Pseudo-classical Japanese

These were many texts created by scholars of Japanese classics during the Edo period, modelled on ancient kana texts and waka poems. There was a value among scholars of Japanese classics that ancient language was proper and elegant, while later language was vulgar, and these were created based on this value. Most of the model texts were from the Heian period, which was called elegant text, and those from the Nara period were often excluded as they were called classical texts. They studied the vocabulary and idioms used in Heian period texts and waka poems, and attempted to incorporate them into their own expressions, but as their ideas were based on the language of that period, the texts they created were often not exactly the same as those from the Heian period. They mainly used hiragana, and avoided kanji and Chinese words as much as possible, but the influence of the mixed Japanese and Chinese texts from the Kamakura period onwards cannot be overlooked. Well-known works include those by Kamo no Mabuchi, Murata Harumi, Kato Chikage, Motoori Norinaga, Ishikawa Masamochi, Fujii Takanao, and Shimizu Hamaomi. In addition, Japanese writings from the Kamakura period onwards, such as Tsurezuregusa, cannot strictly be considered pseudo-classical writing, but some also consider it to be included in the classification.

[Akiho Yamaguchi]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

江戸時代に多く国学者が古代の仮名文・和歌を模範としてつくった文。国学者の間には、古代の言語は正雅であり、後世の言語は卑俗であるという価値観があり、それに基づいて制作された。模範となった文は雅文とよばれた平安時代のものが主で、奈良時代のものは古文とよばれて除外されることが多かった。平安時代の文・和歌に用いられている語彙(ごい)・語法を研究し、自分たちの表現に取り入れようとしているが、発想の基盤がその時代の言語にあるため、制作された文は平安時代そのままでないことが多い。文字は平仮名を主とし、漢字・漢語をできるだけ避けているが、鎌倉時代以降の和漢混交文の影響も見逃すことはできない。賀茂真淵(かもまぶち)、村田春海(はるみ)、加藤千蔭(ちかげ)、本居宣長(もとおりのりなが)、石川雅望(まさもち)、藤井高尚(たかなお)、清水浜臣(しみずはまおみ)などの文章がよく知られている。なお、鎌倉時代以降の和文、たとえば『徒然草(つれづれぐさ)』のようなものは、厳密には擬古文とはいえないが、これも分類に入れる考え方もある。

［山口明穂］

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