Tanaka Ōhide (田中大秀) (1777-1847) was a Japanese

antiquary An antiquarian or antiquary () is an aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artefacts, archaeological and historic sit ...

folklorist Folklore studies (also known as folkloristics, tradition studies or folk life studies in the UK) is the academic discipline devoted to the study of folklore. This term, along with its synonyms, gained currency in the 1950s to distinguish the ac ...

lexicographer Lexicography is the study of lexicons and the art of compiling dictionaries. It is divided into two separate academic disciplines: * Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionary, dictionaries. * The ...

ethnographer Ethnography is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. It explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject of the study. Ethnography is also a type of social research that involves examining ...

, and scholar of the

nationalist Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...

kokugaku was an academic movement, a school of Japanese philology and philosophy originating during the Edo period. scholars worked to refocus Japanese scholarship away from the then-dominant study of Chinese, Confucian, and Buddhist texts in favor of ...

'' movement. He is best known for his commentary on the '' Taketori Monogatari'' (''The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'').

Biography

Tanaka Ōhide was born in Takayama, Hida Province in 1777. At the age of 21, he went to Atsuta in Owari, where he began to study waka poetry and

philosophy. He studied in the Atsuta Shrine under the supervision of the

Shinto , also called Shintoism, is a religion originating in Japan. Classified as an East Asian religions, East Asian religion by Religious studies, scholars of religion, it is often regarded by its practitioners as Japan's indigenous religion and as ...

priest Awata Tomokane. From 1801, Ōhide also began to attend Norinaga's lectures and became one of his students. In 1804, after Norinaga's death, he took up the study of his posthumous legacy, living for several months at his house in Matsusaka. Ōhide's scholarship focused on classical and medieval

monogatari is a Literary genre, literary form in traditional Japanese literature – an extended prose narrative tale comparable to epic (genre), epic literature. ''Monogatari'' is closely tied to aspects of the oral tradition, and almost always relates ...

tales and diaries, such as the ''

Ochikubo Monogatari , also known as ''The Tale of Ochikubo'', is a story from the Heian period which is similar to the famous fairy tale Cinderella. ''Ochikubo Monogatari'' was written during the later part of the 10th century by an unknown author. It is known as ...

'', '' Kagerō Nikki'', and ''

Tosa Nikki The is a poetic diary written anonymously by the tenth-century Japanese poet Ki no Tsurayuki. The text details a 55-day journey in 935 returning to Kyoto from Tosa province, where Tsurayuki had been the provincial governor. The prose account o ...

''. But he was most interested in '' Taketori Monogatari'', for which he wrote the detailed commentary. Ōhide became skilled in courtly arts such as prose writing, poetry composition, and playing the flute and koto. In 1812, Ōhide completed the first draft of ''Taketori no Okina no Monogatari Kai''. He then submitted it to the attention of Nabunaga's famous students, Suzuki Akira and

Motoori Ōhira was a scholar of Kokugaku, and was the successor to Motoori Norinaga's school master. His pen name was Fuji no Kakitsu (藤垣内). Life Ōhira was born in Matsuzaka of the province of Ise (now Matsuzaka City in Mie Prefecture). He was a son ...

. After receiving their comments and suggestions, Ōhide revised his work into a final version, which was completed in 1820. In 1831, a printing block copy of his work was printed. By that time, Ōhide had already gained a well-deserved reputation and had his own students at

Gifu is a Cities of Japan, city located in the south-central portion of Gifu Prefecture, Japan, and serves as the prefectural capital. The city has played an important role in Japan's history because of its location in the middle of the country. Durin ...

and Fukui. In 1844, Ōhide designed a mechanical

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- o ...

for the . Using medieval

gazetteer A gazetteer is a geographical dictionary or wikt:directory, directory used in conjunction with a map or atlas.Aurousseau, 61. It typically contains information concerning the geographical makeup, social statistics and physical features of a co ...

s, Ōhide identified the locations of many rural

cemeteries A cemetery, burial ground, gravesite, graveyard, or a green space called a memorial park or memorial garden, is a place where the remains of many dead people are buried or otherwise entombed. The word ''cemetery'' (from Greek ) implies th ...

that had been forgotten and fallen into disrepair. He oversaw repairs and reconstruction work on a number of these cemeteries. He also installed a memorial

stele A stele ( ) or stela ( )The plural in English is sometimes stelai ( ) based on direct transliteration of the Greek, sometimes stelae or stelæ ( ) based on the inflection of Greek nouns in Latin, and sometimes anglicized to steles ( ) or stela ...

at the , where the ancient hero Yamato Takeru was said to have washed his eyes. Ōhide had a lifelong admiration for Mount Kurai, and in his later years wrote a number of poems about it. He died of illness in 1847 at the age of 71. His jisei is recorded as follows, His grave is located at the Matsumuro-oka cemetery in

Takayama, Gifu Takayama City Hall is a city located in Gifu Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 88,473 in 35,644 households, and a population density of 41 persons per km2. The total area of the city was making it the largest cit ...

. It has been designated as a historic site of prefectural importance.

Selected works

* '' Taketori Monogatari'', ''The Commentary on the Tale of the Bamboo Cutter'', 『竹取翁物語解』 * ''

'', ''The Commentary on the Tale of Ochikubo'', 『落窪物語解』 * ''

'', ''The Commentary on the Tosa Diary'', 『土佐日記解』

In culture

Tanaka Ōhide is mentioned in '' Before the Dawn'', the most famous historical novel of

Tōson Shimazaki was the pen-name of Haruki Shimazaki, a Japanese writer active in the Meiji, Taishō and early Shōwa periods of Japan. He began his career as a Romantic poet, but went on to establish himself as a major proponent of Japanese Naturalism. The ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ohide, Tanaka Linguists from Japan 19th-century Japanese calligraphers Independent scholars Japanese nationalists Japanese Shintoists Anthropologists of religion Japanese anthropologists Japanese ethnographers Japanese medievalists People from Gifu Prefecture 1777 births 1847 deaths Kokugaku scholars Japanese palaeographers

Biography

Selected works

In culture

See also

References