Chris Stanley on fri 12 jan 01
We have been translating the following text:
"Beginning of Ceramics by Hideki Kuhara"
Because we had nothing better to do this morning.
The following came to light
The term Tenmoku comes from the mountian by the same name in China. It was
a Japanese monk during the Kamakura period who went to study in China who
brought back a small tea bowl which was glazed black. The name of the glaze
was not known to the Monk. When the Monk returned to Japan, he gave the
name of mountain as the name of the glaze for lack of a better title.
Now, has anybody else ever heard this story? Did the Monk have a name?
Andie Carpenter on fri 12 jan 01
You should look in Hamer's Dictionary of Materials & Techniques. He goes through
this story in some detail (the Tianmu Shan mountains, translated into Japanese as
Tenmoku, and I don't believe he names the monk, but he does name the monastery.)
Andie Carpenter
Dennis Davis on fri 12 jan 01
>From the Potter's Dictionary of Materials and Techniques by Hamer & Hamer
"TENMOKU (Origin): In China from the Han Dynasty through the Tang Dynasty (1st to
10th Centuries) a development took place involving brown glazed wares. During the
Song Dynasty (AD 960-1279) the perfection of firing allowed a thicker glaze layer
and a more mature glaze. The result was the dark brown stoneware glaze.
The finest examples of this period are the Jian bowls. These are rice and tea
bowls rarely wider than 5 inches in diameter and varying from black to rust with
many variations of the smokey hare's fur variety. The glaze was either a clay and
ash slip or a straight clay slip glaze, which was put on raw ware and once-fired in
varying atmospheres. The idea of the rich dark glaze with its infinite
possibilities caught the imagination of many potters through the imperial court,
and the idea spread.
To the north east of Jian in the Province of Fujian is a group of mountains called
Tianmu Shan. Japanese Zen Buddhist monks visiting the monastery there used the
Jian tea bowls and late took them back to Japan where they were excitedly admired
and became know as Tianmu or Tenmoku. These bowls and further developments in Japan
were the source of contemplative delight until the development of raku in the 16th
century."
I believe Tenmoku is the Japanese pronunciation of the two Chinese characters Tian
Mu.
Lots of good reading and information in the Hamer Dictionary. I highly recommend
it to all.
Dennis in Warrenton,VA
Hank Murrow on fri 12 jan 01
>The term Tenmoku comes from the mountian by the same name in China. It was
>a Japanese monk during the Kamakura period who went to study in China who
>brought back a small tea bowl which was glazed black. The name of the glaze
>was not known to the Monk. When the Monk returned to Japan, he gave the
>name of mountain as the name of the glaze for lack of a better title.
>
>Now, has anybody else ever heard this story? Did the Monk have a name?
>
Dear Tenmoku Lovers;
The explanation I heard came from David Stannard (raised in China) am
potter-friend, who said he thought the bowls were named from the two little
lakes nestled at the foot of the mountain near the monastery. He visited
the remains of this monastery ten years ago. The lakes were called "the
Eyes of God", or tenmoku. If you walked up the mountain and looked down on
the lakes, a reasonable name. The bowls were made at the monastery for the
use of the monks, and when they evangelized Japan, they brought the bowls
with them. The bowls were later exported in great numbers form the port of
Fuzhou to Japan.
Anyway, another good story to add to the pile, Hank in Eugene
Lee Love on sat 13 jan 01
----- Original Message -----
From: "Chris Stanley"
>
> Now, has anybody else ever heard this story? Did the Monk have a name?
>
The Monks name was Eihei Dogen Zenji (1200 - 1253), the founder of the Soto
Zen school in Japan. It is the school my teacher Dainin Katagiri Roshi
taught.
Not only did Dogen bring back the first Temmoku teabowl from Sung
China to Japan, a monk that traveled with him to China brought back the Sung
pottery and kiln technology and started the first climbing kiln in Seto
Japan. Because of my studies in Zen and having Dogen in my lineage, Sung,
Seto and Mino work (and the related glazes)are very important to me.
--
Lee Love
Mashiko JAPAN Ikiru@kami.com
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>
Janet Kaiser on sat 13 jan 01
Dear Chris
Surely "the Monk" never has a name in this sort
of tale? All part of the charm and what legends
are made of... Like the "Unknown Potter".
Janet Kaiser
The Chapel of Art . Capel Celfyddyd
HOME OF THE INTERNATIONAL POTTERS' PATH
Criccieth LL52 0EA, GB-Wales Tel: (01766) 523570
E-mail: postbox@the-coa.org.uk
WEBSITE: http://www.the-coa.org.uk
----- Original Message -----
> The term Tenmoku comes from the mountian by
the same name in China. It was
> a Japanese monk during the Kamakura period who
went to study in China who
> brought back a small tea bowl which was glazed
black. The name of the glaze
> was not known to the Monk. When the Monk
returned to Japan, he gave the
> name of mountain as the name of the glaze for
lack of a better title.
>
> Now, has anybody else ever heard this story?
Did the Monk have a name?
Ian Currie on sat 13 jan 01
Hi Chris
A book you might find interesting, and answer some of your questions, is
this one, if my memory serves me:
"Tenmoku" by Plumer. (In English) Published I think by Idemitsy Art Gallery
in Tokyo??????
Can anyone help if these details are not correct? I would LOVE to get a
copy.
Ian Currie
http://ian.currie.to/
>The term Tenmoku comes from the mountian by the same name in China. It was
>a Japanese monk during the Kamakura period who went to study in China who
>brought back a small tea bowl which was glazed black. The name of the
glaze
>was not known to the Monk. When the Monk returned to Japan, he gave the
>name of mountain as the name of the glaze for lack of a better title.
>
>Now, has anybody else ever heard this story? Did the Monk have a name?
Lee Love on sun 14 jan 01
----- Original Message -----
From: "Janet Kaiser"
> Surely "the Monk" never has a name in this sort
> of tale? All part of the charm and what legends
> are made of... Like the "Unknown Potter".
_Clay and Glazes For the Potter_, Daniel Rhodes Page 309 (Glossary):
Temmoku
The name temmoku comes from Tien-mu-Shan, "mountain of the Eye of
Heaven," a mountain in Chechiang province, China. It was from a monastery
on ths mountain that Dogen, a Japanese Zen priest, was said to have brought
the first temmoku bowl to Japan in 1228. See also "Hare's foot."
--
Lee Love
Mashiko JAPAN Ikiru@kami.com
Interested in Folkcraft? Signup:
Subscribe: mingei-subscribe@egroups.com
Or: http://www.egroups.com/group/mingei
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Paul Taylor on mon 15 jan 01
Dear Hank and all
I think your explanation may be a good one because of the two lakes you
mentioned. But all the other explanations are also essentially true.
Could the monk have mistakenly understood the tenmoku name to be the name
of the mountain or were the named lakes used as a general reference to the
area. But what does it matter the truth is in the essence of the story not
the fine detail.
In the mountains near here Sister Irene has started a hermitage. Hermitage
is one of the original structures of monastic living. The religious have
separate living accommodation; they only worship together in a shared
chapel. I am making some pottery for her and I insisted they would have to
be glazed in tenmoku.
I shall print out your stories to give to her along with the bowls.
Regards from Paul Taylor
http://www.anu.ie/westportpottery
> From: Hank Murrow
> Reply-To: Ceramic Arts Discussion List
> Date: Fri, 12 Jan 2001 13:00:59 -0800
> To: CLAYART@LSV.CERAMICS.ORG
> Subject: Re: Legend of Tenmoku
>
>> The term Tenmoku comes from the mountian by the same name in China. It was
>> a Japanese monk during the Kamakura period who went to study in China who
>> brought back a small tea bowl which was glazed black. The name of the glaze
>> was not known to the Monk. When the Monk returned to Japan, he gave the
>> name of mountain as the name of the glaze for lack of a better title.
>>
>> Now, has anybody else ever heard this story? Did the Monk have a name?
>>
>
> Dear Tenmoku Lovers;
>
> The explanation I heard came from David Stannard (raised in China) am
> potter-friend, who said he thought the bowls were named from the two little
> lakes nestled at the foot of the mountain near the monastery. He visited
> the remains of this monastery ten years ago. The lakes were called "the
> Eyes of God", or tenmoku. If you walked up the mountain and looked down on
> the lakes, a reasonable name. The bowls were made at the monastery for the
> use of the monks, and when they evangelized Japan, they brought the bowls
> with them. The bowls were later exported in great numbers form the port of
> Fuzhou to Japan.
>
> Anyway, another good story to add to the pile, Hank in Eugene
>
Lee Love on thu 4 sep 08
On Thu, Sep 4, 2008 at 11:34 AM, Hank Murrow wrote:
>>> Now, has anybody else ever heard this story? Did the Monk have a
>>> name?
Hank, I have shared the name here before. The found of the zen school
I study brought the tenmoku teabowl back to Japan and the monk that
traveled with him used the Sung technology to start the glaze fired
kilns in Seto:
http://claycraft.blogspot.com/2005/03/tenmoku-or-temmoku.html
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