WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.040 align:middle line:90% 00:00:05.040 --> 00:00:06.990 align:middle line:84% So I'm going to read a couple more of these 00:00:06.990 --> 00:00:08.900 align:middle line:90% and then some really new poems. 00:00:08.900 --> 00:00:12.860 align:middle line:90% 00:00:12.860 --> 00:00:24.190 align:middle line:84% But harking back to Japan is this poem 00:00:24.190 --> 00:00:27.760 align:middle line:84% called the great bell of the Gion 00:00:27.760 --> 00:00:33.810 align:middle line:84% which is the huge park and temple 00:00:33.810 --> 00:00:40.410 align:middle line:84% complex along the eastern slope of Kyoto, 00:00:40.410 --> 00:00:45.900 align:middle line:84% east of the Takano river and rising into the hills-- 00:00:45.900 --> 00:00:50.160 align:middle line:84% a famous part of town from very, very early times. 00:00:50.160 --> 00:00:52.440 align:middle line:84% One of the largest temples in Japan 00:00:52.440 --> 00:00:58.410 align:middle line:84% is up there as well as a big, big Shinto shrine 00:00:58.410 --> 00:01:04.819 align:middle line:84% and a remarkable stretch of sakura-- of cherry trees 00:01:04.819 --> 00:01:08.120 align:middle line:84% that bloom every year where everybody goes and has a picnic 00:01:08.120 --> 00:01:10.040 align:middle line:90% and gets drunk every year. 00:01:10.040 --> 00:01:11.660 align:middle line:90% It's a wonderful place to go. 00:01:11.660 --> 00:01:15.010 align:middle line:84% Just don't step on people, that's all. 00:01:15.010 --> 00:01:19.240 align:middle line:84% So one of the temples in the Gion 00:01:19.240 --> 00:01:24.190 align:middle line:84% has what is possibly the largest bell in the world set up 00:01:24.190 --> 00:01:29.010 align:middle line:90% in a big bell structure tower. 00:01:29.010 --> 00:01:34.320 align:middle line:84% It's 14 feet in diameter, and it is-- 00:01:34.320 --> 00:01:36.390 align:middle line:84% the Asian bell-- the Chinese and the Japanese 00:01:36.390 --> 00:01:39.630 align:middle line:84% and the Korean bell are not rung with clappers. 00:01:39.630 --> 00:01:43.770 align:middle line:84% They are struck with tree trunks that 00:01:43.770 --> 00:01:49.080 align:middle line:84% are suspended from double ropes and swung back and then 00:01:49.080 --> 00:01:51.990 align:middle line:90% in "bong" and then back. 00:01:51.990 --> 00:01:54.760 align:middle line:84% Sometimes they'll wait several times and get it going again 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:57.270 align:middle line:90% and then go "bong." 00:01:57.270 --> 00:01:59.430 align:middle line:84% And on the really big one, there's 00:01:59.430 --> 00:02:03.330 align:middle line:84% a guy who stands up there and rides on it as it goes in. 00:02:03.330 --> 00:02:05.850 align:middle line:84% And it's pulled back by several men 00:02:05.850 --> 00:02:09.240 align:middle line:84% on the ground that have a long rope for pulling it back. 00:02:09.240 --> 00:02:11.520 align:middle line:84% It's a very striking thing indeed. 00:02:11.520 --> 00:02:15.524 align:middle line:90% 00:02:15.524 --> 00:02:19.760 align:middle line:84% And the wonderful thing about that huge bell in the Gion 00:02:19.760 --> 00:02:23.090 align:middle line:84% is that it sounds equally loud whether you're next to it 00:02:23.090 --> 00:02:25.280 align:middle line:84% or whether you're three miles away. 00:02:25.280 --> 00:02:26.375 align:middle line:90% It doesn't change much. 00:02:26.375 --> 00:02:29.300 align:middle line:90% 00:02:29.300 --> 00:02:33.020 align:middle line:84% So I think it's only rung once a year, 00:02:33.020 --> 00:02:36.950 align:middle line:84% and that's on New Year's Eve starting at midnight-- 00:02:36.950 --> 00:02:39.940 align:middle line:90% 108 strokes of the bell. 00:02:39.940 --> 00:02:42.770 align:middle line:90% 108-- that's a special number. 00:02:42.770 --> 00:02:46.490 align:middle line:90% 00:02:46.490 --> 00:02:52.140 align:middle line:84% Quoting the "Heike Monogatari" from the 12th century-- 00:02:52.140 --> 00:02:55.610 align:middle line:84% "the great bell of the Gion temple 00:02:55.610 --> 00:03:01.130 align:middle line:84% reverberates into every human heart to wake us to the fact 00:03:01.130 --> 00:03:05.300 align:middle line:84% that all is impermanent and fleeting. 00:03:05.300 --> 00:03:08.390 align:middle line:84% The withered flowers of the sala tree by Shakyamuni's 00:03:08.390 --> 00:03:13.130 align:middle line:84% deathbed remind us that even those flourishing with wealth 00:03:13.130 --> 00:03:16.250 align:middle line:90% and power will soon pass away. 00:03:16.250 --> 00:03:19.970 align:middle line:84% The life of fame and pride is as ephemeral 00:03:19.970 --> 00:03:22.730 align:middle line:90% as a springtime dream. 00:03:22.730 --> 00:03:25.580 align:middle line:84% The courageous and aggressive person 00:03:25.580 --> 00:03:28.910 align:middle line:84% will vanish like a swirl of dust in the wind." 00:03:28.910 --> 00:03:32.660 align:middle line:90% 00:03:32.660 --> 00:03:36.020 align:middle line:84% This is a high point, which is a block of prose 00:03:36.020 --> 00:03:38.360 align:middle line:90% and then a short poem. 00:03:38.360 --> 00:03:42.560 align:middle line:84% "Heading back to our little house in Murasakino 00:03:42.560 --> 00:03:48.350 align:middle line:84% from the Gion shrine on New Year's Eve with a glowing wick 00:03:48.350 --> 00:03:55.010 align:middle line:84% handout from a Shinto priest lit in the New Year's sacred fire 00:03:55.010 --> 00:03:58.940 align:middle line:84% that was started anew with a bow drill-- 00:03:58.940 --> 00:04:00.830 align:middle line:90% purified. 00:04:00.830 --> 00:04:04.790 align:middle line:84% Walking and lightly swinging the long wick 00:04:04.790 --> 00:04:10.100 align:middle line:84% to keep it glowing in a crowd of people all whirling wicks 00:04:10.100 --> 00:04:12.410 align:middle line:90% and heading for home. 00:04:12.410 --> 00:04:14.660 align:middle line:90% Finally catch a taxi. 00:04:14.660 --> 00:04:18.170 align:middle line:84% Once home, start a propane gas plate 00:04:18.170 --> 00:04:20.390 align:middle line:90% from the almost gone wick. 00:04:20.390 --> 00:04:24.620 align:middle line:84% Now we have a sacred fire in the house. 00:04:24.620 --> 00:04:28.880 align:middle line:84% The Gion's huge bell still ringing, 00:04:28.880 --> 00:04:32.540 align:middle line:84% still ringing in the new year as soft 00:04:32.540 --> 00:04:36.835 align:middle line:84% as loud at the house three kilometers away 00:04:36.835 --> 00:04:37.835 align:middle line:90% as it was at the temple. 00:04:37.835 --> 00:04:42.030 align:middle line:90% 00:04:42.030 --> 00:04:45.450 align:middle line:84% Up along the Kamo river Northwest 00:04:45.450 --> 00:04:49.230 align:middle line:84% to higher ground after midnight New Year's 00:04:49.230 --> 00:04:58.890 align:middle line:84% Eve the great bell of Gion 108 times deeply booms 00:04:58.890 --> 00:05:01.680 align:middle line:90% through town. 00:05:01.680 --> 00:05:06.480 align:middle line:84% From across the valley, it is a dark whisper 00:05:06.480 --> 00:05:12.890 align:middle line:84% echoing in your liver mending your fragile heart." 00:05:12.890 --> 00:05:15.000 align:middle line:90%