Fujiwara no Atsunobu

Fujiwara no Atsunobu was born to Fujiwara no Aishige (藤原敦信),[1] a member of the Shikike branch of the Fujiwara clan,[1] and a daughter of Minamoto no Hitoshi.[1] The year of his birth is unknown.[1]

During the reign of Emperor En'yū,[2] he became a student Chinese literature (文章生 monjōshō) at the Imperial University.[1]

The record of the Dajō Daijin-den Sanjikkō Uta-awase (太政大臣殿三十講歌合), dating from the fifth month of Chōho 5 (1003 in the Julian calendar) calls him "the former governor of Higo" (前肥後守).[2] The Midō Kanpaku-ki,[3] the diary of Fujiwara no Michinaga, records that in the fourth month of Kankō 4 (1007) he was invited to a private banquet (密宴 mitsuen) at the Inner Palace,[1] to which he contributed Chinese poetry.[3]

According to the Rokuhara Mitsu-ji Engi (六波羅蜜寺縁起), he became governor of Yamashiro Province around Chōwa 1 (1012).[2]} The Shōyūki records that[3] he was invited to the dokusho hajime of Prince Atsunaga (敦良親王, later Emperor Go-Suzaku) in the twelfth month of Chōwa 4 (January or February 1016),[1] at which he sat with Ōe no Takachika and Yoshishige no Tamemasa (慶滋為政),[3] and composed poetry in Chinese.[2]

He fathered the Confucianist and kanshi poet Fujiwara no Akihira.[1] According to a document (奏状 sōjō)[lower-alpha 1] presented by Akihira to the emperor,[3] his father was unfortunate in his later years,[1] and became a Buddhist monk.[1]

He took part in various uta-awase contests,[4] including the Ichijō Dainagon-ke Uta-awase (一条大納言家歌合),[3] the Kanna Ninen Dairi Uta-awase in Kanna 2 (986)[3] and the Dajō Daijin-den Sanjikkō Uta-awase.[3]

One[2] of his Chinese poems was included in the Honchō Reisō.[1]