THE SETSUIN OR PRIVY

雪隠



Setsuin, the classical word for privy, has its origin in Zen Buddhism and came into the language through the Tea Masters.

雪隠とは野外便所でもともとは禅宗の隠語でしたが、茶人達によって茶室建築において使われる様になりました。

It is composed, according to one view, of the first character of the name of a certain Zen monk named Seppo Gison Zenji, of Fuchow in China, and In, the Sinico-Jaoanese reading of the first character of the word for privy, because this monk set himself the task of cleaning the monastery privies and thus obtained enlightenment.

中国の福建に雪峯義存と言う禅僧がおり、彼が僧院のトイレ掃除を修行のごとく行い、その話が日本へ伝わり、中国故事から引用して啓蒙の意味で名付けられました。

According to another opinion it derives from the name of the monk Setto Zenji who undertook the same task at the temple of Reiin, the second syllable of the name of the temple forming the last character in this case.

もう一つの説は、雪トウ禅師と言う人が霊隠寺のトイレを同様に掃除したので、雪と隠を合わせて雪隠と名付けられたと言うものです。



Seppo and Setto are contracted forms of Setsu-ho and Setsu-to. Setsu means snow, while In means to hide or conceal, and read with its Japanese Kun, kakureru is first syllable of Kakureru-dokoro, Place of concealment. The other ancient and classical word for this place still in use is Kawaya, by some explained to mean River-house from Kawa river, from the custom of making it over a stream, as in the monasteries of Koya San (9th century) where it may have originated. But others derive it from Kawa side, so Side-house, from its position in a building.

セッポウとセットウのセッとは雪と言う意味です。日本の訓読みでは雪で覆い隠すっと言う意味があり、雪が積もり何もかもが覆い隠された状態を想像して下さい。トイレには他に厠っと言う言い方をします。これは川のそばで水洗トイレの感覚ですね、九世紀の奈良高野山のトイレがその起源らしいです。建物を川のすぐ脇へ作りまさに自然の水洗トイレです。

In a Zen monastery it is called Seijyosho or Clean Place, because since it is naturally unclean especial care is taken to keep it scrupulously pure and spotless.

禅寺は別名清浄所と呼ばれ、恒に清潔に対して気が配られています。

Cf. the statement in the Jataka Tale No.16. The excellent Rahula went neither to the Buddha as being his father, nor to Sariputta, Captain of the Faith as being his preceptor, nor to the great Mobanalla as being his teacher, nor to the elder Anada as being his uncle; but betook himself to the Buddha's jakes and took up his abode there as in a heavenly mansion. Now in a Buddha's jakes the door is always closely shut: the leveled floor is of perfumed there. Jataka, Vol.I. translated by R.Chalmers.

the Jataka Tale No.16.を参照下さい。The excellent Rahulaは仏陀の父、訓戒者であるSariputta, Captain of the Faith、教師であるthe great Mobanalla、兄弟であるthe elder Anada、いずれでもないが。しかし、仏陀の便所や住居を同一の神聖な建物とし使用しました。トイレのドアは閉じられていてます。Jataka, Vol.I. translated by R.Chalmers.



There are two privies attached to a Tea-room, one for use called Kafuku Setsuin, and the other called Kazari Setsuin or Ornamental Privy, which is not used.

茶室には二つの雪隠が有ります。下腹雪隠と言って実際にトイレとして使う物と、飾雪隠と言って装飾のみ実際には使われません。

Though it is customary to use old timber or bamboo in Tea-rooms to produce a feeling of mellowness, yet in the Setsuin only new and clean wood is employed.

茶室は古い木や竹が使われるのが普通で、それは柔らかさを演出するためのものだと思われます。雪隠においても新しい奇麗な木等は使われません。

And the reason why the guests at Cha-no-yu always inspect the Privy with the rest of the Roji is because in a Zen Monastery cleaning it has always been regarded as part of the discipline of the sect and is often undertaken by famous priest, and it is in this spirit that it should be approached.

茶の湯に招待された客達がなぜ厠を注視するかと言うと、露地待合において待つ間に、何気に厠の状態を観察し亭主の修練程度を見ているのです。なぜなら、厠の掃除は禅における修行であり高名な層を規範においているっという共通の価値基準から生まれます。

Moreover the host bestows special care on keeping it spotless and in proper order so that it is natural that the guests should view it to appreciate this.

加えて、亭主側からも細部にまで気を配り時間を費やすこの上品な道理、しかも自然に、それは必ず客がその真価を認めるっと言う事なのです。



The Ornamental or Sand Setsuen was first made by Sen Doan at the command of Hideyoshi when he was campaigning at Odawara against Hojo, and the manner in which he made it has been follower ever since.

飾雪隠もしくは砂雪隠は千道安が、豊臣秀吉が北条攻め同行のおり作り、それ以来受け継がれました。

Up till the time of Rikyu, since it was a period of civil war, the Setsuin was sometime used a hiding place from which to make a surprise attack, so especial care had to be taken about it, especially at twilight or evening Cha-n-yu.

利休の時代までは、戦国時代において雪隠はだまし討ちの隠れ場所として使われたりしていました。特に夕方の茶事は要注意です。

Katagiri Sekishu considers that the Setsuin is best placed behind a few trees or bamboos planted so that it is half concealed.

片桐石州は雪隠の場所を木々や竹林の陰へ作り隠すようにするのがよいと考えました。

It at a little distance from the other buildings especially it looks well if it shows just the roof and the window or part of it. Where there is no waiting arbor trees should be planted so as to conceal it completely.

独立させた建物で屋根や窓がついているもので、待合いは無く木々で完全に隠れている状態です。

After a Cha-no-yu the Setsuin should be cleaned with the most scrupulous care and spread with fresh sand, because cleanliness and purity should be its out standing feature.

茶事がすんだら雪隠は特に入念に掃除をされ新しい砂がかけられます。清潔と美しさを特にきわだたせなければなりません。

That the inspection of this place was, at any rate in early days, also intended to make certain that no one was lurking there with evil intent is indicated by the story of Hariya Soshun who invited three guests to an evening Cha-no-yu, among whom was Toda Mimbusho. In the interval one of the three, Naraya Sansuke, went and examined the Setsuin while the other two proceeded to the Koshikake. He found a man hiding there and asked him who he was. The other said that he had a grudge against Toda Mibusho and was waiting to attack him, and suggested that Sansuke should entice him that way so that he could do so. But Sansuke was the Batsu or junior guest, and thought that if any harm came to Toda he would be failing in one of his duties. So he refused, and told the man to go away quietly and he would see that he was not molested. The man declined to do, so Sansuke drew him into the Setsuin as though to discuss the matter further and there stabbed him at once. The others then came up on their way round, and Toda examined him with the andon and recognized him. They then returned and finished the ceremony without saying anything to their host until the end of the party, when Toda apologized profusely to him for the unfortunate pollution of his Setsuin. He also commended Sansuke and gave him a new name and promoted him to the rank of Samurai as a recognition of his quick resource. They agreed that the inspection of the Setsuin was most important at Evening and Dawn Cha-no-yu. (Memoirs of Hosokawa Sansai.)

とにかく、あらゆる場所の検閲はあの当時は当たり前でした。それは怪しい者が潜んでいないかの確認が第一だったからです。針屋宗春と言う人物の記録にこのような出来事があります。彼が茶事を催し三人の客が招待されました。その中に戸田民部少と言う人がおり、刺客が彼を狙ってその席の雪隠に潜んでおりました。奈良屋三助という男が雪隠を調べに行き賊を発見、三助は機転を利かしその賊を雪隠内で撃退したのです。客達は茶事が終わるまでその事は伏せ、後ほど亭主宗春に謝罪したそうです。三助もこの功につき改名と武士への昇格、その後から、雪隠の検分は午後や夜の茶事にはとても重要な事柄となりました。（細川三斎覚書）

The result of the inclusion of the Setsuin in the sphere of Zen and Tea has been very well described by the famous writer Nagai Kafu in one of his charming studies of old Edo:

禅と茶の湯の領域における雪隠の位置付けは永井荷風の江戸情緒に紹介されています。

" Consider how much esthetic value has the privy of the ordinary Japanese family as it stands in the position ordained for it by ancient custom, forming part of the composition of the verandah, the reception rooms and the garden.

考えるに、日本人における美意識の基準はそのトイレにあってよい。それは昔からの伝統に照らし合わせ、居間や庭、廊下の構成の一つである。

With its low shingled roof detached from the main building, its delicate door of cedar and its bamboo barred window, and especially the water-basin that stands always near it by the edge of the verandah, with its ladle for pouring the water over the hands, and the aspidistra or other broad-leaved plant growing round its base to catch the drops, how elegant it looks.

トイレは母屋とは切り離され、片流れ屋根と粗末な杉戸に竹格子窓、極めつけは手水鉢が廊下の端へおかれていることです。柄杓で水をすくい両手に掛け清め、その水が下に植えてある木草に降り注ぐ趣向はなんともエレガントです。

" In front of the brushwood fence that inevitably forms the background of this basin we have the Nanten bush or the flowering plum tree, and in the early morning in spring we may see the bush-warbler perch on the handle of the ladle as he sips the water.

手水鉢の後ろは垣根、南天の木や梅の木があります。朝早くにはウグイスが鉢におかれた柄杓の取っ手をとまり木に水をつつく姿。

On hot evenings in summer a great cool-looking toad may very likely drag himself slowly out from under the verandah and on to the damp green moss that gathers on the stones at the foot of the Chozu-bachi, and if the master of the house keeps gold-fish or grows water plants in bowls, it is in this part of the garden that they are put.

真夏の午後、大きなヒキガエルが廊下の下からはい出して手水鉢の苔むす石にへばりつきます。金魚や水草の鉢が庭におかれていることも多々あり。

Here the ladies may hang up their wind-bells or the cage of singing insects in which they delight.

女性が風鈴や虫かごを楽しそうに手にとっています。

" And how often does the door of the privy and the water-basin with its patterned cotton towel hanging up daintily above it figure on the inside of the covers of our old block-printed books or elsewhere.

そして、手水鉢の上には手ぬぐいが、優雅に、掛けられています。それは、私たちが古い本の中でみた、あの柄があしらわれています。

Certainly in our country only does one find that such a thing as the privy and its surrounding can be thus associated with poetic fancy and esthetic taste.

確かに、私たちの国においてもトイレ回りにおいてこのような可愛いあしらいや奇麗な感じを見ることが出来ます。

In a European home it is so concealed that you don't know where to find it, and even the artists of France, with all their quaint and unconventional disregard for custom and convention, have not so far been able to make it the subject of a serious artistic composition.

ヨーロッパの家屋においてトイレは分からないくらい隠れています。そして芸術の国フランス、風変わりや因習にとらわれない彼らにおいても同様です。

"Contrast this with the Ukiyoe painters of Japan and their delightful grouping of women with this background. How daring and yet how quite successful they are! Standing by the basin and pouring some water over her delicate fingers from the ladle, her figure loosely clad in her sleeping kimono with its narrow obi, and holding her paper handkerchief in her mouth, there is an indescribable grace in her willowy poise.

対照的に、日本の浮世絵の美人画はどうでしょう。なんと大胆不敵、まさに絶句！手水鉢の横にたち水をすくい上げる姿、彼女は浴衣に細い帯を締めて懐紙で口を拭うのです。柳の様なしなやかな体、言い表せない優雅な景色ではありませんか。

"And then you get a glimpse of the garden with the evening rain falling gently and scatting the petals of the drooping Kaido blossoms in the light of the lantern she has put down on the verandah beside her, which throws those rather exaggerated but effective shadows that are the characteristic of this school. A subtle silent poem that we cannot resist." (Shotaku)

午後に降る雨、庭に目をやってください。桜の花びらが散り、縁側にたたずむ女性の横にはランタンの灯。誇張しているかもしれませんが、もの悲しさを表しています。静寂の詩、私たちは抵抗することはできません。

And how many pictures of this kind are now to be found in conventional European sitting rooms, where their subtle appeal is quite lost, though if understood it would reveal a point of view as unique as this eminent novelist asserts. Possibly many claims made for Japan in other directions may be based on slighter foundations than that which distinguished her as the only people to make the Kawaya a work of art.

現在、浮世絵はヨーロッパの家に飾られていますが、この敏感な感性を理解することはないでしょう、、しかし、優れた小説家の文章によってポイントは現れてくるかもしれません。うわべの日本趣味ではなく、厠の芸術として彼女の姿を想像できたらな、っと思います。

"A strict regard for cleanliness is the first principle in entertaining guests. And this love of purity and hatred of dirt was certainly not derived from Tea and Zen, but has always been a part of our national character."(Takahashi)

エンターテイメントにおいて清潔とは一番の原理原則と断言できます。そしてこの潔癖な趣向は茶の湯や禅からだけによっていることではないでしょう。しかし、一般的には雪隠と言う文字はその代名詞として使われています。







INTRODUCTION-1 TITLE CONTENTS