Meaning and beauty

Abstract

On November 1, I had stopped eating and was prostrate in bed … It was then that a small vessel was brought into the room, and I felt my heart leap with newfound joy. It was a painted Karatsu jar … what particularly caught my eye was the repair work that had been done on the piece. It was astonishing how much it enhanced the beauty of the jar … The flaw in the jar had clearly occurred in the kiln. The piece had been badly split during firing, creating a disjointed gap in the surface … There had been no attempt to disguise it, but rather gold-dusted lacquer had been amply employed to repair it … natural deformation has raised the distortion to the level of spontaneous beauty … Is there not anyone who would not be lost in thought looking upon this work? From it I received much food for the heart.