Saigū no Nyōgo Shū

The Saigū no Nyōgo Shū (斎宮女御集), also known as the Saigū-shū (斎宮集) is a Japanese anthology of waka poetry. It is the personal anthology (kashū) of Princess Kishi, who was also known as Saigū no Nyōgo. It is one of the Sanjūroku-nin Shū (三十六人集).

Compiler and date

There are a number of possibilities as to how the Saigū no Nyōgo Shū came about.[1] The scholar Motoko Morimoto, in her article on the anthology for the Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten, presents the following theory:[1]

  • Text 1 was created when the court ladies attached to Princess Kishi collected together her poems after her death in 985.[1]
  • The poetic exchanges between the princess and Emperor Murakami that were recorded after the latter's death in 967 were then incorporated into Text 1.[1] This was Text 2-A.[1]
  • Poems the princess exchanged with various individuals were incorporated into Text 1 independently, creating Text 2-B.[1]
  • Text 3 was compiled from the above, with the ordering and text of the poems being edited.[1]

Based on this theory, the 102-poem Shōho-ban Kasen Kashū-bon text (see Textual tradition and modern editions, below) would be Text 1,[1] while the 163-poem Archives and Mausolea Department text would be Text 2-A.[1] The fragmentary Kojima-gire would be Text 2-B.,[1] and the 265-poem Nishihonganji-bon Sanjūroku-nin Shū text would be Text 3.[1]

Contents

The poems included in the collection date from a 37-year period between 948, when Princess Kishi came to court, and 985, immediately after her death.[1]

The anthology's contents can be divided into two parts: the first including poems generally composed up to the death of Emperor Murakami in 967, the second centring on her second journey to Ise in 975.[1] The first part is noted for poems addressing the joys and sorrows of the life of a lady in the court of Emperor Murakami, while the second part is known for its poems on reaching Ise and dwelling there.[1]

The work illustrates the princess's associations with many people in the Heian Capital.[1]

Textual tradition and modern editions

Two early-twelfth century manuscripts, the Nishihonganji-bon (西本願寺本) and the Kojima-gire (小島切), are extant.[1] Facsimile editions of both were produced in the mid-1960s.[1] The Nishihonganji-bon is part of the Nishihonganji-bon Sanjūroku-nin Shū.[1] There is also a Shōho-ban Kasen Kashū-bon text,[1] and one in the possession of the Archives and Mausolea Department of the Imperial Household Agency.[1]

Modern printed editions include the Gunsho Ruijū, Shoku Kokka Taikan (a supplement to the Kokka Taikan) and Kokka Taikei Vol. 12.[1]

References
  1. Morimoto 1983, p. 14.

Works cited
  • Morimoto, Motoko (1983). "Saigū no Nyōgo Shū". Nihon Koten Bungaku Daijiten 日本古典文学大辞典 (in Japanese). Vol. 3. Tokyo: Iwanami Shoten. p. 14. OCLC 11917421.

Further reading
  • Morimoto, Motoko (1974). "Saigū no Nyōgo Shū ni kan suru kenkyū". Shika-shū to Shin Kokin-shū 私家集と新古今集 (in Japanese). Tokyo: Meiji Shoin. ASIN B000J96MRM.
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