄).  “Yūgen” is a principle concept in traditional Japanese aesthetics.  The exact translation of “Yūgen” depends on the context.  The term, “yūgen”, was taken from Chinese philosophical, and means “dim”, “deep”, or “mysterious”.  In the criticism of Japanese waka poetry, it was used to describe the subtle profundity of things that are only vaguely suggested by the poems.  “Yūgen” is also the name of a style of poetry, one of the ten orthodox styles delineated by Fujiwara no Teika in his treatises on the subject. 

“Yūgen”, as a concept, suggests that which is beyond what can be said, but it is not an allusion to another world.  It is about this world, this experience.  An example of “yūgen”, would be Kanze Motokiyo’s writing: 

“To watch the Sun sink behind a flower clad hill.

To wander on in a huge forest without thought of return.

To stand upon the shore, and gaze after a boat that disappears behind distant islands.

To contemplate the flight of wild geese seen and lost among the clouds.

And, subtle shadows of bamboo on bamboo.” 

Kanze Motokiyo was the originator of Noh theatre, and wrote the classic book on kadensho, dramatic theory.  His style is to use images of nature as a constant metaphor.