Matsuo Bashō died on 28 November 1694 in Midōsuji, aged about 50. A Japanese poet of the Edo period, Bashō became a master of the haiku, a short form of seventeen syllables which he raised to an art. Born into a samurai family, he moved to Edo, now Tokyo, where he taught poetry and took his pen name from a banana plant at his hut. In his later years he made long journeys on foot around Japan, and recorded them in travel diaries mixing prose and poetry, of which The Narrow Road to the Deep North is the best known. His famous haiku about a frog jumping into an old pond is among the most celebrated in Japanese literature. He died in Osaka while travelling.
Before and after
- 28 January 1693Birth of Anna I of Russia
- 29 March 1693Founding of Curitiba
- 27 July 1694Founding of Bank of England
- 21 November 1694Birth of Voltaire
- 28 November 1694Death of Matsuo Bashō
- from 13 August 1695 to 15 August 1695Bombardment of Brussels
- 11 July 1696Founding of Academy of Arts, Berlin
- 10 November 1697Birth of William Hogarth
- 1698Founding of London Stock Exchange
More in Art, literature & culture
- c. 1500sMona Lisa
- 18 April 1506Construction of St. Peter's Basilica
- from 31 October 1517 to 1 January 1648Protestant Reformation
- 31 October 1517Origins of Lutheranism
- 10 November 1517Origins of Protestantism
- from 17th century to 19th centuryAge of Enlightenment
The era
This moment belongs to the Early modern world (1500 CE to 1760 CE), voyages, printing and new ideas. You can also browse everything in the 17th century.