On 'Vividly Alive'

kappatsu hatchi — Vividly Alive.

On the origin

A Song-dynasty term. Its locus classicus is Zhu Xi’s commentary 『中庸章句』 (Zhongyong Zhangju) on chapter 12, which records the remark of the Cheng masters (程子): “In this section Zisi is most urgently at work for others’ sake — vividly alive (活潑潑地); let the reader direct his thought here.” It glosses the vital force of “the kite in flight, the fish at leap” (鳶飛魚躍) that chapter 12 cites from the Book of Odes. The phrase also recurs in the 『朱子語類』 and was later absorbed into Chan/Zen recorded sayings and phrase-collections (e.g. the Zenrin kushū). The graph “溌溌 (鱍鱍)” names a fish breaking the surface of the water.

On the reading

The flash of a fish that breaks the surface and is gone. Nothing held back, nothing rehearsed — only this instant, full. It shows where the wish to be something has dropped away. Within the motion, a center that does not stir.

On the garment

The seal for this phrase was hand-carved in Tokyo by the artist Satake Hōsen. The front carries this phrase’s seal; the back and inside label carry the Hōsen seal (寳千), printed in vermilion.

The garment is Bella + Canvas 3001 (short sleeve) or Gildan 2400 (long sleeve). A vessel for the word, not the subject itself.

― hosen, tokyo