Waka Poetry and Preface based on Sightseeing Excursions on the Oigawa River during the Heian Period: Concerning the Succession of Authority

Yamamoto, Mayuko

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https://hdl.handle.net/2142/102977 Copy

Description

Title

• Waka Poetry and Preface based on Sightseeing Excursions on the Oigawa River during the Heian Period: Concerning the Succession of Authority
• 平安時代における大堰川遊覧の和歌と序の表現―典拠の継承をめぐって―

Author(s)

Yamamoto, Mayuko

Issue Date

2018-03-06

Keyword(s)

• Waka poetry
• Shirokubun
• authority
• Emperor Uda
• Oigawa
• Zhuangzi

Abstract

The Oigawa River flowed from south to north through the western part of the Heian capital. Like nearby Sagano and Arashiyama, during the Heian Period it was a sightseeing excursion area that capital aristocrats frequently visited. On the morning of September 10, 907, the day after the Chrysanthemum Festival, retired Emperor Uda made a royal visit to the Oigawa River. On this occasion, the attendant poets composed Chinese poems and waka poetry, in addition to a preface based on nine themes united under the title “The Imperial Visit: Chinese and Japanese Poems and Preface” (shown below). Of the waka, two were selected for inclusion in the Kokin Wakashu. The kana preface, written by Ki no Tsurayuki, is known as the Oigawa Gyoko Waka-Jo (“Preface to Waka composed during the Imperial Visit to the Oigawa River”). “The Imperial Visit: Chinese and Japanese Poems and Preface” powerfully influenced works created during excursions to the Oigawa River throughout the Heian Period. The first unique feature of Emperor Uda’s royal visit is that it is linked to poetry recitation gatherings held the morning after the Chrysanthemum Festival, which were only customary during his years as a retired ruler. “The Imperial Visit: Chinese and Japanese Poems and Preface” is deeply associated with the reading of Chinese poems at poetry gatherings held the morning after the Chrysanthemum Festival. Examples of these connections include the fact that the Chinese poems, in addition to a preface composed by Sugawara no Michizane at a poetry reading party (held 10 years before the imperial visit), include the word shusui (crystal stream in autumn), which is the first theme of the “The Imperial Visit: Chinese and Japanese Poems and Preface.” The word shusui is often employed, taking the work of Zhuangzi as the authority. In the Chinese poems and preface of Michizane, the location of the poetry recitation concretely expresses the thoughts of Zhuangzi. The writings contained in “The Imperial Visit: Chinese and Japanese Poems and Preface,” composed with shunsui as the theme, also express the superimposition of the scenery along the Oigawa river, along with the world of Zhuangzi’s thinking, with him as the authority.

Type of Resource

text

Language

eng

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http://hdl.handle.net/2142/102977

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