I just saw your gracious reply re what i forget (maybe i wanted to share a kyouka w. Ogasawara in it?) but delighted you got the Dolphin, read by maybe one-person a year & New Year bk (for what was about 1/10th of the ku/themes that might have been finished to replace Blyth's seasons of haiku but for circumstances in life requiring concentration on humor AND lack of support=reviews/$ from the world of haiku as William Higginson, who alone among the big wheels realized I was doing what no other could and not competition, passed away) maybe seen by two people a year.
I, too, dreamed in Japanese -- as well as English -- and love yr attitude/s and interests. Re the man in the moon, I thought he was supposed to have been more busy pruning that tree than planting, though the moon sure cudda used a johny appleseed! I had no idea about the olive bloom and must reread to fix it in my memory. I do not believe I have used "cinnabar" for the katsura but i like that it sounds fragrant as lady's men were said to be so and Katsura-o or otoko was supposed to be like Narihira -- and may substitute it for whatever i wrote in scores of translations. I am unsure how you taxed such a guy as a "monster" though you are correct re warnings as men do not like ma-otoko (pro paramours & maybe cheaters as well) seducing their women for uwaki. Among the countless ku and kyouka, I particularly like all the nostril hair reading AND the Narihira connection turning him into a bi or trans w/ help from the tree as katsura homophonically puns a wig or rather and extension (as court women also used) -- what the hell is the correct word for THAT? Let me c+f Katsurao amd give you a few of whatever pops up first in my huge file
世の人に後ろを見せぬ月なれば一分も跡へ引かぬ桂男 花江戸住E3-5 1787
As the Moon is known for not showing us earthlings its backside,
Katsurao won’t retreat even a moment (an Edoite in his pride?)
若衆の尻つきを見て離れえぬ念者や桂男なるらん 貞富T1672 FB
If the moon is like a gay youth’s rump, those glued to the sight
who stay up all night might one & all best be called Katsurao!
月見魔は、稚児や若衆に惚れ惚れに成る念者の如くかと。
Let us call men drawn to buns the shape of which puns “moon,”
Katsurao after that lunar tree-man said to love girls & wakashu.
若衆も女の子も求愛する人を桂男とも称しすれば良いと。
He belongs with those enthralled by the sight of a wakashu’s bum,
shaped like the moon in this pun – Sir Katsura was the first one!
桂男は初若衆好き、か稚児愛念者という発想が可笑しい。
桂雄の色におされて大空にひとつも見えぬ夜這星かな みしか（みじか？）栗花集
Overwhelmed by moon-man Katsurao’s beauty, in the whole sky
not one of those so-called falling stars can be seen out swiving.
角力より晴天十日かつら男を相手にくまん此月見酒 柳百朶e7-2-114
After Sumo, facing a clear tenth-day sky, lover-boy Katsurao
and I had ourselves a drinking bout of moon-viewing sake.
秋の夜の月のかつらの長かもじ女とも見えつ男なりひら 月洞軒 元禄
Katsurao, Moon-man of Fall – his name sounds like “wig” or “tress”
so, he must be Narihira, a man known to wear a dress!
おじゃれ女のように尾花に招かせて桂男の宿をする露 朝雲K1822 薄=Miscanthus
Attracted by beckoning tail-flower plumes, that tease Miss Canthus,
Katsurao, our moon-man, often stays over in the Dew-drop Inn.
I'll stop at a handful -- online i would guess poems by Chie no naishi & Yomo no Akara are easiest to find. None of the above is typical but the typical ones are maybe 10% of the total. NONE, however, are monsters.
BTW, Substack is maddening to post messages to if you've signed out of your browser. My computer doesn't remember anything and I kept being asked to create a profile.
Beautiful name but... 木樨园 is a busy area on the southern part of the Second Ring Road. Lots of traffic. If I remember rightly, there is a big furniture mart there.
I just saw your gracious reply re what i forget (maybe i wanted to share a kyouka w. Ogasawara in it?) but delighted you got the Dolphin, read by maybe one-person a year & New Year bk (for what was about 1/10th of the ku/themes that might have been finished to replace Blyth's seasons of haiku but for circumstances in life requiring concentration on humor AND lack of support=reviews/$ from the world of haiku as William Higginson, who alone among the big wheels realized I was doing what no other could and not competition, passed away) maybe seen by two people a year.
I, too, dreamed in Japanese -- as well as English -- and love yr attitude/s and interests. Re the man in the moon, I thought he was supposed to have been more busy pruning that tree than planting, though the moon sure cudda used a johny appleseed! I had no idea about the olive bloom and must reread to fix it in my memory. I do not believe I have used "cinnabar" for the katsura but i like that it sounds fragrant as lady's men were said to be so and Katsura-o or otoko was supposed to be like Narihira -- and may substitute it for whatever i wrote in scores of translations. I am unsure how you taxed such a guy as a "monster" though you are correct re warnings as men do not like ma-otoko (pro paramours & maybe cheaters as well) seducing their women for uwaki. Among the countless ku and kyouka, I particularly like all the nostril hair reading AND the Narihira connection turning him into a bi or trans w/ help from the tree as katsura homophonically puns a wig or rather and extension (as court women also used) -- what the hell is the correct word for THAT? Let me c+f Katsurao amd give you a few of whatever pops up first in my huge file
世の人に後ろを見せぬ月なれば一分も跡へ引かぬ桂男 花江戸住E3-5 1787
As the Moon is known for not showing us earthlings its backside,
Katsurao won’t retreat even a moment (an Edoite in his pride?)
若衆の尻つきを見て離れえぬ念者や桂男なるらん 貞富T1672 FB
If the moon is like a gay youth’s rump, those glued to the sight
who stay up all night might one & all best be called Katsurao!
月見魔は、稚児や若衆に惚れ惚れに成る念者の如くかと。
Let us call men drawn to buns the shape of which puns “moon,”
Katsurao after that lunar tree-man said to love girls & wakashu.
若衆も女の子も求愛する人を桂男とも称しすれば良いと。
He belongs with those enthralled by the sight of a wakashu’s bum,
shaped like the moon in this pun – Sir Katsura was the first one!
桂男は初若衆好き、か稚児愛念者という発想が可笑しい。
桂雄の色におされて大空にひとつも見えぬ夜這星かな みしか（みじか？）栗花集
Overwhelmed by moon-man Katsurao’s beauty, in the whole sky
not one of those so-called falling stars can be seen out swiving.
角力より晴天十日かつら男を相手にくまん此月見酒 柳百朶e7-2-114
After Sumo, facing a clear tenth-day sky, lover-boy Katsurao
and I had ourselves a drinking bout of moon-viewing sake.
秋の夜の月のかつらの長かもじ女とも見えつ男なりひら 月洞軒 元禄
Katsurao, Moon-man of Fall – his name sounds like “wig” or “tress”
so, he must be Narihira, a man known to wear a dress!
おじゃれ女のように尾花に招かせて桂男の宿をする露 朝雲K1822 薄=Miscanthus
Attracted by beckoning tail-flower plumes, that tease Miss Canthus,
Katsurao, our moon-man, often stays over in the Dew-drop Inn.
I'll stop at a handful -- online i would guess poems by Chie no naishi & Yomo no Akara are easiest to find. None of the above is typical but the typical ones are maybe 10% of the total. NONE, however, are monsters.
You neglected to mention 桂皮...
Well, this is just chock full of this, that, and the other thing! Delightful reflection, Leanne!
I didn’t know that!!!!
Then there is Moo shu pork (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moo_shu_pork), which was also named after the 木樨!
BTW, Substack is maddening to post messages to if you've signed out of your browser. My computer doesn't remember anything and I kept being asked to create a profile.
Beautiful name but... 木樨园 is a busy area on the southern part of the Second Ring Road. Lots of traffic. If I remember rightly, there is a big furniture mart there.
Very nice post, tying all those terms together... 金木犀, 桂花, 桂, 木犀, cinnabar, osmanthus, olive...
There is a place in Beijing called 木樨園 (木樨园), which uses a different character but refers to the same flower.