was a Japanese courtier and ''
waka
Waka may refer to:
Culture and language
* Waka (canoe), a Polynesian word for canoe; especially, canoes of the Māori of New Zealand
** Waka ama, a Polynesian outrigger canoe
** Waka hourua, a Polynesian ocean-going canoe
** Waka taua, a Māori w ...
'' poet of the early
Heian period
The is the last division of classical Japanese history, running from 794 to 1185. It followed the Nara period, beginning when the 50th emperor, Emperor Kanmu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means "peace" in Japanese. ...
. He was named one of both the
Six Poetic Geniuses The are six Japanese poetry, Japanese poets of the mid-ninth century who were named by Ki no Tsurayuki in the ''kana'' and ''Kanji, mana'' prefaces to the List of Japanese poetry anthologies, poetry anthology ''Kokin Wakashū, Kokin wakashū'' (c. ...
and the
Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses
The are a group of Japanese poets of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. The oldest surviving collection of the 36 poets' works is ''Nishi Honganji Sanju-rokunin Kashu' ...
, and one of his poems was included in the ''
Ogura Hyakunin Isshu
is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compos ...
'' collection. He is also known as Zai Go-Chūjō, Zai Go, Zai Chūjō or Mukashi-Otoko.
There are 87 poems attributed to Narihira in court anthologies, though some attributions are dubious. Narihira's poems are exceptionally ambiguous; the compilers of the 10th-century ''
Kokin Wakashū
The , commonly abbreviated as , is an early anthology of the ''waka'' form of Japanese poetry, dating from the Heian period. An imperial anthology, it was conceived by Emperor Uda () and published by order of his son Emperor Daigo () in about ...
'' thus treated them to relatively long headnotes.
Narihira's many renowned love affairs have exerted a profound influence on later Japanese culture. Legends have held that he had affairs with the high priestess of the
Ise Grand Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and .
The Inn ...
and the poet
Ono no Komachi
was a Japanese waka poet, one of the ''Rokkasen'' — the six best waka poets of the early Heian period. She was renowned for her unusual beauty, and ''Komachi'' is today a synonym for feminine beauty in Japan. She also counts among the Th ...
, and that he fathered
Emperor Yōzei
was the 57th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 陽成天皇 (57)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Yōzei's reign spanned the years from 876 through 884.
Traditional narrative
Before his ascension ...
. His love affairs inspired ''
The Tales of Ise
is a Japanese ''uta monogatari'', or collection of '' waka'' poems and associated narratives, dating from the Heian period. The current version collects 125 sections, with each combining poems and prose, giving a total of 209 poems in most version ...
'', and he has ever since been a model of the handsome, amorous nobleman.
Biography
Birth and ancestry
Ariwara no Narihira was born in 825. He was a grandson of two
emperors
An emperor (from la, imperator, via fro, empereor) is a monarch, and usually the sovereignty, sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife (empress consort), ...
:
Emperor Heizei
, also known as ''Heijō-tennō'', was the 51st emperor of Japan, Emperor Heizei, Yamamomo Imperial Mausoleum, Imperial Household Agency according to the traditional order of succession. Heizei's reign lasted from 806 to 809.
Traditional narr ...
through his father,
Prince Abo
was a Japanese imperial prince of the early Heian period.
Biography
He was born in 792'' Britannica Kokusai Dai-Hyakkajiten'' article "Abo-shinnō". Britannica.'' MyPaedia'' article "Abo-shinnō". Hitachi.''Daijisen'' entry "Abo-shinnō". Sho ...
; and
Emperor Kanmu
, or Kammu, was the 50th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 桓武天皇 (50) retrieved 2013-8-22. according to the traditional order of succession. Kanmu reigned from 781 to 806, and it was during his reign that the sco ...
through his mother,
Princess Ito
was a Japanese Imperial Household of Japan, imperial princess of the early Heian period.
Biography
Ito's exact date of birth is unknown.''Britannica Kokusai Dai-Hyakkajiten'' article "Ito-naishinnō". Britannica. Her father was Emperor Kanmu. ...
. He was the fifth child of Prince Abo, but was supposedly the only child of Princess Ito, who lived in the former capital at
Nagaoka. Some of Narihira's poems are about his mother.
Abo was banished from the old capital
Heijō-kyō (modern
Nara
The National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) is an " independent federal agency of the United States government within the executive branch", charged with the preservation and documentation of government and historical records. It i ...
) to
Tsukushi Province
was an Old provinces of Japan, ancient province of Japan, in the area of Chikuzen Province, Chikuzen and Chikugo Province, Chikugo provinces. This province was located within Fukuoka Prefecture.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005 ...
(within modern
Fukuoka
is the sixth-largest city in Japan, the second-largest port city after Yokohama, and the capital city of Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The city is built along the shores of Hakata Bay, and has been a center of international commerce since ancie ...
) in 824 due to his involvement in a failed coup d'état known as the
Kusuko Incident. Narihira was born during his father's exile. After Abo's return to Heijō, in 826, Narihira and his brothers
Yukihira,
Nakahira and were made commoners and given the surname ''
Ariwara''. The scholar
Ōe no Otondo was also a brother of Narihira's.
Political career
![Narihira residence karasumaoike](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Narihira_residence_karasumaoike.JPG)
Although he is remembered mainly for his poetry, Narihira was of high birth and served at
court
A court is any person or institution, often as a government institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance ...
. In 841 he was appointed
Lieutenant of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards, before being promoted to
Lieutenant of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards and then
Chamberlain
Chamberlain may refer to:
Profession
*Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure
People
*Chamberlain (surname)
**Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...
. In 849, he held the
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japanese as ''ikai'' (位階), are indications of an individual's court rank in Japan based on the system of the state. ''Ikai'' as a system was originally used in the Ritsuryo system, which was the polit ...
.
Narihira rose to the positions of
Provisional Assistant Master of the Left Military Guard,
Assistant Chamberlain,
Provisional Minor Captain of the Left Division of Inner Palace Guards,
Captain of the Right Division of the Bureau of Horses,
Provisional Middle Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards,
Provisional Governor of
Sagami Sagami may refer to:
* Sagami, an 11th-century ''waka'' poet
*Sagami Province, an old province in Japan
*Sagami River, a river in Kanagawa and Yamanashi
*Sagami Bay, a bay south of Kanagawa Prefecture in Honshū
*Sagami Line, a railway roughly along ...
, reaching the
Junior Fourth Rank, Upper Grade. By the end of his life he had risen to
Chamberlain
Chamberlain may refer to:
Profession
*Chamberlain (office), the officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure
People
*Chamberlain (surname)
**Houston Stewart Chamberlain (1855–1927), German-British philosop ...
and
Provisional Governor of
Mino Mino may refer to:
Places in Japan
* Mino, Gifu, a city in Gifu Prefecture
* Mino, Kagawa, a former town in Kagawa Prefecture
* Mino, Tokushima, a town in Tokushima Prefecture
* Mino, an alternate spelling of Minoh, a city in Osaka Prefecture
* Mi ...
.
Literary historian and critic
Donald Keene
Donald Lawrence Keene (June 18, 1922 – February 24, 2019) was an American-born Japanese scholar, historian, teacher, writer and translator of Japanese literature. Keene was University Professor emeritus and Shincho Professor Emeritus of Japan ...
observed in his description of Narihira as the protagonist of ''
The Tales of Ise
is a Japanese ''uta monogatari'', or collection of '' waka'' poems and associated narratives, dating from the Heian period. The current version collects 125 sections, with each combining poems and prose, giving a total of 209 poems in most version ...
'':
Narihira combined all the qualities most admired in a Heian courtier: he was of high birth (a grandson of the Emperor Heizei), extremely handsome, a gifted poet, and an all-conquering lover. He was probably also an expert horseman, adept in arms, and a competent official. These aspects of his life are not emphasized in ''The Tales of Ise'', but they distinguish Narihira from other heroes of Heian literature, including Genji.
Romantic affairs
Narihira was known as a great lover; a third of his poems included in the ''
Kokin Wakashū
The , commonly abbreviated as , is an early anthology of the ''waka'' form of Japanese poetry, dating from the Heian period. An imperial anthology, it was conceived by Emperor Uda () and published by order of his son Emperor Daigo () in about ...
'' (''Kokinshū'') describe his various romantic affairs, and after his death the national history ''
Nihon Sandai Jitsuroku
, abbreviated as Sandai Jitsuroku, is an officially commissioned Japanese history text. Completed in 901, it is the sixth and final text in the Six National Histories series. It covers the years 858–887.
Background
Following the earlier natio ...
'' (compiled 901) said of him: "Narihira was elegant and of handsome appearance, but he was unrestrained in his self-indulgence."
''The Tales of Ise'' portrays Narihira as falling in love with , a consort of
Emperor Seiwa
was the 56th emperor of Japan,Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 清和天皇 (56)/ref> according to the traditional List of Emperors of Japan, order of succession.
Seiwa's reign spanned the years from 858 through 876.He was also the pre ...
, and it is hinted that this was one of the reasons for his leaving the capital and travelling east.
[Nishizawa Masashi column "Ariwara no Narihira: Ōchō no Playboy" in Nishizawa 2002: 60.] It has been speculated that this romantic affair with the consort of the emperor was the reason why the ''Sandai Jitsuroku'' describes his rank as going down from
Junior Fifth Rank, Lower Grade
The court ranks of Japan, also known in Japanese as ''ikai'' (位階), are indications of an individual's court rank in Japan based on the system of the state. ''Ikai'' as a system was originally used in the Ritsuryo system, which was the polit ...
to
Senior Sixth Rank, Upper Grade, before again rising to
Junior Fifth Rank, Upper Grade the following year. However, it has also been speculated that this may be an error in the ''Sandai Jitsuroku'' as a result of binding changing the order of events. Furthermore, Fujiwara no Takaiko reputedly had an affair with the monk , which may have formed the core of the otherwise fictional legend that she also had an affair with Narihira. Whether the affair was historical or not, the
Reizei family
Reizei family (冷泉家, ''Reizei-ke'') is a Japanese ''kuge'' (court noble) family from Kyoto. It is a branch of the Fujiwara clan, with a long poetic tradition.
History
The Reizei family descended from Fujiwara no Michinaga through his six ...
's commentary on ''The Tales of Ise'' speculates that
Emperor Yōzei
was the 57th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 陽成天皇 (57)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Yōzei's reign spanned the years from 876 through 884.
Traditional narrative
Before his ascension ...
was a product of this union, and not the previous emperor.
One of Narihira's most famous affairs—the one that gave ''The Tales of Ise'' its name—was said to be with , high priestess of the
Ise Grand Shrine
The , located in Ise, Mie Prefecture of Japan, is a Shinto shrine dedicated to the sun goddess Amaterasu. Officially known simply as , Ise Jingū is a shrine complex composed of many Shinto shrines centered on two main shrines, and .
The Inn ...
and daughter of
Emperor Montoku
(August 826 – 7 October 858) was the 55th emperor of Japan, Imperial Household Agency (''Kunaichō'') 文徳天皇 (55)/ref> according to the traditional order of succession.
Montoku's reign lasted from 850 to 858.
Traditional narrative
Before ...
. ''The Tales of Ise'' describes the protagonist, presumed to be Narihira, visiting
Ise Ise may refer to:
Places
* Ise, Mie, a city in Japan
**Ise Grand Shrine, a Shinto shrine located in Ise, Mie
* Ise Ekiti, a city in Nigeria
*Ise, Norway, a village in Norway
*Ise Province, an ancient province of Japan
* River Ise, a tributary of th ...
on a hunt, and sleeping with the priestess. However, a passage in the ''Kokinshū'' describes the meeting ambiguously, in a manner that implies Narihira did not sleep with the priestess herself but rather another woman in her service. The 12th-century work and the 13th-century work ''
Kojidan'' claim that the product of this union was , who was later adopted by . Japanologist
Helen Craig McCullough Helen Craig McCullough (February 17, 1918 – April 6, 1998) was an American academic, translator and Japanologist. She is best known for her 1988 translation of ''The Tale of the Heike''.
Early life
McCullough was born in California. She graduat ...
stated there was "no evidence" the affair between Narihira and Yasuko was "more than a romantic myth".
A
headnote
A headnote is a brief summary of a particular point of law that is added to the text of a court decision to aid readers in locating discussion of a legal issue in an opinion. As the term implies, headnotes appear at the beginning of the publishe ...
to poems 784 and 785 in the ''Kokinshū'' connects Narihira to the daughter of . Medieval commentaries call her Narihira's wife, and some modern scholars, such as Katagiri, do the same, although the only early source that explicitly names her is the note in the ''Kokinshū''. In the classical
Noh
is a major form of classical Japanese dance-drama that has been performed since the 14th century. Developed by Kan'ami and his son Zeami, it is the oldest major theatre art that is still regularly performed today. Although the terms Noh and ' ...
play ''
Izutsu
' is a classic Noh play written by Zeami, the dominant figure in the early history of Noh theatre.
''Izutsu'' is based on an old story, ''Tsutsu-Izutsu'' (筒井筒), from the ''Ise monogatari'', a 10th-century collection of stories, many of wh ...
'', an adaptation by
Zeami Motokiyo
(c. 1363 – c. 1443), also called , was a Japanese aesthetician, actor, and playwright.
His father, Kan'ami Kiyotsugu, introduced him to Noh theater performance at a young age, and found that he was a skilled actor. Kan'ami was also skill ...
of from ''The Tales of Ise'', portrays Narihira and Ki no Aritsune's daughter as childhood playmates who eventually marry; Narihira is unfaithful to his wife, and her pining spirit appears to a monk after their deaths.
It has been speculated, based in part on their being considered the most beautiful man and woman of their age, that Narihira and the poet
Ono no Komachi
was a Japanese waka poet, one of the ''Rokkasen'' — the six best waka poets of the early Heian period. She was renowned for her unusual beauty, and ''Komachi'' is today a synonym for feminine beauty in Japan. She also counts among the Th ...
may have been lovers, but there is little evidence for this. Scholars of the 20th century such as have held up this speculation, which can be traced back at least as far as the 14th-century historian
Kitabatake Chikafusa
was a Japanese court noble and writer of the 14th century who supported the Southern Court in the Nanboku-cho period, serving as advisor to five Emperors. Some of his greatest and most famous work was performed during the reign of Emperor Go ...
.
Chikafusa likely used
Kamakura period
The is a period of Japanese history that marks the governance by the Kamakura shogunate, officially established in 1192 in Kamakura by the first ''shōgun'' Minamoto no Yoritomo after the conclusion of the Genpei War, which saw the struggle bet ...
''Kokinshū'' commentaries such as the extant , which speculates that one of Komachi's poems was left for Narihira after a tryst. The ''Bishamondō-bon Kokinshū-chū'' in turn likely worked from a then-common belief that fictional ''Tales of Ise'' was a genuine historical work detailing the actual events in Narihira's life (see
above). Kamakura period commentaries on ''The Tales of Ise'' therefore tried to insert the names of real women where the original text simply said "a woman", and thus inserted Ono no Komachi into several passages of the text.
The literary scholar
Yōichi Katagiri concluded, on the lack of surviving evidence, that, while it is possible that Narihira and Ono no Komachi knew each other and were lovers, there was no usable evidence to say conclusively either way.
Journey to the east
The ''Kokinshū'', ''Tales of Ise'' and ''
Tales of Yamato
is a collection of 173 short stories which give details about life in the imperial court in the 9th and 10th centuries. Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005)"''Yamato monogatari''"in ''Japan Encyclopedia'', p. 1047.
It is an ''uta monogatari'' (a w ...
'' all describe Narihira leaving Kyoto to travel east through the
Tōkaidō region and crossing the
Sumida River
The is a river that flows through central Tokyo, Japan. It branches from the Arakawa River at Iwabuchi (in Kita-ku) and flows into Tokyo Bay. Its tributaries include the Kanda and Shakujii rivers.
It passes through the Kita, Adachi, Arakaw ...
, composing poems at famous places (see ''
utamakura
is a rhetorical concept in Japanese poetry.
Definition
is a category of poetic words, often involving place names, that allow for greater allusions and intertextuality across Japanese poems.
enables poets to express ideas and themes concisel ...
'') along the way. ''The Tales of Ise'' implies this journey was the result of the scandalous affair between Narihira and Fujiwara no Takaiko. There are doubts as to whether this journey actually took place, from the point of view both that the number of surviving poems is quite small for having made such a trip and composing poems along the way, and in terms of the historical likelihood that a courtier could have gone wandering to the other end of the country with only one or two friends keeping him company.
Death
According to the ''Sandai Jitsuroku'', Narihira died on 9 July 880 (the 28th day of the fifth month of
Tenchō
was a after '' Kōnin'' and before '' Jōwa.'' This period spanned the years from January 824 through January 834. The reigning emperors were and .
Change of era
* February 6, 824 : The new era name was created to mark an event or series o ...
6 on the
Japanese calendar
Japanese calendar types have included a range of official and unofficial systems. At present, Japan uses the Gregorian calendar together with year designations stating the year of the reign of the current Emperor. The written form starts with t ...
). Poem 861 in the ''Kokinshū'', Narihira's last, expresses his shock and regret that his death should come so soon:
Burial site
![Narihira grave jurinji](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b7/Narihira_grave_jurinji.JPG)
The location of Narihira's grave is uncertain. In the Middle Ages he was considered a deity (''
kami
are the deities, divinities, spirits, phenomena or "holy powers", that are venerated in the Shinto religion. They can be elements of the landscape, forces of nature, or beings and the qualities that these beings express; they can also be the sp ...
'') or even an
avatar
Avatar (, ; ), is a concept within Hinduism that in Sanskrit literally means "descent". It signifies the material appearance or incarnation of a powerful deity, goddess or spirit on Earth. The relative verb to "alight, to make one's appearanc ...
of the Buddha
Dainichi, and so it is possible that some what have been called graves of Narihira's are in fact sacred sites consecrated to him rather than places where he was actually believed to have been buried.
Kansai University
, abbreviated as or , is a private non-sectarian and coeducational university with its main campus in Suita, Osaka, Japan and two sub-campuses in Sakai and Takatsuki, Osaka. Founded as Kansai Law School in 1886, It has been recognized as one o ...
professor and scholar of ''The Tales of Ise'' has speculated that the small stone grove on
Mount Yoshida in eastern Kyoto known as may be such a site. He further speculated that the site became associated with Narihira because it was near the grave-site of Emperor Yōzei, who in the Middle Ages was widely believed to have secretly been fathered by Narihira. Another site traditionally believed to house Narihira's grave is in western Kyoto, which is also known as .
Descendants
Among Narihira's children were the ''waka'' poets () and (), and at least one daughter. Through Muneyama, he was also the grandfather of the poet
Ariwara no Motokata
was a Japanese ''waka (poetry), waka'' poet of the early Heian period.
He was included in the Late Classical Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses, and thirty-three of his poems were included in chokusenshū, poetry collections commissioned by the cour ...
. One of his granddaughters, whose name is not known, was married to
Fujiwara no Kunitsune Fujiwara (, written: 藤原 lit. "''Wisteria'' field") is a Japanese surname. (In English conversation it is likely to be rendered as .) Notable people with the surname include:
; Families
* The Fujiwara clan and its members
** Fujiwara no Kamatari ...
and engaged in a clandestine affair with
Taira no Sadafun.
Names
Narihira is also known by the nicknames , and . ''Zai'' is the
Sino-Japanese reading
are the logographic Chinese characters taken from the Chinese script and used in the writing of Japanese. They were made a major part of the Japanese writing system during the time of Old Japanese and are still used, along with the subsequen ...
of the first character of his surname ''Ariwara'', and ''Go'', meaning "five", refers to him and his four brothers Yukihira, Nakahira, Morihira, and Ōe no Otondo. ''Chūjō'' ("Middle Captain") is a reference to the post he held near the end of his life, Provisional Middle Captain of the Right Division of Inner Palace Guards. After the recurring use of the phrase in ''The Tales of Ise'', he is also known as .
Poetry
Narihira left a
private collection
A private collection is a privately owned collection of works (usually artworks) or valuable items. In a museum or art gallery context, the term signifies that a certain work is not owned by that institution, but is on loan from an individual ...
, the , which was included in the . This was likely compiled by a later editor, after the compilation of the ''
Gosen Wakashū
The , often abbreviated as ''Gosenshū'' ("Later Collection"), is an imperial anthology of Japanese waka compiled in 951 at the behest of Emperor Murakami by the Five Men of the Pear Chamber: Ōnakatomi no Yoshinobu (922-991), Kiyohara no Mot ...
'' in the mid-10th century.
Thirty poems attributed to Narihira were included in the early 10th-century ''Kokinshū'', and many more in later anthologies, but the attributions are dubious.
Ki no Tsurayuki
was a Japanese author, poet and court noble of the Heian period. He is best known as the principal compiler of the ''Kokin Wakashū'', also writing its Japanese Preface, and as a possible author of the '' Tosa Diary'', although this was publish ...
mentioned Narihira in his
''kana'' preface to the ''
Kokinshū'' as one of the
Six Poetic Geniuses The are six Japanese poetry, Japanese poets of the mid-ninth century who were named by Ki no Tsurayuki in the ''kana'' and ''Kanji, mana'' prefaces to the List of Japanese poetry anthologies, poetry anthology ''Kokin Wakashū, Kokin wakashū'' (c. ...
—important poets of an earlier age. He was also included in
Fujiwara no Kintō
, also known as Shijō-dainagon, was a Japanese poet, admired by his contemporaries "... Fujiwara no Kinto (966–1008), the most admired poet of the day." pg 283 of Donald Keene's ''Seeds in the Heart''. and a court bureaucrat of the Heian pe ...
's later
Thirty-Six Poetic Geniuses
The are a group of Japanese poets of the Asuka, Nara, and Heian periods selected by Fujiwara no Kintō as exemplars of Japanese poetic ability. The oldest surviving collection of the 36 poets' works is ''Nishi Honganji Sanju-rokunin Kashu' ...
.
Of the eleven poems the ''Gosen Wakashū'' attributed to Narihira, several were really by others—for example, two were actually by
Fujiwara no Nakahira
, also known as ''Biwa no daijin'', was a Japanese statesman, courtier and politician during the Heian period.Nussbaum, Louis-Frédéric. (2005). "Fujiwara no Nakahira" in ; Brinkley, Frank ''et al.'' (1915).
In 945 he took tonsure as a Buddhi ...
and one by
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune
Ōshikōchi no Mitsune (凡河内 躬恒) was an early Heian administrator and ''waka'' poet of the Japanese court (859– 925), and a member of the Thirty-six Poetry Immortals. He was sent as the governor of Kai, Izumi and Awaji provinces, a ...
. The ''
Shin Kokinshū
Shin may refer to:
Biology
* The front part of the human leg#Structure, human leg below the knee
* Shinbone, the tibia, the larger of the two bones in the leg below the knee in vertebrates
Names
* Shin (given name) (Katakana: シン, Hiragana: ...
'' and later
court anthologies attribute more poems to Narihira, but many of these were likely misunderstood to have been written by him because of their appearance in ''The Tales of Ise''. Some of these were probably composed after Narihira's death. Combined, poems attributed to Narihira in court anthologies total 87.
![Hyakuninisshu 017](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2c/Hyakuninisshu_017.jpg)
The following poem by Narihira was included as No. 17 in
Fujiwara no Teika
, better-known as Fujiwara no Teika"Sadaie" and "Teika" are both possible readings of ; "...there is the further problem, the rendition of the name in romanized form. Teika probably referred to himself as Sadaie, and his father probably called ...
's ''
Ogura Hyakunin Isshu
is a classical Japanese anthology of one hundred Japanese ''waka'' by one hundred poets. ''Hyakunin isshu'' can be translated to "one hundred people, one poem ach; it can also refer to the card game of ''uta-garuta'', which uses a deck compos ...
'':
As the
karuta
are Japanese playing cards. Playing cards were introduced to Japan by Portuguese traders during the mid-16th century. These early decks were used for trick-taking games. The earliest indigenous ''karuta'' was invented in the town of Miike in C ...
"name card" of the main character Chihaya Ayase, the poem appears frequently in the manga and anime
Chihayafuru
is a Japanese ''josei'' manga series written and illustrated by Yuki Suetsugu. It was serialized in Kodansha's ''josei'' manga magazine '' Be Love'' from December 2007 to August 2022, with its chapters collected in 50 ''tankōbon'' vo ...
, and its history and meaning are discussed.
[https://onethousandsummers.blogspot.com/2012/07/ogura-hyakunin-isshu-poem-17-ariwara-no.html Hyakunin Isshu: poem 17, One Thousand Summers]
Characteristic style
Although at least some of the poems attributed to Narihira in imperial anthologies are dubious, there is a large enough body of his work contained in the relatively reliable ''Kokinshū'' for scholars to discuss Narihira's poetic style. Narihira made use of ''
engo'' (related words) and ''
kakekotoba
A or pivot word is a rhetorical device used in the Japanese poetic form waka. This trope uses the phonetic reading of a grouping of kanji (Chinese characters) to suggest several interpretations: first on the literal level (e.g. 松, ''matsu'', m ...
'' (pivot words).
The following poem, number 618 in the ''Kokinshū'', is cited by Keene as an example of Narihira's use of ''engo'' related to water:
The "water" engo are ' ("brooding", but a pun on ' "long rain"), ' ("a river of tears") and ' ("is soaked").
Narihira's poems are exceptionally ambiguous by ''Kokinshū'' standards, and so were treated by the anthology's compilers to relatively long headnotes. He was the only poet in the collection to receive this treatment. An example of Narihira's characteristic ambiguity that Keene cites is ''Kokinshū'' No. 747:
Scholars have subjected this poem, Narihira's most famous, to several conflicting interpretations in recent centuries. The
Edo-period
The or is the period between 1603 and 1867 in the history of Japan, when Japan was under the rule of the Tokugawa shogunate and the country's 300 regional '' daimyo''. Emerging from the chaos of the Sengoku period, the Edo period was characteri ...
''
kokugaku
''Kokugaku'' ( ja, 國學, label=Kyūjitai, ja, 国学, label=Shinjitai; literally "national study") was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Tokugawa period. Kokugaku scholars worked to refo ...
'' scholar
Motoori Norinaga
was a Japanese scholar of ''Kokugaku'' active during the Edo period. He is conventionally ranked as one of the Four Great Men of Kokugaku (nativist) studies.
Life
Norinaga was born in what is now Matsusaka in Ise Province (now part of Mie Pre ...
interpreted the first part of it as a pair of rhetorical questions, marked by the particle ''ya''. He explained away the logical inconsistency with the latter part of the poem that his reading introduced by reading in an "implied" conclusion that though the poet remains the same as before, everything somehow feels different. The late-Edo period ''waka'' poet took a different view, interpreting the ' as exclamatory: the moon and spring are not those of before, and only the poet himself remains unchanged.
A similar problem of interpretation has also plagued Narihira's last poem (quoted
above). The fourth line, ', is most normally read as "(I never thought) that it might be yesterday or today", but has been occasionally interpreted by scholars to mean "until yesterday I never thought it might be today"; others take it as simply meaning "right about now". But the emotion behind the poem is nonetheless clear: Narihira, who died in his fifties, always knew he must die someday, but is nonetheless shocked that his time has come so soon.
Reception
Tsurayuki's preface to the ''Kokinshū'' describes Narihira's poems as containing "too much feeling and insufficient words. They are like faded flowers whose colour has been lost but which retain a lingering fragrance".
Ki no Yoshimochi repeats this in his Chinese preface to the ''Kokinshū'', though according to literary scholars Rodd and Henkenius, it may not be negative criticism, and may even "be seen as complimentary". It likely refers to the subjective, emotional nature of his poetry; they say that "'insufficient' may suggest that many of his poems are misleading or unintelligible without explanatory headnotes", and perhaps indicates that "even though Narihira approached the art in an unconventional manner, his poetry succeeds".
Keene pointed out that this criticism likely reflected a change in literary tastes in the decades between Narihira's compositions and Tsurayuki's criticisms. His history of Japanese literature, ''
Seeds in the Heart
''Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century'' is the first book (though the last to be written and published) in Donald Keene's four-book series ''A History of Japanese Literature''. It is followed ...
'' concluded its discussion of Narihira with the following:
Narihira was not a profound poet. His surviving poems are mainly occasional, and even when the expression suggests deeply felt emotion, its worldly manner keeps his poetry from attaining the grandeur of the best ''Man'yōshū
The is the oldest extant collection of Japanese (poetry in Classical Japanese), compiled sometime after AD 759 during the Nara period. The anthology is one of the most revered of Japan's poetic compilations. The compiler, or the last in ...
'' poems in the same vein. He is nevertheless of historical importance as one who maintained the traditions of the ''waka'' during the long night of the dominance of poetry in Chinese.
Poet and translator
Peter McMillan
Peter may refer to:
People
* List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name
* Peter (given name)
** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church
* Peter (surname), a sur ...
says the large number of Narihira's poems included in the ''Kokinshū'' and later court anthologies is an indicator of the high regard in which his poetry was held.
Connection to ''The Tales of Ise''
''The Tales of Ise'' is a collection of narrative episodes, centred on Narihira, and presenting poems he had composed, along with narratives explaining what had inspired the poems.
Narihira was once widely considered the author of the work, but scholars have come to reject this attribution. Keene speculates that it is at least possible that Narihira originally composed the work from his and others' poems as a kind of inventive autobiography, and some later author came across his manuscript after his death and expanded on it. The protagonist of the work was likely modelled on him. The work itself was likely put together in something resembling its present form by the middle of 10th century, and took several decades starting with Narihira's death.
Three stages have been identified in the composition of the work. The first of these stages would have been based primarily on poems actually composed by Narihira, although the background details provided were not necessarily historical. The second saw poems added to the first layer that were not necessarily by Narihira, and had a higher proportion of fiction to fact. The third and final stage saw some later author adding the use of Narihira's name, and treating him as a legendary figure of the past.
The late 11th-century refers to ''Ise'' by the variant name ''Zaigo Chūjō no Nikki'' ("Narihira's diary").
Influence on later Japanese culture
In later centuries Narihira has been considered the epitome of the amorous ''bel homme'', and his romantic escapades have given rise to many later legends. He and his contemporary Ono no Komachi were considered the archetypes of the beautiful man and woman of the Heian court, and appear as such in many later literary works, particularly in Noh theatre.
It is believed Narihira was one of the men who inspired
Murasaki Shikibu
was a Japanese novelist, poet and lady-in-waiting at the Imperial court in the Heian period. She is best known as the author of '' The Tale of Genji,'' widely considered to be one of the world's first novels, written in Japanese between abou ...
when she created Hikaru Genji, the protagonist of ''
The Tale of Genji''. ''Genji'' makes allusion to ''The Tales of Ise'' and draws parallels between their respective protagonists. Though not directly stated in the text, later commentators have interpreted ''The Tales of Ise'' as implying that Narihira's illicit union with the empress Fujiwara no Takaiko made him the true father of Emperor Yōzei; whether Murasaki interpreted the work this way is uncertain, but ''The Tale of Genji'' describes a very similar incident in which the protagonist, a former imperial prince made a commoner, has an affair with an empress and sires a son who ultimately becomes emperor as his true parentage is kept secret. Narihira appears in tales such as 35 and 36 of Book 24 of the late Heian-period ''
Konjaku Monogatarishū
, also known as the , is a Japanese collection of over one thousand tales written during the late Heian period (794–1185). The entire collection was originally contained in 31 volumes, of which 28 remain today. The volumes cover various tales fr ...
''.
[Mabuchi et al. 2001: 605.]
Along with his contemporary Ono no Komachi and the protagonist of ''The Tale of Genji'', Narihira figured prominently in Edo-period ''
ukiyo-e
Ukiyo-e is a genre of Japanese art which flourished from the 17th through 19th centuries. Its artists produced woodblock prints and paintings
Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surfac ...
'' prints and was alluded to in the ''
ukiyo-zōshi
is the first major genre of popular Japanese fiction, written between the 1680s and 1770s in Kyoto and Osaka. ''Ukiyo-zōshi'' literature developed from the broader genre of ''Kanazōshi, kana-zōshi'', books written in the ''katakana'' vernacula ...
'' of
Ihara Saikaku
was a Japanese poet and creator of the " floating world" genre of Japanese prose (''ukiyo-zōshi'').
Born as Hirayama Tōgo (平山藤五), the son of a wealthy merchant in Osaka, he first studied haikai poetry under Matsunaga Teitoku and later ...
.
The 16th-century warrior used Narihira and the courtly world of ''The Tales of Ise'' as an ironic reference in a poem he composed about the severed head of his defeated enemy
Tachibana Nagatoshi (), the lord of Tachibana Castle in
Chikuzen Province
was an old province of Japan in the area that is today part of Fukuoka Prefecture in Kyūshū. It was sometimes called or , with Chikugo Province. Chikuzen bordered Buzen, Bungo, Chikugo, and Hizen Provinces.
History
The original provincial ...
, whom he killed 10 March 1550.
Gallery
Image:Ariwara no Narihira.jpg, Drawing of Narihira by Kikuchi Yōsai
, also known as Kikuchi Takeyasu and Kawahara Ryōhei, was a Japanese painter most famous for his monochrome portraits of historical figures.
Biography
The son of a samurai named Kawahara of Edo, he was adopted by a family named Kikuchi. ...
.
Image:Woodblock print by Ryûkôsai Jokei of kabuki actor Yoshizawa Iroha in the role of Ariwara no Narihira.jpg, Woodblock print by Ryūkōsai Jokei
Ryūkōsai Jokei ( ja, 流光斎 如圭) was a painter, illustrator, and designer of ukiyo-e-style Japanese woodblock prints in Osaka, who was active from about 1777 to 1809. He was a student of Shitomi Kangetsu (1747–1797), who in turn wa ...
of kabuki actor portraying Narihira
File:Tsukioka Yoshitoshi - Narihira and Nijo no Tsubone at the Fuji River - Google Art Project.jpg, Narihira and Nijō no Tsubone at the Fuji River, woodblock print by Yoshitoshi
Tsukioka Yoshitoshi ( ja, 月岡 芳年; also named Taiso Yoshitoshi ; 30 April 1839 – 9 June 1892) was a Japanese printmaker.Louis-Frédéric, Nussbaum, Louis Frédéric. (2005)"Tsukoka Kōgyō"in ''Japan Encyclopedia,'' p. 10 ...
, 1882
Notes
References
Works cited
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Mabuchi Kazuo,
Kunisaki Fumimaro,
Inagaki Taiichi. 2001 (6th ed. 2006). ''Konjaku Monogatarishū (3)'' in ''Shinpen Nihon Koten Bungaku Zenshū'' series . Tokyo: Shogakukan.
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Further reading
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External links
List of Narihira's poemsin the
International Research Center for Japanese Studies
The , or Nichibunken (日文研), is an inter-university research institute in Kyoto. Along with the National Institute of Japanese Literature, the National Museum of Japanese History, and the National Museum of Ethnology, it is one of the Nati ...
's online ''waka'' database.
*Th
''Narihira-shū''in the same database.
Ariwara no Narihiraon Kotobank.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ariwara, Narihira
825 births
880 deaths
9th century in Japan
9th-century Japanese poets
People of Heian-period Japan
Ariwara clan
Japanese nobility
Japanese male poets
Articles containing Japanese poems
Ise Monogatari
Hyakunin Isshu poets
Deified Japanese people