"The Woman of Pleasure at Eguchi" describes the monk and waka poet Saigyō's encounter with a prostitute at Eguchi. Saigyō was refused a dwelling initially, but the woman of pleasure replied that it was because she didn't want to "set [his] heart on this momentary dwelling." Her response had a Buddhist quality to it and the poet was deeply moved by how noble she was and shed tears. According to the footnote, later legends say that the pleasure woman was actually the bodhisattva Fugen in disguise. How do we understand this morally elevating and even deifying portrayal of women of pleasure?
The poems in the Shinkokinshū contain a lot of similar motifs and images as the Kokinshū. Are there any particular striking messages from the Kokinshu that are echoed or challenged in the Shinkokinshū?
It was fascinating to read "The Woman of Pleasure at Eguchi" because it centers on a "retired courtesan" who has transformed into an enlightened woman, distancing herself from desires as outlined in Buddhist teachings. Unlike other portrayals of women in much of the other literature we have read, this woman’s character is spiritually elevated. Rather than embodying sensuality, she represents wisdom and the possibility of redemption and spiritual attainment. How does the portrayal of the courtesan conform to and/or challenge Buddhist ideals on detachment and desire of women?
The story An Account of a Ten-Foot-Square Hut was particularly compelling for me, because it is unconventional not only in that it speaks of reclusion from society, but also because it is one of the first pieces that we’ve engaged with in class that explicitly comments on rank and status being unimportant in the grand scheme of human life. I found it fascinating to think about this perspective, where being separated from both the court and the common people allowed for a more holistic view on how society structured itself. This human- and nature-centered view, however, with its evidently Buddhist influences, seems antithetical to the Heian society we have learned about so far. Assuming that Buddhism was dedicated to a non superficial perspective on life and society, how did this framework implement itself into the status-based late Heian way of life?
The shift from Heian literature to medieval/Samurai literature is quite interesting to me. First, although we may just not have gotten there yet, there hasn't been a lot of literature actually about warriors or Samurai, whereas Heian literature was almost all about the courts and aristocrats. At the same time, I liked that some of the same values were kept, such as the importance of the seasons in poetry. It almost felt like the new literature was paying homage to Heian literature. Lastly, the sudden importance of Buddhism in stories is slightly jarring. While nuns and monks were mentioned in past works, it seemed to just be what people did after their courtly lives were done, whereas now it is being stressed at many stages in life, and promoted to all peoples. I do wonder if now that Buddhist works, such as hymns and sermons, were being distributed to even commoners, if that will serve as a gateway for non-elites to be able to participate in literature.
Atkins. P.S. (2017). The Bodhidharma Style and the Poetry Contest in Six Hundred Rounds. In Teika: The Life and Works of a Medieval Japanese Poet (pp. 43-87). University of Hawai‘i Press
In this chapter of his book, Paul S. Atkins examines how the Daruma-uta, or “Bodhidharma waka poetry,” was able to emerge. He specifically focuses on two events and how they impacted the emergence of the new style: Roppyakuban utaawase (Poetry contest in six hundred rounds) and the Omuro gojisshu (Fifty Poems for His Cloistered Highness of Omuro). Atkins uses the limited sources available, and incorporates the poems used for the events, along with accounts used about this style. As a Japanese literature professor that has an extensive background in analyzing Fujiwara no Teika’s poetry, Atkins is a credible source.
This source specifically focuses on how Fujiwara no Teika, one of the main compilers of the Shinkokinshū, was able to innovate poetry at the time and help create a new style. Many poems that followed this new style would then be included in the Shinkokinshū. Some of Fujiwara no Teika’s poems and poems from the two events would also be included in the Shinkokinshū. This chapter will not only further our understanding of Daruma-uta and how this new style became an important aspect of the Shinkokinshū but also give us an insight into the two events that contributed to the creation of these poems featured.
Brower, R.H. (1972). "Ex-Emperor Go-Toba's Secret Teachings": Go-Toba no in Gokuden. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 32, 5-70.
In this article, Robert H. Brower provides an extensive discussion of Go-Taba’s significance as a poet, patron (he was the patron of the Shinkokinshū), and his relations to Teika along with a translation of Go-Taba’s “Secret Teachings.” This short work by Go-Toba would focus on aesthetic criticism. Brower was a professor that had a rich background of research regarding Japanese court poetry and is, therefore, a credible source.
The article focuses on Go-Taba, and the majority of the first section of the article examines who he was as a poet and how Teika came into the picture. This is important because many of Go-Taba’s poetry would end up being part of the Shinkokinshū so his style and approach to poetry would be useful in examining the Shinkokinshū. Since he commissioned Teika to compile poetry for the Shinkokinshū, it would be interesting to understand their relationship and why Go-Taba chose Teika for this role.
Bialock, D.T. (1994). Voice, Text, and The Question of Poetic Borrowing in Late Classical Japanese Poetry. Harvard Journal of Asiatic Studies, 54(1), 181-231.
In this article, David T. Bialock aims to analyze the uniqueness of Teika’s manner of borrowing from older poems, what enabled this technique to emerge, and understanding what this technique really is. The technique in question is called honkadori and it’s defined as the “constructing of an entire poetics around a technique of borrowing” (181). Bialock holds credibility in this research as a Japanese literature professor that has done research on classical Japanese poetry.
Many of the poems featured in the Shinkokinshū borrow from older poems. When reading the Shinkokinshū, the reader should have extensive knowledge of classical Japanese poetry to understand the poems presented there. It’s interesting to know that the person that is responsible for the emergence honkadori is none other than Fujiwara no Teika, one of the main compilers and poets of the Shinkokinshū.
Pollack, D. “A Bridge Across the Mountains”: Chinese and the Aesthetics of the Shinkokinshu. In The Fracture of Meaning Japan's Synthesis of China from the Eighth through the Eighteenth Centuries (pp.79). Princeton University Press.
In this chapter, David Pollack examines the aesthetic that set the Shinkokinshū apart from the other anthologies in the collection. In doing so, Pollack focuses on understanding the shift in Shinkokinshū poets and how their practice of poetry became influenced by new aesthetic visions. He also aims to examine the implications that the Shinkokinshū aesthetic ideals had in context with the poetic practice and theory at the time (around 1200) with a focus on Sung dynasty Chinese poetry and the influence of Buddhism in Japan. As a former Japanese literature professor and Classical Japanese poetry researcher, Pollack is a credible source.
This chapter is unique in that the aesthetic of the Shinkokinshū is being analyzed in relation to Chinese poetic practice and theory. I wanted to know more about what made the Shinkokinshū unique from the other anthologies and why it was considered one of the best in the collection. This source was really nice in that it explained this while drawing from the influence of Buddhism and how the Shinkokinshū was connected to Chinese poetry.