In these affairs
We crave that thou wilt passionately flee
The one offence, and anxiously wilt shun
The error of presuming the clear lights
Of eyes created were that we might see;
Or thighs and knees, aprop upon the feet,
Thuswise can bended be, that we might step
With goodly strides ahead; or forearms joined
Unto the sturdy uppers, or serving hands
On either side were given, that we might do
Life’s own demands. All such interpretation
Is aft-for-fore with inverse reasoning,
Since naught is born in body so that we
May use the same, but birth engenders use:
No seeing ere the lights of eyes were born,
No speaking ere the tongue created was;
But origin of tongue came long before
Discourse of words, and ears created were
Much earlier than any sound was heard;
And all the members, so meseems, were there
Before they got their use: and therefore, they
Could not be gendered for the sake of use.
But contrariwise, contending in the fight
With hand to hand, and rending of the joints,
And fouling of the limbs with gore, was there,
O long before the gleaming spears ere flew;
And Nature prompted man to shun a wound,
Before the left arm by the aid of art
Opposed the shielding targe. And, verily,
Yielding the weary body to repose,
Far ancienter than cushions of soft beds,
And quenching thirst is earlier than cups.
These objects, therefore, which for use and life
Have been devised, can be conceived as found
For sake of using. But apart from such
Are all which first were born and afterwards
Gave knowledge of their own utility-
Chief in which sort we note the senses, limbs:
Wherefore, again, ‘tis quite beyond thy power
To hold that these could thus have been create
For office of utility.

Lucretius 1st century BCE

Soetsu Yanagi elaborates in The Beauty of Everyday Things “However, when coining the word mingei, in addition to this broad meaning we also wanted to define the term more narrowly. If we simply defined mingei as referring to practical objects used by ordinary people, all kinds of cheap things commonly displayed in stores would fit that criterion. Among mingei objects we wanted to include only those with certain specific characteristics. One essential feature should be that the objects honestly fulfil the practical purpose for which they were made. In contrast, look at the machine-made objects that inundate our lives in recent years, which have fallen victim to commercialism and the profit motive, usefulness shunted aside. Among these objects ostensibly made for practical use, there are many that are nothing more than frauds and fakes, displaying no attempt at honest usability. On the other hand, there are the many purportedly refined objects that aim at elegance but succumb to bad taste, overburdened with needless decoration and meaningless frivolity. With these works utility becomes a secondary consideration, verging on the enfeebled and morally corrupt. In objects of daily use these are precisely the characteristics that should be avoided, for they have turned their backs on the life they should be serving.”

Yanagi 2019

Sara Ahmed explains in What’s the Use? On the Uses of Use that “Use is a restriction of possibility that is material. Even when we use something in ways that were not intended – a cup as a paperweight, for instance – we do so given the qualities of a thing. Perhaps when we use something in ways that were not intended, we are allowing those qualities to acquire freer expression. The keys that are used to unlock a door can be used as a toy, perhaps because they are shiny and silver, perhaps because they jangle. Queer uses, when things are used for purposes other than the ones for which they were intended, still reference the qualities of things; queer uses may linger on those qualities, rendering them all the more lively.”

Ahmed 2019, 45

One story from Stories from a Tearoom Window collected by Shigenori Chikamatsu desribes how “Among the articles and utensils possessed by Lord Nobunaga, his narashiba katatsuki, otogoze kettle, efugo fresh-water vessel, scroll with the calligraphy of Xitang, and so on were the meibutsu. When Akechi Hyuga-no-kami Mitsuhide rebelled against Nobunaga and attacked Azuchi Castle, these treasures-together with a long sword made by Fudo Kuniyuki, a sword by Niji Kunitoshi, a short sword by Yagen Toshiro, and others-were all carried away to Sakamoto Castle by Mitsuhide’s kinsman Akechi Samanosuke Mitsutoshi. But Mitsutoshi’s defense of Sakamoto Castle was destined to end that day. So Mitsutoshi urged Mitsuhide’s wife and children to go up to the highest tower and prepare some dry grass. Then all the above-mentioned articles and utensils were packed in silk bedclothes and bound tightly with long women’s sashes, and the package was carried up to the veranda of the tower.

Mitsutoshi called out in his loudest voice, so that the attacking army might be silenced and listen to what he was going to say. He shouted, “Now I will speak to you. My master, Akechi Hyuga-no-kami Mitsuhide, found no favor with fate, so that he was defeated and died. So now I myself, Akechi Samanosuke Mitsutoshi, am going to kill myself after putting my master’s wife and children to death. However, I feel that even as we perish, we will not be able to bear seeing these most valuable articles and utensils ruined with us. Please take these treasures to your commander together with a list of them.” So shouting, he lowered the package slowly and carefully down by means of the sashes. The attacking soldiers received it safely and took it to their headquarters. Mitsutoshi watched this with his own eyes, and then went in to stab Mitsuhide’s wife and children to death, and set fire to the dry grass. When the tower was half-burned, he cut his belly crosswise, and was burned to death. The thousands of attacking warriors admired him tearfully, finding him to be a truly excellent warrior.

When he is compared with Matsunaga, who broke the hiragumo kettle to pieces, what a great difference there is between the two! Indeed, Mitsutoshi can be called the most excellent of warriors.”

Chikamatsu, 2009

The word “Enchiridion” (Ancient Greek: ἐγχειρίδιον) is an adjective meaning “in the hand” or “ready to hand”. The word sometimes meant a handy sword, or dagger, but coupled with the word “book” (biblion, Greek: βιβλίον) it means a handy book or hand-book. Epictetus in the Discourses often speaks of principles which his pupils should have “ready to hand” (Greek: πρόχειρα). Common English translations of the title are Manual or Handbook.

Wikipedia contributors. (2023, 08 10). Enchiridion of Epictetus. In Wikipedia. Link