Sei Shonagon

His birth and death years are unknown. He was a poet and essayist in the mid-Heian period. He is believed to have been born around 966 (Kōhō 3) and died around 1025 (Manju 2). His father was the poet Kiyohara Motosuke, but his mother is unknown. Motosuke was 59 years old in 966, and had older siblings from different litters, including Uta no Kami Tameshige, Dazai no Shogen Munenobu, Kazan'in Tenjō Hōshi Kaishu, and his wife Fujiwara Masatō. Many members of the Kiyohara clan were well versed in waka poetry and Chinese classics, and they grew up in a favorable environment. They married Mutsu no Kami Tachibana Norimichi around 981 (Tengen 4) and had a son, Norinaga, but they divorced, and her father, Motosuke, died in his post as Higo no Kami in 990 (Shoreki 1) at the age of 83. In 993, she entered the service of Emperor Ichijo's Empress Teishi, and spent about 10 years as a lady-in-waiting. The "Kiyo" in Sei Shonagon's name refers to the Kiyohara clan, but it is not clear why she is called Shonagon. She displayed her talents among many talented women, interacting with Fujiwara no Sanekata, Kinto, Tadanobu, and Yukinari, and lived a comfortable life, but after the death of her father Michitaka, the government was transferred to Michinaga, and the Empress's brothers Korechika and Takaie were demoted to Dazai no Gonsotsu and Izumo no Gonnokami, and rumors spread that Sei Shonagon was in cahoots with Michinaga, forcing her to seclude herself in her private residence. During this time, she wrote the first draft of "The Pillow Book," which won the praise of the people. She added more to it after she returned to the Imperial Court, but the extant version was not completed until after the Empress's death in 1000 (Choho 2).

Sei Shonagon's subsequent activities are unclear. She remarried to Settsu no Kami Fujiwara Muneyo and gave birth to the poet Koma no Myobu, but there are various theories about when this happened. The Murasaki Shikibu Diary doubts her academic ability and criticizes her tendency to like to be different, but The Pillow Book praises the Empress's happiness and describes the world as she observed it. She also had contact with female poets such as Akazomeemon and Izumi Shikibu, and her cheerful personality earned her the respect of many people. In her later years, she retired to Tsukinowa (Tsukinowa-cho, Higashiyama-ku, Kyoto City), where she lived a lonely life compared to her time as an attendant at the court, but the stories in Mumyozoshi and Kojidan that she fell into poverty and became a wanderer are probably not true. She has a family collection of poems called "Sei Shonagon Collection."

[Ueno Osamu]

"A Biography of Sei Shonagon by Shinji Kishigami (1943, Shinseisha)"

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年未詳。平安時代中期の歌人、随筆家。966年（康保3）のころ生まれて1025年（万寿2）のころ没したと推測されている。父は歌人清原元輔(もとすけ)であるが、母は明らかでない。966年に元輔は59歳であり、年齢に差のある異腹の兄姉、雅楽頭(うたのかみ)為成(ためしげ)、大宰少監(だざいのしょうげん)致信(むねのぶ)、花山院(かざんいん)殿上法師(てんじょうほうし)戒秀(かいしゅう)、藤原理能(まさとう)妻がいた。清原氏には和歌や漢学に精通した者も多く、恵まれた環境下に成人し、981年（天元4）のころ陸奥守橘則光(むつのかみたちばなののりみつ)と結婚し、則長をもうけたが、離別し、父元輔も990年（正暦1）に肥後守(ひごのかみ)として83歳で任地に没した。993年に一条(いちじょう)天皇の中宮定子(ていし)のもとに出仕し、約10年間の女房生活を送った。清少納言の清は清原氏を意味するが、なぜ少納言とよばれるかは明らかでない。多数の才媛(さいえん)に交じって才能を発揮し、藤原実方(さねかた)・同公任(きんとう)・同斉信(ただのぶ)・同行成(ゆきなり)らと交流し、快適な日々を過ごしたが、中宮の父道隆(みちたか)が没して政権は道長に移動し、中宮の兄弟の伊周(これちか)・隆家(たかいえ)が大宰権帥(ごんのそつ)・出雲権守(いずものごんのかみ)に左遷させられる事件が起こり、清少納言も道長方に内通しているといった噂(うわさ)をたてられて、私邸に籠居(ろうきょ)したこともあった。その間に初稿本の『枕草子(まくらのそうし)』を執筆して人々の賞賛を博す。再出仕後に増補するが、現存本の完成は、中宮が1000年（長保2）に崩御したのちのことである。

　その後の清少納言の動静は明らかでない。摂津守(せっつのかみ)藤原棟世(むねよ)と再婚して歌人小馬命婦(こまのみょうぶ)をもうけているが、その時期についても諸説がある。『紫式部日記』は彼女の学才を疑い、他人と異なることを好む性向を批判するが、『枕草子』は中宮のめでたさを賛美し、自己の観察した世界を記す。赤染衛門(あかぞめえもん)や和泉式部(いずみしきぶ)ら女流歌人とも交流し、その明るい人柄は多数の人々から敬愛された。晩年は月輪(つきのわ)（京都市東山区月輪町）に隠棲(いんせい)し、宮仕え時代と比べると寂しい生活を送ったが、零落し、放浪したという『無名草子(むみょうぞうし)』『古事談』などの説話は事実ではなかろう。家集『清少納言集』がある。

［上野　理］

『岸上慎二著『清少納言伝記攷』（1943・新生社）』

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