Dragonfly Diary - Kagerou Nikki

This is a memoir-like diary written by the mid-Heian poet Fujiwara no Michitsuna no Haha. It covers a period of 20 years, from when Michitsuna no Haha was about 20 years old in 954 (Tenryaku 8) to when Kaneie, the third son of the then Minister of the Right Fujiwara no Morosuke, stopped visiting her in 974 (Ten'en 2). It consists of three volumes, with the words "It should be called a diary of a mayfly with a feeling of not being there or not," at the end of the first volume, from which the title comes. It means that it is a diary about one's life, fleeting like a mayfly, rather than a solid social existence. All of the extant copies of this work are copies from the Edo period, but all of them, including the oldest copy from the early Edo period held by the Imperial Household Agency Archives and Mausolea Department, are titled "Tombo Nikki." In the ancient diary of Fujiwara Teika, it was written as "Kagero Nikki," but it is also written as "Kagero no Nikki" (The Yakumo Gosho) and "Kagero no Ki" (Honcho Shoseki Mokuroku).

The book describes Michitsuna's mother's life after she was proposed to by Kaneie, the heir to the Sekkanke clan, and with high hopes she married him. The following year she gave birth to Kaneie's second son, Michitsuna. However, as she was surrounded by Kaneie's previous wives and the new wives that followed, she repeatedly felt sad that her husband was not coming to visit her anymore and lamented that she was not getting the life she had hoped for. Eventually Kaneie stopped visiting her and their marriage ended. There are many articles that strongly criticize her husband Kaneie for having many wives and for not visiting her anymore, and the book describes the marriage from the perspective of the wife, who was a weaker party under the polygamous marriage system in the aristocratic society of the time. On the other hand, it also describes the disappointment of an aristocratic woman who had no place in society and tried to improve her social status by marrying a man of high rank, but did not achieve her hopes.

This diary was a pioneering work in that it addressed the perspective of women, an important theme in women's literature of the Heian period, and it can be said that The Tale of Genji developed this theme as well.

[Masuda Shigeo]

"Complete Commentary on The Diary of Lady Rosalind, Volumes 1 and 2, by Kakimoto Susumu (1966, Kadokawa Shoten)" "Complete Collection of Japanese Classical Literature 9: The Diary of Lady Rosalind, annotated and translated by Kimura Masanaka and Imuta Tsunehisa (1973, Shogakukan)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安中期の歌人藤原道綱母(みちつなのはは)の書いた回想録的な日記。道綱母の20歳ごろの954年（天暦8）、時の右大臣藤原師輔(もろすけ)の三男兼家(かねいえ)と結婚してから、974年（天延2）に兼家の通うのが絶えるまでの、20年間の記事をもつ。上中下の3巻からなり、上巻末尾に「あるかなきかの心地(ここち)するかげろふの日記といふべし」の語があり、書名はこれに由来する。社会的に確固とした存在ではなく、かげろうのようにはかない身の上の日記だという意味である。現存するこの作品の伝本は、いずれも江戸時代の写本であるが、そのうちで最古の江戸初期書写の宮内庁書陵部蔵本以下、すべて『蜻蛉日記』の書名をもつ。古くは藤原定家の日記にも『蜻蛉日記』と記されているけれども、また『遊士日記(かげろうのにっき)』（八雲御抄(やくもみしょう)）、『蜻蛉記(かげろうのき)』（本朝書籍目録）とも記されている。

　内容は、摂関家(せっかんけ)の御曹司(おんぞうし)の兼家から求婚された道綱母が、大きな期待に心をはずませて結婚し、翌年兼家の次男の道綱を生んだが、兼家の以前からの妻や、次々と新しく現れてくる妻たちのなかにあって、夫の足が遠ざかることによる悲哀や、望んでいたような身の上が実現しない嘆きなどを繰り返すうちに、ついに兼家が通わなくなって、夫婦関係が絶えるまでの結婚生活を記している。夫の兼家が多くの妻をもち、自分を訪れることが絶えたのを強く非難する記事が多く、当時の貴族社会における一夫多婦制の婚姻制度のもとで、弱者としての妻の立場から夫婦関係を描いたものである。また一面では、社会生活の場をもたない貴族女性が、身分の高い男性と結婚することで、その社会的地位の向上を求めようとしたが、期待どおりには実現しなかった残念さを書いた、という性格をももっている。

　この日記は、平安時代の女流文学が重要なテーマとした女性の立場を書いて先駆的な位置にあり、『源氏物語』もそのテーマを発展させたものということができる。

［増田繁夫］

『柿本奨著『蜻蛉日記全注釈』上下（1966・角川書店）』▽『木村正中・伊牟田経久校注・訳『日本古典文学全集9　蜻蛉日記』（1973・小学館）』

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