There is a quote from Matsuo Basho:

> 古人の跡を求めず、古人の求めしところを求めよ

Nowadays, would a phrase 人の跡を求める be understood as "to follow someone"s
footsteps". Would it be grammatically valid in contemporary Japanese?

Was it grammatically correct in the times of Basho? Or was it already a play
on words, ie. it would be invalid without the latter part.
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2015-10-13T01:55:30.670
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archaic-language poetry
Would a phrase 人の跡を求める be understood without a reference to Basho?
_Follow_ might be a slightly misleading verb here, because it is too narrow,
and can sometimes have a negative connotation of passivity. There's a
difference between _seeking_ my mother's advice and _following_ it.

I noticed how “ _seek to follow_ the _foot_ steps” is the widely disseminated
translation for this quote, but literally it is more like a simple “ _seek_
the _traces_ ”. (“Seek not the traces of your predecessors…”) In that sense,
“Xの跡を求める” is still grammatically valid and used today, whether X is a person
or thing.

Some examples:

  * 愛しい女性の **跡を求めて** 旅立つ  
Set out on a journey _seeking the traces_ of a beloved woman

  * 神社の **跡を求めて** ジャングルの中を歩く  
Walk in the jungle _seeking the traces_ of a shrine

  * 夢の **跡を求めて** パリにやってくる  
Come to Paris _seeking the traces_ of a dream

To more closely match the English notion of “ _following_ someone's footsteps”
or “ _following in_ someone's footsteps”, there are other suitable verbs with
varying applications and nuances, e.g. 跡をたどる, 跡を追う, 跡を継ぐ. The 跡 part can also
be altered to specify the kind of trace, like 足跡 (footsteps) or 軌跡
(path/track).
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