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Japanese and Chinese Poetry
Japan and China are some of the great countries in the world that use poetry to express
feelings and events surrounding the poet’s world. Poems from the two distinct cultures have
several similarities and distinctions. For instance, poets from China and Japan preferred brief
lyrics focusing on numerous themes such as the beauty of nature, family life, romantic love, and
friendship. In Japan, Haiku is one of the briefest poetry containing seventeen syllables that were
set in three lines of 5-7-5. Matsuo Munefusa (Basho) is renown as a king of haiku. China, as one
of the first civilization on the globe, had conquered some islands that today belong to Japan. As
such, it introduced its literature, Buddhism, Taoism, and Confucius principles, which later
influenced Japanese poetry. Most of the classic poetry in Japan appear in Chinese but were later
produced in Japanese. For instance, Kanshi (Japanese phrase for Chinese poetry and Japanese
poetry in Chinese languages) was the commonest poetry during the initial Heian period (Robert
(11). Some of the greatest Haiku and waka poets, such as Basho and Teika have referred to
Chinese poetry, particularly those from Tang dynasty (Wilson 4). Tu (Du) and Li Po are among
the respected poets in China. Li Po had the love for romanticism in Taoist culture, and on the
other hand, Tu (Du) explored rationalism of the Confucian culture (Hei& Hideaki, 17).
Due to the influence of Confucius, Buddhism, and Taoism, poets in the two cultures
emphasized discipline and imparting knowledge on the vitality of people having control over the
directions. However, there is a difference in the level of adulation for this practice. Japanese
