A Study of Provincial Warriors and the Literary Arts in Medieval Japan: the spread and acceptance of Renga and Wakan Renku

2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 22K20018
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0102:Literature, linguistics, and related fields
• Research Institution: Aichi University of Education
• Principal Investigator: Kawasaki Mion 愛知教育大学, 教育学部, 助教 (60965010)
• Project Period (FY): 2022-08-31 – 2024-03-31
• Keywords: 連歌 / 和漢聯句 / 武家 / 文芸

Outline of Final Research Achievements

I analyze the literature of provincial warriors who were active from the end of the Middle Ages to the early modern period(16th to 17th century).In particular, I focus on the literary and artistic activities of the Uesugi,lords of Echigo(modern Niigata Prefecture).
Specifically, I focus on the two materials. First,“Naoe Rhyme Book”,which seems to have been referred to by Naoe Kanetsugu,the Uesugi’s vizier,when he created renga (linked verse poetry composed by two or more people)and wakan renku(a similar form of collaborative poetry in which Sintic and Japanese verses alternate in the sequence). With this research assistance,the groundwork has been laid for content analysis. Second, “Zhosan Mondo”,a treatise related to Satomura and was close friend of Naoe. I have completed the research of all the manuscripts and the collection of paper burns, and through the analysis of newly discovered letters, I have denied the possibility of forgery, which had been proposed in the past.

Free Research Field

中世文学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

本研究は、主に山形県米沢市の図書館・博物館・寺社が有する文芸資料の博捜を通して、戦国期に活躍した武家上杉氏の知的教養の実態を、実作（連歌・和漢聯句の作品）と学書（『直江韻書』『紹三問答』『文鑑』）との影響関係及び連歌師（里村紹巴）と武家（上杉景勝・直江兼続）との社会的役割を解明した点に学術的意義がある。
資料の分析に際しては、従来、注目されてこなかった明治期の郷土資料家が残した二次資料を精査したことで、山形県米沢市の地域文化財の活用に寄与した点で社会的意義を果たした。