Naoko Yamada: It's winter, but let's talk a little about the moon.

2021/12/09

This year's Harvest Moon fell on September 21, and it became a topic of conversation as it coincided with a full moon for the first time in eight years. For most people, the moon is naturally associated with autumn. However, I find myself strangely drawn to the moon that I catch a glimpse of while walking hunched against the cold in winter.

A famous Chinese anecdote involving snow and the moon is that of Wang Huizhi of the Eastern Jin dynasty. One night, when the snow had cleared and the moon was shining brightly, Huizhi remembered his friend Dai Kui. He boarded a small boat and set off toward Kui, who was living in seclusion in a mountain valley. He traveled up the river and reached the gate of the house after a whole night. However, Huizhi did not enter the gate and simply returned home. When someone asked him why he had gone all that way only to turn back, he reportedly replied, "I went while the mood took me, and returned when the mood left. Why must I necessarily see Dai?"

Huizhi was the son of Wang Xizhi. He lived in the late 4th century, and his courtesy name was Ziyou. This story was widely known among literati of the Heian period and was incorporated into many Chinese poems (kanshi) and Japanese poems (waka). It seems that Japanese people were particularly moved by the image of Huizhi rushing to his friend's side in a small boat under the moonlight.

There is a poem by Fujiwara no Shigeaki from the late Heian period titled "Expressing One's Will at Year's End" (Honcho Mudaishi, Volume 5). After describing the hardships of court service and the difficulties of academic pursuit, he continues, "Turning the boat on a moonlit night outside the river pavilion; seeking a horse on a snowy morning south of the rural village." The phrase "turning the boat on a moonlit night" draws from the aforementioned anecdote of Wang Huizhi. I believe this verse expresses a longing for a life of self-contentment, where one can set out by boat to visit a friend on a moonlit night whenever the spirit moves them.

The mid-Tang poet Bai Juyi wrote of the winter moon, "Late at night, having finished drafting edicts, the frost-moon is chilly and piercing" (from "On a Winter Night, on Duty in the Palace with Counselor Qian," Bai Shi Wenji, Volume 5). This work was composed by the 37-year-old Bai Juyi while on night duty at the Hanlin Academy with his colleague Qian Hui. On a winter night, looking outside after finishing work, the surroundings must have been illuminated by moonlight so cold it felt frozen. "Frost-moon" refers to the moon on a night when frost has fallen. I imagine a fantastical scene where the white of the frost and the white of the moon reflect each other, making both whites stand out even more.