Kana preface
The kana preface to the Kokin Wakashū (古今和歌集仮名序 Kokin Wakashū kana-jo, 古今集仮名序 Kokinshū kana-jo, or simply 仮名序 kana-jo;
Authorship, date and context
The kana preface, or Japanese preface, is one of the two prefaces that were given to the Kokin Wakashū, a tenth-century anthology of Japanese waka poetry.[1] It was written by Ki no Tsurayuki,[1] the principal compiler of the anthology.[2]
The other is Ki no Yoshimochi's Chinese preface (mana-jo).[1]
The kana preface was written between the second month of Engi 6 (906) and the first month of the following year.[3]
Contents
The kana preface to opens with a detailed and poetic explication of what the core concept of waka poetry is.
It then goes on to discuss the ideal waka and listing two poets (probably Kakinomoto no Hitomaro and Yamabe no Akahito) as the ideal poets, and listing six great poets (the Rokkasen) of what was then the recent past.[7] Finally, it touches on the compilation process for the Kokin Wakashū and speculates on the future of the waka.
Reception
The opening lines of kana preface have been regarded as the archetypal work of Japanese classical prose.
References
- ^ a b c d Keene 1999, p. 245.
- ^ Shirane 2012, p. 92.
- ^ Kyūsojin & Fujioka 1983, p. 548.
- ^ Keene 1999, pp. 245–246.
- ^ a b c Keene 1999, p. 248.
- ^ Keene 1999, p. 272, note 9, citing Ōoka 1971, pp. 111–112, 123–124..
- ^ Shirane 2012, p. 78, note 16.
- ^ a b Shirane 2012, p. 89.
- ^ Shirane 2012, p. 93, note 43.
Works cited
- OCLC 11917421.
- ISBN 978-0-231-11441-7.
- OCLC 11917421.
- Ōoka, Makoto (1971). Ki no Tsurayuki. Tokyo: Chikuma Shobō.
- ISBN 978-0-231-15731-5.