#history monks

[pratchettquotes]

One of the recurring philosophical questions is:

"Does a falling tree in the forest make a sound when there is no one to hear?"

Which says something about the nature of philosophers, because there is always someone in a forest. It may only be a badger, wondering what that cracking noise was, or a squirrel a bit puzzled by all the scenery going upwards, but someone. At the very least, if it was deep enough in the forest, millions of small gods would have heard it.

Things just happen, one after another. They don't care who knows. But history...ah, history is different. History has to be observed. Otherwise it's not history. It's just...well, things happening one after another.

Terry Pratchett, Small Gods

[aeshnacyanea2000]

It occurred to Lobsang, not for the first time, that the abbot was a little bit more than purely random in his attacks on the man. The acolyte was, indeed, the kind of mildly objectionable person who engendered an irresistible urge in any right-thinking person to pour goo into his hair and hit him with a rubber yak, and the abbot was old enough to listen to his inner child.

-- Terry Pratchett - The Thief Of Time

[illustratus]

Monks burying a Gold Chest in the Moonlight by August von Wille

[shinobicyrus]

Was minding my own business today when my brain suddenly recalled a history text I read years ago back in college describing homosexuality in medieval monasteries. Being an isolated population of entirely men comprised of the cast-off and spare sons of local lords and nobles, it was not uncommon for the monks to rampantly bugger the hell out of each other.

Then, in a display of rules-lawyering that medieval monks were infamous for, the monks would Confess their recent “sins” to their lover so they could Absolve each other. That way, they could walk around with a spiritually clean slate until the next time they got together with the hot monk in the next cell over and “sinned” again. Genius. Outstanding. Gaming the system. No notes.

[tanuki-kimono]

Priests' outfits - Jikitotsu, Daimon, and Hentetsu

(as worn during Edo period - great charts by Nadeshico Rin). You can find more about samurai ranks and their regulated attires under the tag "samurai kimono".

"Hight Priest" jikitotsu

This outfit was worn for court events by Buddhist priests of the highest rank ( 法印 Hôin) and second highest rank (法眼 Hôgen). Those titles could also be also given to 儒者 Confucian scholars, 医師doctors, Buddhist 絵師 painters and 仏師 sculptors, etc.

直綴 Jikitotsu - type of monk robe, originally made by stitching together a 偏衫 henzan (monk robe covering the upper body) and a 裙子 kunsu (monk robe covering the lower body) together. Overtime, jikitotsu came to be worn opened, more like a haori vest.

末広 Suehiro - a type of formal folding fan. TN: the fan drawn here ressemble more a 中啓 chûkei, as suehiro have curving ribs which don't seems to be the case here (find more about fan types here)

(長)袴 (Naga)bakama - hakama pants with long trailing legs, here made of hiraginu (plain silk)

白小袖 Shiro-Kosode - white kosode (=ancestor of the kimono) /or/ 帷子 Katabira - thin garment made from hemp or raw silk (worn during Summer). Note that 経帷子 kyôkatabira designates a shroud (=the white kimono used to dress the dead). /or/ 熨斗目Noshime - kosode (=ancestor of the kimono) with stripes/lattice pattern at waist area

小さ刀 Chîsagatana - small katana

"Companion" formal kimono

First people helping buddhist priests, 同朋 dôbô (lit. "companions) became overtime men attending on the Shogun, feudal lords and other high-ranked officals.

They were in charge of miscellaneous tasks (like cleaning, messengers etc.), or depending on their talents more skilled ones (dance, music, ikebana, tea ceremony etc.).

大紋 Daimon is a specific hitatare set, patterned with large 紋 mon (clan/family crests)

菊綴 Kikutoji - decorative tassel-like knots, first appeared on Heian nobility clothes. Here, those were leather ones

胸紐 Munahimo - chest ties​, first appeared on Heian nobility clothes. Here, those were leather ones

熨斗目 Noshime - kosode (=ancestor of the kimono) with stripes or lattice pattern at waist area. Also note the colored undergarments collars.

袖括 Sodekukuri - decorative sleeve ties. Originally appeared on Heian clothings (like kariginu, nôshi, etc) where they were used to tighten sleeve cuffs. Here, those were leather ones

(長)袴 (Naga)bakama - hakama pants with long trailing legs, here made of white linen

小さ刀 Chîsagatana - small katana

The Proto-haori

This outfit was the formal wear worn by lower class priests, scholars, doctors, artists, etc.

編綴 Hentetsu (lit. "stitched together") - a vest with large and long boxy sleeves, made from gauze or plain silk, most often black or dark brown. The chest straps were also made of the same fabric It evolved from 十徳 jittoku (itself a variation of 直綴 jikitotsu, see above). First a casual wear for court nobles, and then spread to lower-class samurai who wore it over their kosode from Muromachi era and on. Its use then reached other social classes during Edo period. Overtime and minor variations, it finally became known as our modern 羽織 haori

服紗(小袖) Fukusa(kosode) - a kosode (=ancestor of the kimono) bearing crest, and made from soft silk (like habutae or rinzu). In summer, it was a katabira (thin garment made from hemp or raw silk) /or/ 熨斗目 Noshime - kosode (=ancestor of the kimono) with stripes or lattice pattern at waist area

[beyond-crusading]

You're in her dms. I'm frantically annotating the margins of a manuscript she will discover 457 years after my death. We are NOT the same.

[journeytothewestresearch]

Rare JTTW Puppet Play

I am proud to host a guest post by @ryin-silverfish about a rare JTTW puppet play from Quanzhou, Fujian province, China. The play is roughly from the Yuan to early-Ming period, meaning that it predates the 1592 edition of the novel. There are parallels with the finished work, pointing to a possible influence, or at the very least, they borrowed from the same source. But there are many differences as well. The most surprising for me are:

Sha Wujing is the one who transforms into a white horse.

Erlang becomes one of Tripitaka's disciples after being demoted for flirting with a heavenly maiden.

An example of modern Quanzhou string puppetry depicting a battle between Sun Wukong and Princess Iron Fan.

[the-mediaeval-monk]

Bodleian Library MS. Eng. poet. a. 1 f.126r https://digital.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/objects/52f0a31a-1478-40e4-b05b-fddb1ad076ff/

Two monks having sex behind several scenes of the Virgin Mary

(I may have cited this image as part of my dissertation to prove queer monks existed in the middle ages)

[artthatgivesmefeelings]

William Etty (English, 1787-1849) Monk Bar, York, 1838 York Art Gallery

[vintagewildlife]

Hawaiian monk seal By: Russ Kinnie From: Natural History Magazine 1977

[thoughtportal]

forget the monarchy! Long live the crafts people!

[pratchettquotes]

"How do you know the new clock is being built in Ankh-Morpork?" said Lobsang trailing behind Lu-Tze as he took a mossy, sunken path that led through rhododendron thickets to the monastery wall.

"I know. I'll tell you, the day someone pulls the plug out of the bottom of the universe, the chain will lead all the way to Ankh-Morpork and some bugger saying, 'I just wanted to see what would happen.' All roads lead to Ankh-Morpork."

"I thought all roads led away from Ankh-Morpork."

"Not the way we're going."

Terry Pratchett, Thief of Time

[worldhistoryfacts]

Michelangelo's "Torment of St. Anthony," a rather imaginative version of the legend of the hermit saint. Anthony, who some call the first Christian monk, lived alone in the desert, supposedly eating nothing but bread and salt. The legends say that he was tempted powerfully in the desert, but heroically resisted. It probably didn't look like this in real life.

{WHF} {Ko-Fi} {Medium}

[illustratus]

Portico of a Monastery by Giovanni Migliara

[historybetweenthepages]

Lee Friedlander – Thelonius Monk

1957

[kits-ghosts-corner]

reasons i would make a great medieval monk:

• aroace - no problem with a vow of celibacy and the idea of not being able to marry isn’t a concern for me personally

• autistic - a segmented day? separated by hour? with specific things to do in those times? excellent!

• big lover of bread and cheese

• do love a little sing-song and chanting in a rhythm soothes me

• love scribing shit

• love doing those silly ass looking flouncy letters

• one of my special interests is medieval religion. so. bonus.

• oh i need to be silent for bit? i already go non-verbal sometimes babygirl that's not a problem

• monk robes provide 0% body shape. it’s all rectangle. excellent.