Every once in a while, I do a search for various topics from the podcast to see what is showing up in the search engines.
This time I was led to an article from Miles Kessler’s “The Integral Dojo” titled “Learning From The Tengu” (https://theintegraldojo.com/learning-from-the-tengu/).
In this article I came across a quote, which I immediately recognized, as it is one of my favorites from the Tengugeijutsuron (The Tengu’s Sermon on the Martial Arts), though I had never heard it rendered this way:
“The mark of a true master is according to this; they can take from the dregs of the ancients and extract clear liquid.”
- Peter Ralston
The quote that I used in the podcast episode (https://anchor.fm/walkingtengu/episodes/Tengus-Sermon-13-Drinking-Boiling-Water-e3pn50) about this section was:
“The educated samurai of today study nothing but the traces of the strategies of famous generals, and this is just the dregs of the ancients. Studying the dregs and coming up with a nutritious soup - this is the measure of a general.”
- William Scott Wilson (from The Demon’s Sermon on the Martial Arts)
The two different choices on how to translate this end goal of studying the past intrigued me. Ralston translated it as “clear liquid” and Wilson translated it as “a nutritious soup.” All I could remember from my own work was that it had something to do with alcohol. So, it was time to dig out the Japanese and my notes and see what context I could dig out of it.
Translations and Interpretations
Just a reminder, as I’ve written and spoken about at length elsewhere. There is a difference between translation and interpretation. In many cases, a word-for-word translation can be cumbersome and unintelligible at best when one considers how metaphors, allegories, and historical comparisons require a cultural context that the audience a text is being translated for, may not have any background to assist in understanding the translation. Thus, the translator is left with needing to also interpret the text for the reader. That is, taking the idea from a section of the text and not just translating it word for word into the destination language, but turning it into an intelligible set of words that accurately communicates the same idea even if it is with different words. My usual example is the English phrase: “It is raining cats and dogs.” A direct translation would be confusing in most other languages. Finding the equivalent phrase for a heavy rain in the destination language would be the work of a good translator doing interpretation.
My point being, I am not criticizing either Ralston or Wilson’s translation as they have both also interpreted the text for us the readers as I’m going to guess that very few of us are familiar with the process of brewing sake. Their translations are both excellent and communicate the intention of the text just fine.
The Japanese
However, I want to dig into the text to understand why and to practice my Japanese. I have a text with both the archaic and modern Japanese and just so you’re aware I’m using the modern Japanese translation to do my own translation here.
The first sentence is:
今の時代の士が学んでいるのは、昔の名将が用いた謀術の残された記録である。
Ima no jidai no shi ga manandeiru no wa, mukashi no meishō ga mochiita hakarigoto-jutsu no nokosareta kiroku de aru.
A rough translation of this would be:
The scholars of the current era are learning, the great generals of old [who] used the skill of strategy left behind in ancient records.
The next sentence is:
それは昔の人が遺した、いわば酒粕のようなものである。
Sore wa mukashi no hito ga nokoshita, iwaba sakekasu no yōna mono de aru.
Which I translated as:
This, what was left behind by people from ancient times, could be called the leftovers from making sake.
And the last sentence is:
そのような酒粕を学習して清酒を練り出すことができるのは、将の器量の人であるお。
Sono yōna sakekasu o gakushūshite seishu o neri dasu koto ga dekiru no wa, shō no kiryō no hito de aru.
Which I rendered:
Being able to study these leftovers and squeeze out seishu (refined sake, clear liquor), this is the ability/talent of a commander/general/leader.
Ok, if I were to try and clean this up and make it work in a more eloquent fashion in English for the context of a reader who practices the martial arts, it would be this:
“The martial scholars of our time study the great generals of old who recorded their strategies in the old books. What has been left behind by these people could be called the leftovers from making sake. Being able to study these leftovers and squeeze out seishu (refined sake), this is the talent of a great martial artist.”
Brewing Sake
Alright so let’s break this down. First off, Issai Chozanshi doesn’t say martial artist anywhere here. I’m taking a liberty in assuming that the context of my reader will be a martial artist. In fact the modern Japanese translation here uses military terms and the term shi which you might recognize from the word bushido meaning way of the warrior or samurai. The word shi means gentleman, scholar, or samurai. The other word is meisho which literally translates to great or famous commander. So in the original context Chozanshi is speaking with an assumption that his audience is from the warrior class and seeking to excel in that regard. So I interpreted that in my translation as “martial scholar” because I’m assuming you are the closest thing we have to a warrior/scholar today.
The second part is all this business about sake. The term here is sakekasu which is a byproduct of brewing sake. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sake_kasu) The word in English is lees if you’re brewing wine or trub if you are brewing beer. But unless you’re involved in brewing alcohol you probably haven’t heard these terms before. It is deposits of dead or residual yeast that end up at the bottom of the brewing vat. Which is often referred to as dregs.
(Image credit: https://nymtc.com/products-2/sake-kasu-koji/)
This sakekasu is used today in a variety of ways from a cooking ingredient, to cosmetics and skincare products. This is what both Ralston and Wilson translated as “the dregs of the ancients.” A perfectly acceptable translation and interpretation.
The point Chozanshi was trying to make though, in my opinion, was that all we have left from the past is kind of like the leftovers from those days. We don’t know what has been lost, so we just have to work with what is left. The dregs.
Chozanshi states that if we can take this sakekasu and squeeze it to get seishu, then this is a picture of what it is like to study the past to improve our training today. The term seishu is literally “clear alcohol.” It’s what most of us think of when we think of Japanese sake today.
As a side note here, the term sake isn’t used in Japanese the same way we use it in English. In Japanese it just means alcohol. If you went into a store and asked to buy sake, your question would be too generic, and would sound in English something like “I would like to buy alcohol.” The store clerk would probably look at you confused for a moment and then ask what kind you wanted. In Japanese the term is nihonshu for what we refer to as sake in English.
What This Means
Either way, Chozanshi is saying that if we take these dregs, this sakekasu and squeeze out seishu, refined or clear sake from it, then this is a picture of what studying history and the past is like.
There is value to the lessons of the past, but many people in the martial arts world today seem to be too blind to see it. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard a serious martial artist say something like, “The history is interesting and all. But how does that improve my technique?”
A valid question. This is how.
The history of the martial arts, of violence and conflict throughout history contain hard fought lessons that we can use to accelerate our learning now. The person who thinks only of martial arts as a set of techniques is missing a fuller picture. The ability to perform a technique is not useful in and of itself. The ability to perform a technique at the right time and for the right reasons is what makes it useful.
Some of the competitive sport expressions of the martial arts have lost sight of this. My own primary martial art of BJJ is sometimes one of these. They can at times, only see the context of a martial technique as being meaningful in the ring or on the mats. Or ostensibly for “self-defense.” Disconnected from any tactical, strategic, or moral context. Winning or losing out on the mats is free from such emotional, intellectual, moral, and psychological obligations.
Which is fine. If that is the only context with which they are interacting with their martial art then I can understand how studying history and the classics would be meaningless to them. It has no importance in those areas.
For myself, I seek to apply my martial training in all areas of life. From conflict preparation and resolution, to violence prevention and maintaining a healthy mind and body. As an example there are lessons from the classical Japanese martial arts about coping with PTSD. They don’t use a term like Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, so there’s a need to not only translate but also to interpret those lessons. Yet, how much time could we save in our own training and growth process if we didn’t have to relearn those lessons the hard way?
That is the value of studying the classics and history as it relates to the violence, conflict, military strategy, and the martial arts.
Take those dregs and squeeze out some delicious, clear liquor.
Listen to the podcast "Walking With The Tengu" at: https://anchor.fm/walkingtengu for analysis and thoughts on how classic works are meaningful to the modern martial artist.
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