Fujiwara no Teika
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Fujiwara no Teika (Japanese: 藤原定家), also known as Fujiwara no Sadaie "Sadaie" is another reading of 定家; "...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 himself Toshinari, but the Sino-Japanese versions of their names were used by their contemporaries, and this practice is still observed." pg 681-692, note 2 of Seeds in the Heart: Japanese Literature from Earliest Times to the Late Sixteenth Century, Donald Keene. 1999, Columbia University Press, ISBN 0-231-1141-9, (1162–September 26 1241) was a Japanese waka poet, 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, stimulated by father and son either to agreement or disagreement, contributed also toward the high level of poetic theory, but we may say that Shunzei and Teika were most representative of the age." This quote is sourced to Odagiri Hideo in pg 10 of his "Nihon ni okeru bungei hyōron no seiritsu" (The Rise of Art Criticism in Japan), pub. by Geijutsuron-shū ("Collection of Discussions of Art"), Tokyo 1962; see Shun'ichi H. Takayanagi 's review of Japanese Court Poetry by Robert H. Brower and Earl Miner in Monumenta Nipponica, Vol. 18, No. 1/4. (1963), pp. 352-364. [link], calligrapher, novelist It is generally believed that Teika wrote the Tale of Matsura anthologist, scribe and scholar of the late Heian and early Kamakura periods. His influence was enormous, and he is even to this day counted as among the greatest"The single most influential figure in the history of Japanese classical poetry, Fujiwara Teika (or Sadaie) 1162-1241, was the supreme arbiter of poetry in his day, and for centuries after his death was held in religious veneration by waka and renga poets alike." Robert H. Brower. Monumenta Nipponica'', Vol. 40, No. 4. (Winter, 1985), pp. 399-425. [link]).
of Japanese poets, and perhaps the greatest master of the waka form - an ancient poetic form consisting of five lines with a total of 31 syllables.
His critical ideas on composing poetry were extremely influential and studied until as late as the Meiji era. A member of a poetic clan, Teika was born to the noted poet Fujiwara no Shunzei. After coming to the attention of the Retired Emperor Go-Toba (1180-1239; r. 1183-1198) pg 7 of
"[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings: Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by
Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 , Teika began his long and distinguished career, spanning multiple areas of aesthetic endeavor. His relationship with Go-Toba, at first cordial, led to commissions to compile anthologies, but later resulted in banishment from the retired emperor's court. His descendants and ideas would dominate classical Japanese poetry for centuries afterwards.
Biography
Birth
Teika was born to a minor and distant branch of the aristocratic and courtly clan, the Fujiwara, in 1162, sometime after the Fujiwara regents had lost their political pre-eminence in the Imperial court during the Hōgen Disturbance. His branch of the clan sought prestige and power in the court by aligning itself with the Mikohidari family (the Mikohidari, also known as the Miko, were a cadet branch of the Fujiwaras, through Fujiwara no Michinaga's sixth son, Fujiwara no Nagaie (1005-1064); the Mikohidari were themselves aligned with the more senior Kujō branch of the original Fujiwara, rivals to the Rokujō) and by specializing in artistic endeavors, principally poetry; such specialization was not unusual in that branches of extended clans could not politically compete directly with the head branch of the clan (or indeed other clans because of their junior status) but could in more restricted aesthetic pursuits.His father was Fujiwara Shunzei, a well known and greatly respected poet and judge of poetry competitions who had compiled the seventh Imperial anthology of waka (the Senzaishū). Teika's grandfather was the venerable poet Fujiwara no Toshitada. His sister would also be a well-respected poet of waka and renga, known as Kengozen or Shunzei's Daughter, whom he would occasionally seek out for poetic advicepg 410, Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries, by Donald Keene, 1st edition. Published by Henry Holt and Company, 1989, ISBN 0-8050-1655-4 (his elder brother, Fujiwara no Nariee (sometimes romanized as "Nariie"; 藤原俊成), would be somewhat successful in court, but not nearly as much as Teikapg 410, Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries, by Donald Keene, 1st edition. Published by Henry Holt and Company, 1989, ISBN 0-8050-1655-4). Teika's foster-brother, the priest Jakuren or "Sadanaga" c. 1139-1202 would be successful as a poet although his career was cut tragically short; he was adopted by Shunzei when Shunzei's younger brother "retired from the world".pg 27 and 47 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70
Career
Teika's goals as the senior male of his branch were to inherit and cement his father's position in poetry, and to advance his own reputation (thereby also improving the political fortunes of his own clan in the court). While his life would be marked by repeated illness"It was a heavy burden for Teika, whose chronic bronchitis and rheumatism made him a semi-invalid, to be caught up in the ex-emperor's hectic life." pg 19 of "['Ex-Emperor Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 and wildly shifting fortunes- only partially moderated by his father's long-lasting influence in court (Shunzei would live to the advanced age of 90), the young and poetically inclined Retired Emperor Go-Toba's patronage would prove to lead to some of Teika's greatest successes."The decision was vital to the position and future status of Teika in particular, affording an opportunity to establish contact and ingratiate himself with the powerful ex-sovereign and to demonstrate his poetic prowess to the discomfiture of his enemies. One hesitates to make such a sweeping statement as that the course of Japanese classical poetry would have been forever altered had Teika been shunted aside at this juncture to eke out the remainder of his days in wretched obscurity...Go-Toba's patronage
The event that led to Go-Toba's patronage was a poetry contest that the Retired Emperor (aged 20) in his second year of his abdication (the second year of the Shoji era, or 1200) announced in the seventh month of 1200 that he would be conducting pg 16 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 ; Retired Emperors frequently became more influential after their retirement from the office of Emperor rather than as the actual Emperor, freed as they were from the highly restricting ceremonial requirements and politics of the court. The energetic young Go-Toba channeled his freed energy immediately after his abdication (Go-Toba was the consummate amateur, and at times was skilled at playing the lute, considered an authority on traditional learning and courtly precedent, was excellent at playing go, and was also fond of equestrian pursuits such as horseback archery, shooting at running dogs, and swordmanship) Minamoto Ienaga also writes:- Letting the radiance of his power and majesty shine forth unobscured, at the same time he amused himself with every variety of art and accomplishment. In all of these he was second to none, so that people wondered when and how he had gained such proficiency....For his part, the ex-sovereign showed an interest in every accomplishment, even those which seemed of the most trivial and insignificant kind, so that all sorts of people who had any claim to knowledge of these matters were summoned to his presence, where, it appears, they could petition freely for his favor."
- pg 9 of
- See also pg 14: "Go-Toba, on the other hand, while appreciating the need for discipline and practice, remained throughout his life the grand dilettante- man who in his own way appreciated and loved poetry, but who never ceased to regard it as a kind of elegant pastime. Such an attitude is implicit in the ex-emperor's flitting from hobby to hobby, and it is, as his poetic treatise illustrates, at the heart of his critical differences with Teika."
Teika's diary records that he was hopeful at this chance to improve himself- he had by this point reached the age of 38 and middle age, and while he was recognized as a talented poet, his career was stagnant; for nearly 10 out of the twenty years he had been in the Palace Guards of the left, he had occupied the same lowly post of "Lesser Commander of the Palace Guards of the Left" with little prospect of further advancement.pg 15 and 69 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the ''Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies'', Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 In addition, the Kujō's influence with the Emperors had declined drastically- Minamoto no Michichika (d. 1202) had insinuated himself into Imperial circles through Go-Toba's former nursemaid; with this leverage, Michichika's adopted daughter (the then Shogun's daughter, who had decided to marry his daughter off to the Emperor, using Michichika as a go-between- contrary to the Shogun's usual policy if favoring Kujo no Kanezane. The Shogun's lack of confidence allowed Michichika to push Go-Toba into firing Kanezane as kampaku in 1196pg 667 of Seeds in the Heart) became Go-Toba's concubine (making Michichika the Retired Emperor Go-Toba's father in law), and she bore him his first heir in 1195; the shame of this usurpation led Go-Toba's first wife, Ninshi, to retire from the court. As Ninshi was the daughter of the Kujō's leader Kujo no Kanezane, the Kujō's influence in court diminished considerably, even to the extent of Kanezane and Yoshitsune being driven from the court in 1196; pg 60 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 with the diminution of their influence, so dimmed Teika's prospects. Teika expressed his disappointment through poetry, such as this example, written when he was "passed over for promotion in the spring list" in 1187 (he would eventually be promoted in 1190, but as his good and encouraging friend Saigyo died that year, it was cold comfort):
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However, Teika was initially excluded from the 20 poets Go-Toba intended to so honor with invitations, at the instigation of the rival Rokujō clan's leader, Suetsune (1131-1221, youngest son of Akisuke no Rokujō, succeeded him c. 1200) pg 53 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 and the connivance of Michichikapg 97, Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries, by Donald Keene, 1st edition. Published by Henry Holt and Company, 1989, ISBN 0-8050-1655-4; Suetsune and Teika were bitter enemies- just a few months before, Teika had humiliated Suetsune by calling him "that fake poet" and publicly refusing to participate in a poetry competition with Suetsune.pg 654 of Seeds in the Heart. His revenge was well-done: Teika was furious, writing in his Meigetsuki:
- "I never heard of such a thing as choosing only senior poets
[writes Teika about the pretext used to exclude him] . I can just see Suetsune at the bottom of this, contriving by some bribe that I be left out. It has to be Suetsune, Tsuneie, that whole family. Well, I have no regrets, for there is no possible hope for me now. But I did write in confidence to Kintsune so this may all come out eventually. He has replied that there is still room for hope."pg 14. Fujiwara Teika's Hundred-Poem Sequence of the Shoji Era, 1200, translated by Robert H. Brower. Published by Sophia University in 1978; ISBN 3-5042-00878-5389 (?)
- "I gather that it was probably not the Emperor who decided on the rules for the hundred-poem competition. It was due entirely to the machinations of Michichika. One feels like flicking him away in disgust."pg 98, Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries, by Donald Keene, 1st edition. Published by Henry Holt and Company, 1989, ISBN 0-8050-1655-4
- "Of late the people who call themselves poets have all been mediocrities. The poems they compose are unpleasant to hear, wordy and and lacking in finesse."pg 654 of Seeds in the Heart''.
- "Early this morning came a message from Lord Kintsune that last evening the Ex-Emperor ordered my inclusion among the participants for the hundred-poem sequences.....To have been added to the list for this occasion fills me with inexpressible joy. Though they can hinder me no more, I am still convinced that the trouble was all due to the machinations of those evil men. And that it has turned out this way is a fulfilment of all my hopes and prayers for this life and the next."pg 15. Fujiwara Teika's Hundred-Poem Sequence of the Shoji Era, 1200, translated by Robert H. Brower. Published by Sophia University in 1978; ISBN 3-5042-00878-5389 (?)
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Interestingly, this poem is both a fine example of the jukkai ("personal grievances" pg 13 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 ) genre and as Minamoto no Ienaga first pointed out pg 18 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 , also an allusion to the poem (preserved, along with Go-Shirakawa's reply, in the Imperial anthology Senzaishu) Shunzei had sent Retired Emperor Go-Shirakawa 14 years previously, imploring him to forgive Teika for striking a superior with a candlestick; "the allusion conveys the hope that just as Shunzei's poem obtained his erring son's restoration to rank and office under Go-Shirakawa, now Teika's own poem will win him admission to Go-Toba's Court despite his connection with the "disgraced" Kujō faction."
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Teika and Go-Toba would have a close "I
As if the honor of helping to compile the Shin Kokinshū and of having a remarkable 46 pg 47 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 of his poems (including three from the Shoji hyakushu) included were not enough, Teika would later be appointed in 1232 by the Retired Emperor Go-Horikawa to compile - by himself - the ninth Imperial Anthology, the Shin chokusenshu (c. 1235; "New Imperial Collection"). Teika was the first person to have ever been a compiler of two Imperial anthologies.
Teika and Go-Toba quarrel
This favorable patronage and collaboration eventually soured, over many things such as differences in how one should use "association and progression" (as Brower terms it) in poetic sequences. In 100-poem sequences and the like, the poems were usually in one of several groups (the four seasons were common ones, as was love); the poems generally formed a integrated sequence in which they dealt with the same subject matter, proceeding from stage to stage (for instance, a sequence on Love might proceed from loneliness, to falling in love, to a mature relationship, and then the sorrow when it ends) or which refer to elements of previous poems (a technique later central to renga sequences). Go-Toba used such techniques consistently and often, whereas Teika's use was more erratic. During the compilation of the Shin Kokinshū, there were other differences, apparently over how wide-ranging a net to throw for poems:- "In a situation like the present, where he
[Go-Toba] has included poems by a great many people one has never heard of, whose names have remained in almost total obscurity for generations, and persons who have only recently begun to attract attention had as many as ten poems apiece included- in such a situation it is no particular distinction for me to have forty-odd[46] poems chosen, or for Ietaka to have a score or more. The Ex-Sovereign's recent decisions make it appear he is choosing men rather than poems- a questionable procedure."From the Meigetsuki, third month of 1205. pg 21 of "['Ex-Emperor Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70
In addition, there apparently were serious personality conflicts, which lead Go-Toba to write once, after praising Teika's poetry, that:
- "The way Teika behaved, as if he knew all about poetry, was really quite extraordinary. Especially when he was defending his own opinion, he would act like the man who insisted a stag was a horse. He was utterly oblivious of others, and would exceed all reason, refusing to listen to anything other people had to say." The text being excerpted from and translated is Go-Toba's Go-Toba no in Gokuden ("The Ex-Emperor Go-Toba's Secret Teachings"). From pg 108 ofFujiwara Teika's Hundred-Poem Sequence of the Shoji Era, 1200, translated by Robert H. Brower. Published by Sophia University in 1978; ISBN 3-5042-00878-5389 (?)
Donald Keene believes that as Teika grew more important, he resented Go-Toba's peremptory use of him."Teika considerably enhanced his position at the court by winning the respect of Go-Toba with his poetry, but relations between the two men eventually deteriorated as Teika became increasingly aware of his own importance in the world of poetry." pg 99, Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries, by Donald Keene, 1st edition. Published by Henry Holt and Company, 1989, ISBN 0-8050-1655-4
"Though I
In any event, the precipitating events were two incidents, one in 1207 and the next in 1220. In 1207, Go-Toba decided to organize the creation of 46 landscape screens for the Saishō Shitennō Temple which he had had built in 1205 (interestingly, apparently "in order to enlist divine aid in the overthrow the feudal government") pg 69 of
"[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by
Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 ; each of these screens would also have a waka on the famous landscape depicted, composed by a leading poet, who would compose the requisite 46, with the best poems for each landscape selected. Of course, Teika was asked to contribute, but one (on the "Wood of Ikuta", a famous and picturesque woodland attached to the Ikuta Shrine of Settsu Province, modern-day Kobe; it was famous for being a battlefield between the Minamoto and Taira clans, as well as for its scenic beauty pg 71of
"[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by
Robert H. Brower in the
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp.
5-70 ) was rejected by Go-Toba; not because it was a bad poem, but because it was a "poor model", as Keene puts it."Years later, while in exile, Gotoba explained why he had rejected the poem. He admired the diction and Teika's unique charm in the form, but insisted that this waka would make a poor model for inexperienced poets to imitate because it lacked a firm structure." pg 100 of Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The Japanese as Revealed Through 1,000 Years of Diaries, by Donald Keene, 1st edition. Published by Henry Holt and Company, 1989, ISBN 0-8050-1655-4.
Teika, already annoyed by the minimal notice for the contest and the lack of time for composing the poems (he had to turn them in two days after he was first informed of the contest), began complaining about Go-Toba and attacking his poetic judgement, both with regard to the Shin Kokinshū and the poems selected from the screens. pg 21 of
"[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by
Robert H. Brower in the
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp.
5-70 Nothing came of this incident, but nevertheless, the damage had been done. "Thus, although both Teika and Go-Toba continued to have a genuine respect and appreciation for each other's poetic accomplishments, a certain coolness grew up between then. Perhaps as a consequence, Teika found his ideas largely ignored with respect to revisions of the Shinkokinshu, upon which the ex-emperor embarked as soon as the anthology was "complete"." pg 21 of
"[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by
Robert H. Brower in the
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp.
5-70
The second incident took place in the second month of 1220 and is described in a preface to the two poems concerned as recorded in Teika's personal anthology, the Shū gusō; during the 6-year period covering such events as Teika's banishment from Go-Toba's court and Go-Toba's participation in the Jokyu Rebellion of 1221, Teika's diary is silent. pg 22 of
"[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by
Robert H. Brower in the
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp.
5-70 Teika was asked to participate in a poem competition on the 13th of the second month; Teika declined, citing as a reason the anniversary of his mother's death 26 years previous, in 1194. Go-Toba and his officials sent several letters to him, strongly urging him to come, and Teika eventually gave in, arriving with only two waka. The headnote to the two poems reads:
"[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by
Robert H. Brower in the
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp.
5-70
The first waka was critical of Go-Toba but otherwise fairly innocuous, but the second was quite pointed, obliquely attacking Go-Toba both for forcing Teika to attend Go-Toba's contest when Teika was memorializing his mother and also for insufficiently promoting Teika (the final line is a variation on a phrase dealing with "double griefs"):
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Go-Toba saw this attack as both ingratitude of the rankest sort and the culmination of a series of affronts, this latest being petty resentment at what Go-Toba would have seen as a flimsy pretext for attempting to get out of the poetry competition. Accordingly, he banished Teika from his court, a banishment that would last for more than a year; this feud distressed devotees of poetry. On the 22nd day of the 2nd month of 1221, Emperor Juntoku wrote in his diary: "At night there was a poetry party....but this evening Lord Teika was not invited. He has been forbidden the palace because of that poem he composed last year, and has been shut up at home in disgrace ever since. The Ex-Emperor was extremely offended, commanding that he be excluded from all poetry parties until further notice....Can it be really true he has been passed over so grievously? On the other hand, not to include Lord Teika in activities having to do with poetry is surely a very grave matter." pg 48 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70
Teika in the ascendancy
Possibly another a factor in this estrangement was politics - Teika had had the good fortune of being selected in 1209 as a poetry teacher to the new and young shogun, Minamoto no Sanetomo; the Shogunate was a rival and superior authority to that of the Emperors and the Imperial court. It was probably to the unhappy Sanetomo that Teika addressed the prefatory essay to his didactic collection, Kindai shūka ("Superior Poems of Our Time"), and his treatise on poetry Maigetsusho ("Monthly Notes"). Go-Toba would become an enemy of the then-bedridden Teika. Fortunately for Teika, Go-Toba would be exiled by the Kamakura shogunate in 1221 for the rest of life to the Oki Islands after Go-Toba led a failed rebellion against the Shogunate (the Jokyu War) which Go-Toba had long hated; "As sovereign and ex-sovereign, he was determined to exercise active rule; he achieved a considerable measure of success by establishing a strong "camera government" (insei) and by firmly controlling the two reigning emperors who succeeded him, his sons Tsuchimikado (1195-1231; r. 1198-1210) and Juntoku (1197-1242; r. 1210-1221). Go-Toba's political obsession was to overthrow the "illegitimate" Minamoto-Hojo military regime at Kamakura and "restore" authority to the Kyoto court....But the long period of watchfulness and military preparation, begun on the death of the first Minamoto shogun, Yoritomo (1147-1199), ended in a swift and ignominious defeat in the brief Shokyu War of 1221. Go-Toba's military forces were completely routed...." pg 8 of "[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 Teika's political fortunes improved in this period, as it was after Go-Toba's exile that Teika was appointed compiler of the ninth imperial anthology, the Shin chokusenshu ("New Imperial Collection"; completed c. 1234; curiously, this collection includes no poems by Go-Toba nor the three other Retired Emperors he rebelled with. This absence has been variously attributed to vengefulness on the part of Teika, or simply a desire to not even potentially offend the Kamakura shogunate"['Ex-Emperor Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70), and that Teika was advanced at the age of 70 to the court rank of "Gon Chūnagon" (Acting Middle Counselor; this was the second highest office in the Supreme Council of State).But even Teika's improved fortunes could not insulate him entirely from the various famines and disasters that wracked the country in this period, and which greatly exacberated his illnesses:
- "Today I had my servants dig up the garden (the north one), and plant wheat there. Even if we only grow a little, it will sustain our hunger in a bad year. Don't make fun of me! What other stratagem does a poor old man have?" (Meigetsuki, 13th day of the 10th month, 1230)pg 102 of Travelers of a Hundred Ages: The
- "Starving people collapse, and their dead bodies fill the streets. Every day the numbers increase....The stench has gradually reached my house. Day and night alike, people go by carrying the dead in their arms, too numerous to count." (Meigetsuki, 2nd day of the 7th month, 1231)
Rival descendants
One of his two sons, Fujiwara no Tameie (1198-1275; he is remembered as a reluctant heir, in youth inclining rather to court football at the encouragement of Go-Tobapg 21 of "['Ex-Emperor Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by Robert H. Brower in the Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp. 5-70 than to poetry), would carry on Teika's poetic legacy. Tameie's descendants would split into three branches: the conservative elder Nijō branch (founded by Tameie's elder son, Tameuji no Teika (1222-1286); the middle branch of the Kyōgoku founded by Fujiwara no Tamenori (1226-1279), which, before it went extinct in 1332 with the death of Fujiwara no Tamekane, merged with the Reizei at the prompting of the nun Abutsu; and the younger, more liberal Reizei branch, founded by Tameie' younger son Fujiwara no Tamesuke (b. 1263) by the Abutsu (d. circa 1283; a poet and a great diarist, especially remembered for her diary Isayoi Nikki ("Diary of the Waning Moon") chronicling her legal battles to get the Kamakura shogunate to stop Tameuji from disinheriting Tamesuke of the Hosokawa estate near the capital that Tameie had left Tamesuke).pg 124; An Introduction to Japanese Court Poetry, by Earl Miner. 1968, Stanford University Press, LC 68-17138
It is a testament to Teika's importance that the poetic history of the next centuries is in large part a story of the battles between the rival branches; indeed, it is this rivalry that is chiefly responsible for the great number of forgeries attributed to Teika. When the Reizei lost a court case concerning possession of the Hosokawa estate Tameie had willed to Tamesuke, they were ordered to hand over the valuable manuscripts and documents inherited from Teika and Tameie over to the Nijō; they outwardly complied, but along with the few genuine documents whose existence the Nijō had already learned of, they mostly included forgeries which the Nijō had little choice but to accept. In retaliation, the Nijō manufactured a number of forgeries of their own, the better to buttress their claims.Miner and Brower give two extracts on pg 351 referencing their claims about the origins of the numerous medieval forgeries attributed to Teika. The first is from Kitabatake Chikafusa's Kokinshūjo Chū ("Commentary upon the Prefaces to the Kokinshū") as reprinted in "(NKGT, IV, xlix)" (where "NKGT" refers to the Nihon Kagaku Taikei):
After a period of Reizei ascendancy under Rezei no Tamehide (great-grandson of Teika) (b. 1302?, d. 1372), they suffered a decline and a consequent rise in the fortunes of the Nijō, as Tamehide's son, Iametuni, became a Buddhist monk. However, the Nijō soon suffered setbacks of their own under the wastrel Nijō no Tameshige (b. 1325, d. 1385), whose promising son, Nijō no Tametō (b. 1341, d. 1381), died comparatively young, killed by a brigand.
In a further disaster for the Nijō, Tametō's son, Nijō no Tamemigi was killed by a brigand as well in 1399 (?), effectively wiping out the Nijō as an organized force. Under the grandson of Tamehide, Tanemasa (b. 1361, d. 1417), the Rezei achieved temporary victory in the time of Shōtetsu.Unforgotten dreams: poems by the Zen monk Shōtetsu, 1997. Steven D. Carter, Columbia University Press. ISBN 0-231-10576-2 Ironically, the once-liberal Reizei would become associated during and after the Meji Era with the ultra-conservatives of the "Palace School".
Teika made many manuscript copies of Japanese classics, including such landmarks of Japanese literature as The Tale of Genji, The Tales of Ise and the Kokinshū anthology"Differences among the earliest of these are not entirely negligible, but readers interested in Kokinshū as it was known to almost everyone who read or cited it after its recanonization in the late 12th century can be advised to begin with one of the 18 or so versions believed to have been transcribed and edited by Fujiwara Teika from 1209 until 1237, four years before his death." From the article ["What is Kokin Wakashu?"], provided by the University of Virginia Japanese Text Initiative. In his days, the ancient Japanese pronunciations were lost or difficult to understand, rendering the orthography of kana confused and uncertain. Teika researched old documents and recovered the earlier system of deciding between interpretations of kana, and developed a systematic orthography which was used until the modern Meiji period. He applied his kana system to his manuscripts, which were known for their accuracy and general high quality and called Teika bon ("Teika text"). Using his method he was able to document the accurate pronunciation of earlier waka like the ones in the Kokin-wakashū. His manuscripts were also appreciated for his eponymous distinct and bold style of calligraphy.
Teika is also remembered, like his father, as being something of an innovator- the Encyclopedia Britannica says:
The "old diction" here are phrases and words from the "Three Collections": the Kokinshū, the Gosenshū, and the Shūishū, but not much older than that (for instance, the diction of the Manyoshu was considered too old)Miner and Brower translate on pg. 248 a portion of the Maigetsusho: "Now then, as I have written to you numerous times, you should peruse at leisure the several imperial anthologies from the Man'yōshū down to the present and reach an understanding of the ways in which the various styles have changed with the passage of time.....As for Man'yōshū, it represents a very ancient age when the hearts of men were unsophisticated, so that even if we try to emulate it, we cannot possibly succeed in this present generation. It is especially important for a novice that he not permit himself to become enamored of the archaic style." Japanese Court Poetry, Earl Miner, Robert H. Brower. 1961, Stanford University Press, LCCN 61-10925. Teika wrote in his Maigetsusho that the best poems were spontaneous and original, but nevertheless traditional:
His poems were described as remarkable for their elegance and exemplars of Teika's ideals, in his early and later years (respectively; Teika considerably modified his personal beliefs during his 40s, after the death of Shunzei,and simplified his style of composition), of the styles of yoen- one of the ten orthodox styles Teika defined and defended in his poetic criticism, with some of the others being the onihishigitei ("demon-quelling force") style, the style of sabi or "loneliness" (closely related to mono no aware), the style of yugen, or "mystery and depth"; the yoen style was concerned with "ethereal beauty", and ushin ("deep feeling" or "conviction of feeling". This shift in style from yoen to ushin was intended to achieve a certain sort of makoto, or integritypg 41: "Even such unquestionably accomplished sophisticated poets as Ki no Tsurayuki and Fujiwara Teika turned late in life to simpler, more declarative poetic modes in order to achieve a simple integrity (makoto) that seemed to them lacking in their earlier poetry." Japanese Court Poetry, Earl Miner, Robert H. Brower. 1961, Stanford University Press, LCCN 61-10925; Teika sometimes referred to his aim as ushin ("deep feeling"), which confusingly was also the name of one of the ten styles. The yoen style was one of the most popular in his time due in no small part to Teika's of it (yoen had first been described by Fujiwara no Mototoshi in the 1150s, but had been only marginally successful); years later, the Symbolists would admire and emulate (to a degree) his use of language to evoke atmosphere in his brief poems in the yoen style. An excellent example (and one later chosen for an Imperial anthology) is the first poem below:
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Poetic achievements
Teika selected the works for the Ogura Hyakunin Isshu, an anthology of a hundred poems by a hundred poets. His Ogura Hyakunin Isshū was later thought to be a book of waka theory in which all types of ideal waka and all techniques were laid out; disputes over specific style and whether to be conservative or liberal that divided his descendants into a number of feuding schools/clans like the Reizei, Kyogoku, and Nijō.
The following is an example of how Teika used old and classic imagery such as Takasago and Onoe, as well as pine and cherry trees, in fresh ways:
Japanese
Rōmaji
English
Japanese
Rōmaji
English
Partial bibliography
"[Go-Toba's Secret Teachings': Go-Toba no in Gokuden]", by
Robert H. Brower in the
Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, Vol. 32. (1972), pp.
5-70References
External links
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