tanka

Thân thiện

A monk carefully unrolls a tanka in the temple.

Definition

1. Noun:
   • A form of Japanese poetry: A tanka is a traditional, unrhymed Japanese poem with a fixed syllable pattern of five lines, following a 5-7-5-7-7 syllable structure.
   • A Tibetan religious painting: A tanka (also spelled thangka) is a traditional Tibetan Buddhist painting on fabric, usually depicting a deity, a mandala, or a scene from Buddhist teachings, and used as a teaching or meditation aid.

Examples of Usage

• Noun (Japanese poetry):
  • She wrote a beautiful tanka about the autumn moon.
  • The classical tanka often expresses a single emotion or observation.
• Noun (Tibetan painting):
  • The monastery displayed an ancient tanka of the Buddha.
  • He studied the intricate symbolism in the Tibetan tanka.

Advanced Usage

• The term tanka can refer to the poetic form's long history, dating back over 1,300 years, making it older than the more internationally known .
• In the context of Tibetan art, a tanka is not merely decorative; it is a sacred object used for visualization practices during meditation.

Variants and Related Words

• Thangka: An alternative spelling for the Tibetan religious painting.
• Haiku: A related, shorter form of Japanese poetry (5-7-5 syllables).
• Waka: An older, broader term for Japanese poetry that includes the tanka form.

Synonyms

• For the poem: (in a broader, historical sense), Japanese verse.
• For the painting: , Buddhist scroll, iconographic painting.

Related Phrases

• Tanka prose: A modern literary form that combines a tanka poem with a prose passage.
• To compose a tanka: To write a poem in the tanka form.
• To mount a tanka: To prepare and frame a Tibetan tanka painting on silk brocade.

Học thuật

Noun

1. a Tibetan religious painting on fabric
2. a form of Japanese poetry; the 1st and 3rd lines have five syllables and the 2nd, 4th, and 5th have seven syllables