, also known as the , was a Japanese

Tendai , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

monk and ''

waka WAKA (channel 8) is a television station licensed to Selma, Alabama, United States, serving as the CBS affiliate for the Montgomery area. It is owned by Bahakel Communications alongside Tuskegee-licensed CW+ affiliate WBMM (channel 22); B ...

'' poet of the late-

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 Kammu, moved the capital of Japan to Heian-kyō (modern Kyoto). means in Japanese. It is a ...

. He became chief prelate of the

Enryaku-ji is a Tendai monastery located on Mount Hiei in Ōtsu, overlooking Kyoto. It was first founded in 788 during the early Heian period (794–1185) by Saichō (767–822), also known as Dengyō Daishi, who introduced the Tendai sect of Mahayana ...

temple in

Kyoto Kyoto ( or ; Japanese language, Japanese: , ''Kyōto'' ), officially , is the capital city of Kyoto Prefecture in the Kansai region of Japan's largest and most populous island of Honshu. , the city had a population of 1.46 million, making it t ...

, 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 ...

''. Almost fifty of his poems were included in

imperial anthologies Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Impe ...

, and he produced 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 ...

of poetry.

Biography

Gyōson was born in 1055McMillan 2010 : 143-144 (note 66).Suzuki et al. 2009 : 85. Tokurō Yamamoto. ''Asahi Nihon Rekishi Jinbutsu Jiten'' article
Gyōson
. Asahi Shinbun-sha. or 1057,''Digital Daijisen'' entry
Gyōson
.

Shogakukan is a Japanese publisher of comics, magazines, light novels, dictionaries, literature, non-fiction, home media, and other media in Japan. Shogakukan founded Shueisha, which also founded Hakusensha. These are three separate companies, but ...

.''Daijirin'' entry
Gyōson
.

Sanseidō is a Japanese publishing company known for publishing dictionaries and textbooks. The headquarters is situated in the area between Suidōbashi Station and Kanda River, at a location previously used as a warehouse for the company's own printing ...

. the son of . At age twelve, he entered

Mii-dera , also known as just Onjo-ji, or , is a Buddhist temple in Japan located at the foot of Mount Hiei, in the city of Ōtsu in Shiga Prefecture. It is a short distance from both Kyoto, and Lake Biwa, Japan's largest lake. The head temple of t ...

, eventually becoming , and practiced the

Shugendō is a syncretic Esoteric Buddhist religion, a body of ascetic practices that originated in the Nara Period of Japan having evolved during the 7th century from an amalgamation of beliefs, philosophies, doctrines and ritual systems drawn prim ...

austerities of the ''

yamabushi are Japanese mountain ascetic hermits. They are generally part of the syncretic religion, which includes Tantric Buddhism and Shinto. Their origins can be traced back to the solitary Yama-bito and some (saints or holy persons) of the eighth ...

'' for many years and made pilgrimages to various provinces. At age 25, he received the from . Later, in 1123, he rose to become Superior General of

— the highest prelate of

Tendai Buddhism , also known as the Tendai Dharma Flower School (天台法華宗, ''Tendai hokke shū,'' sometimes just ''Hokkeshū''), is a Mahāyāna Buddhist tradition with significant esoteric elements that was officially established in Japan in 806 by t ...

. He also served as Grand Almoner to emperors Shirakawa and Toba. He was known as the ''Abbot of

Byōdō-in is a Buddhist temple in the city of Uji in Kyoto Prefecture, Japan, built in the late Heian period. It is jointly a temple of the Jōdo-shū (Pure Land) and Tendai-shū (Heavenly Level) sects. History This temple was originally built ...

''. He died on 21 March 1135.

Poetry

Forty-eight of his poems were included in

from the ''

Kin'yō Wakashū The , sometimes abbreviated as ''Kin'yōshū'', is the fifth Japanese imperial anthology of waka whose two drafts were finished in 1124 and 1127. It was compiled at the behest of the Retired Emperor Shirakawa, by Minamoto no Shunrai (~1055–1 ...

'' on. The following poem by him was included as No. 66 in

Fujiwara no Teika was a Japanese anthologist, calligrapher, literary critic,"The high quality of poetic theory (''karon'') in this age depends chiefly upon the poetic writings of Fujiwara Shunzei and his son Teika. The other theorists of ''tanka'' writing, st ...

's ''

'': His poetry records his experiences on pilgrimage, and was in later ages celebrated as a spiritual precursor to the works of

Saigyō was a Japanese poet of the late Heian and early Kamakura period. Biography Born in Kyoto to a noble family, he lived during the traumatic transition of power between the old court nobles and the new samurai warriors. After the start of the ag ...

. He also left a

, the .

Other arts

In addition to his poetry, he was also known as a skilled ''

biwa The is a Japanese short-necked wooden lute traditionally used in narrative storytelling. The is a plucked string instrument that first gained popularity in China before spreading throughout East Asia, eventually reaching Japan sometime durin ...

'' performer and

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

In later literature

As a high-ranking monk of noble birth, he appeared in many later ''setsuwa'' tales of the genre.

References

Bibliography

*McMillan, Peter. 2010 (1st ed. 2008). ''One Hundred Poets, One Poem Each''. New York: Columbia University Press. *Suzuki Hideo, Yamaguchi Shin'ichi, Yoda Yasushi. 2009 (1st ed. 1997). ''Genshoku: Ogura Hyakunin Isshu''. Tokyo: Bun'eidō.

External links

List of Gyōson's poems
in 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 (Japan), National Museum ...

's online ''waka'' database.
Gyōson
on Kotobank. {{DEFAULTSORT:Gyoson 11th-century Japanese people 11th-century Japanese poets 12th-century Japanese poets 1135 deaths People of the Heian period Japanese Buddhist clergy Tendai Japanese male poets Articles containing Japanese poems Hyakunin Isshu poets Buddhist clergy of the Heian period Tendai Buddhist monks