Collection of Mothers of Jojin Ajari - Collection of Mothers of Jojin Ajari

A literary diary collection from the late Heian period. 2 volumes. The mother of the ajari Shojin (the daughter of Minamoto no Toshikata) wrote in waka and prose poems about her sorrow when her son Shojin travelled to Song China to seek the truth, when she was over 80 years old. Before they separated, she lived with Shojin in Iwakura (Sakyo Ward, Kyoto City), and in January of 1071 (Engyu 3), she moved to live with Shojin's brother, a priest at Ninnaji Temple (according to one theory, Joson). The following year, in March, Shojin travelled to China, and the following year, in 1073, the author wrote about messages from Shojin, the author's heartfelt impressions, and even recollections of the past. The book was compiled in two or three installments. What is unique about the work is that it is permeated with a sentimental sense of separation and sorrowful maternal love, such as "A mother's feelings for her child, noble or humble, are different from those of a father," but it gradually becomes more and more clear-spoken about the futility of hopes for reunion and the desperate desire for paradise that Narihiro also left behind.

[Masaaki Kimura]

"Miyazaki Shohei's translated and annotated 'Shoshin Ajari Boshu' (Kodansha Academic Library)" ▽ "Hirabayashi Fumio's 'Basic Research on Shoshin Ajari Boshu' (1977, Kasama Shoin)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安後期の日記文学的家集。2巻。成尋阿闍梨母（源俊賢女(としかたのむすめ)）が、80余歳の高齢に達してから、わが子成尋が求道(ぐどう)のために渡宋(そう)したときの悲しみを、和歌と散文をもって書き綴(つづ)ったもの。別れる前、成尋とともに暮らした岩倉（京都市左京区）から、1071年（延久3）正月成尋の兄弟で仁和寺(にんなじ)の律師(りっし)（一説では成尊(じょうそん)）のもとに移り、翌年3月成尋の渡航、さらに翌々73年に至る期間の成尋の音信や作者の切々たる心象、それに往時の回想をも交えて、2、3回に次々まとめられたか。「貴(たか)きも賤(いや)しきも母の子を思ふ心ざしは、父には異なる」といった哀切な母性と、別離の感傷とをもって全体を貫いたところに特異性があるが、しだいに再会への期待のむなしさと、成尋も言い遺(のこ)した極楽への悲願を強めていく。

［木村正中］

『宮崎荘平訳注『成尋阿闍梨母集』（講談社学術文庫）』▽『平林文雄著『成尋阿闍梨母集の基礎的研究』（1977・笠間書院）』

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