| Budget Amount *help |
¥1,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,900,000)
Fiscal Year 1997: ¥600,000 (Direct Cost: ¥600,000)
Fiscal Year 1996: ¥1,300,000 (Direct Cost: ¥1,300,000)
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| Research Abstract |
Following is a report of the six papers which address the acceptance of Chinese poetic and prose writing into the traditional poetry (waka, **) of ancient and classical Japan.
The first two papers comprise a study of the headings and annotations found in the Man'yoshu, a topic which, until now, has been under limited research. Two kanbun (**) expressions were selected as the focus, keigai (**), describing the pine tree branches seen lining the mountaintops, and hakuba (**), found in those passages discussing the uncertainty of this world. Examination of these expressions has enabled identification of their Chinese sources and corrected prior misconceptions. The study also explores the Japanese aspects of these kanbun expressions.
Two subsequent papers address how methods of Chinese literary expression were adopted into the love poetry and "drinking songs" of the Man'yoshu, and reveal how new poetic expressions originated. While the theme of drinking is rarely seen in poems written after the Kokinwakashu, it is the topic of a number of Man'yoshu selections, suggesting the influence of Chinese poets, who savored the pleasures of alcohol shared in the company of friends as well as the drink poured in quiet solitude in remembrance of old companions. Such observations reveal the significance of Chinese elements embraced in the poetry of the Man'yoshu.
The final two papers examine the relationship between the poems of the Kokinwakashu and Chinese literature. Woeful expressions of rain-swept blossoms falling overnight and depictions of white flowers vanishing in the radiant light of the moon suggest these expressions made their way from the poetry of China to the Chinese verse of Heian Japan and further still to the realm of waka. It becomes evident that the significance underlying the acceptance of Chinese literary expressions extends even to and beyond the poetry of the Kokinwakashu.
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