Sarashina Diary - Sarashina Diary

A literary diary from the mid-Heian period. 1 volume. Written by Sugawara no Takasue no Musume. Completed around 1060 (Kōhei 3). When the author was 13 years old, he began writing a record of his journey back to Kyoto from his father's post in Kazusa Province (central Chiba Prefecture), and then wrote an autobiographical recollection of his life over the next 40 years. The book describes his spiritual journey, from the fantasy of a world of stories cultivated in the grassy eastern provinces as a child to the harsh reality he experienced as an adult, to his search for peace of mind in the world of faith in old age. The record of the journey takes up about one-fifth of the entire diary, and the diary is also notable for its narrative, including folk tales such as the legends of Takeshiba Temple. After returning to Tokyo, the author's life is depicted as one in which she is indulged in the world of stories, including The Tale of Genji, but is also in conflict with the religious consciousness that seeks to restrain her. The various revelations of dreams given to her in the midst of this show the path of her spiritual journey. As she faces a succession of unfortunate realities, she enters the court to serve, but the good fortune she had hoped for does not come, and she ends up living an ordinary life as the wife of a prostitute. However, this seemingly peaceful life falls apart with the death of her husband, and the author writes that she came to a state of mind in which she entrusts everything to the salvation of Buddha. We can see the author's process of conversion therein, but both his fantasy of the world of the story and his faith in Buddha's salvation are essentially yearnings for a fictional, unrealistic world; rather, what is noteworthy is the way in which the author's resignation to the transience of life is shown in his solitary state in his final years.

Furthermore, all surviving copies of this book originate from the imperial copy written by Fujiwara Teika, and no copies of a different lineage have been discovered.

[Tada Kazuomi]

"Complete Collection of Japanese Classical Literature 18: Sarashina Diary and Others, annotated and translated by Inukai Ren et al. (1971, Shogakukan)" ▽ "Sarashina Diary, Volumes 1 and 2, translated and annotated by Sekine Keiko (Kodansha Academic Library)" ▽ "Shincho Collection of Japanese Classics, Sarashina Diary, annotated and edited by Akiyama Ken (1980, Shinchosha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安中期の日記文学。1巻。菅原孝標女(すがわらのたかすえのむすめ)作。1060年（康平3）ごろ成立。作者13歳のおり、父の任地上総(かずさ)国（千葉県中央部）から帰京する旅の記録に筆をおこし、以後40余年に及ぶ半生を自伝的に回想した記録。幼いころ草深い東国ではぐくまれた物語世界への幻想が、成長してのち体験した厳しい現実のなかで挫折(ざせつ)し、老残の境涯のなか、ついに信仰の世界に魂の安住を求めようとするまでの精神遍歴が描き出されている。旅の記録は、分量的にも日記全体の5分の1ほどを占め、さらに竹芝(たけしば)寺の伝承をはじめとする土俗的な話柄が取り収められるなど、叙述のうえでも注目される。帰京後の作者の生活は、『源氏物語』をはじめとする物語世界への耽溺(たんでき)の姿勢が強調される一方で、それを牽制(けんせい)しようとする宗教的な意識との葛藤(かっとう)のなかに描き出されており、そうしたなかで与えられるさまざまな夢の啓示がその精神遍歴の道筋を示している。不如意な現実がたび重なるなかで作者は宮仕えに出るが、期待した幸運は訪れず、結局は平凡な受領(ずりょう)の妻としての生活を得るにとどまった。しかし、一見安穏にみえたその生活は夫の死とともに瓦解(がかい)し、作者は仏の救済にすべてを託す心境に至ったことを記している。そこに作者の回心の過程をみいだせるわけだが、物語世界への幻想も仏の救済への信仰も、ともに仮構された非現実の世界への憧憬(しょうけい)である点で変わりはなく、むしろ最晩年の孤独な境涯のなかに、人生のはかなさをかみしめる作者の諦観(ていかん)が示されている点に注目されるものがある。

　なお、本書の伝存する諸本はすべて藤原定家(ていか)書写の御物本に源を発しており、別系統のものは1本も発見されていない。

［多田一臣］

『犬養廉他校注・訳『日本古典文学全集18　更級日記他』（1971・小学館）』▽『関根慶子訳注『更級日記』上下（講談社学術文庫）』▽『秋山虔校注『新潮日本古典集成　更級日記』（1980・新潮社）』

出典　小学館　日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)日本大百科全書(ニッポニカ)について　情報 | 凡例