Sabi
Sabi means things whose beauty stems from age. It refers to the patinaof age, and the concept that changes due to use may make an object morebeautiful and valuable. This also incorporates an appreciation of the cyclesof life, as well as careful, artful mending of damage.Other Views
"Wabi is the quality of a rustic, yet refined, solitary beauty.Sabi is that trait, be it the green corrosion of bronze, or thepattern of moss and lichen on wood and stone, that comes with weathering andage."
- "Reflections of the Spirit: Japanese Gardens in America",Maggie Oster
"Originally, the Japanese words wabi and sabi had quitedifferent meanings. Sabi originally meant 'chill', 'lean' or'withered'. Wabi originally meant the misery of living alone innature, away from society... Around the 14th century, the meanings of bothwords began to evolve in the direction of more positive aesthetic values. ...Over the intervening centuries, the meanings of wabi and sabihave crossed over so much that today the line separating them is very blurryindeed."
- "Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers",Leonard Koren
"The word wabi ... does not lend itself readily to translation, for itcan mean a number of things: loneliness, desolation, rustic simplicity, quiettaste, a gentle affection for antique, unostentatious, and rather melancholyrefinement."
- "The Classic Tradition In Japanese Architecture: Modern Versions OfThe Sukiya Style", Teiji Itoh, Yukio Futagawa
"... Kobori Enshu, the man widely regarded as the designer of Katsura Palace.Enshu's style as applied to architecture and gardens was a synthesis of theelegance and grace of the imperial court tradition with the austere rusticityfavoured by Sen no Rikyu. This combination was by no means as far-fetched asit sounds, because Rikyu's sabi - an aesthetic ideal connotingseclusion, quietude, pastoral simplicity, and closeness to nature - was akinto a certain escapist element that had long been a prominent feature oftraditional Japanese culture."
- "Katsura: A Princely Retreat", Akira Naito, Takeshi Nishikawa
"Wabi-sabi is a beauty of things imperfect, impermanent, andincomplete. It is a beauty of things modest and humble. It is a beauty ofthings unconventional. ... The closest English word to wabi-sabi isprobably "rustic". ... Things wabi-sabi are unstudied and inevitablelooking. .. unpretentious. .. Their craftsmanship may be impossible todiscern. "
- "Wabi-Sabi for Artists, Designers, Poets and Philosophers",Leonard Koren
"Wabi-[sabi] is characterized by humility, restraint, simplicity,naturalism, profundity, imperfection, and asymmetry [emphasizing] simple,unadorned objects and architectural space, and [celebrating] the mellowbeauty that time and care impart to materials"
"Introduction: Chanoyu, the Art of Tea",Urasenke Seattle Homepage
"A certain love of roughness is involved, behind which lurks a hidden beauty,to which we refer in our peculiar adjectives shibui, wabi andsabi. .. It is this beauty with inner implications that is referred toas shibui. It is not a beauty displayed before the viewer by itscreator .. a piece that will lead the viewer to draw beauty out of it forthemselves. The world may abound with different aspects of beauty. Eachperson, according to his disposition and environment, will feel a specialaffinity to one or another aspect. But when their taste grows more refined,they will necessarily arrive at the beauty that is shibui."
- "The Unknown Craftsman: A Japanese Insight into Beauty",Soetsu Yanagi, Bernard Leach
"Throughout your stay in Japan you must have heard the word shibuiuttered frequently. It is impossible to translate this word accurately intoEnglish. 'Austere', 'subdued', 'restrained', 'sombre' - these words comenearest to acceptable substitutes. Etymologically, shibui means'astringent', and is used to describe profound, unassuming and quiet feeling.... this simple adjective is the final criterion for the highest form ofbeauty."
- "Folk Crafts of Japan", Soetsu Yanagi
