Takaichi Black Man - Takechi no Kurohito

Date of birth and death unknown. A poet from the first half of the 8th century. He was a member of the family of Agata-nushi, who was given the surname Muraji in 683 (the 12th year of the Tenmu era), and is said to have been a low-ranking official who served both the Jito and Monmu reigns. He left behind 18 tanka poems in the Manyoshu. All of them were written while he was traveling, and his footsteps spanned Yamato, Yamashiro, Omi, Settsu, Owari, Mikawa, and Etchu provinces. As the government expanded, the number of government officials posted to the provinces increased, and travel became more frequent, giving birth to traveling poets like the black man. Black people like to write about nature and compose descriptive poems, so they are said to be descriptive poets who should be considered the forerunners of the later Yamabe no Akahito. However, they tend to express more subjective admiration than the Akajin. Black people's songs often contain songs about a boat sailing away, such as "As I travel, I long for my beloved, as I watch the crimson boat from the foot of the mountain rowing out to sea" and "As I look beyond the Shihatsuyama mountains, I see the island of Kasanui, rowing away, a small boat without a shelf hidden behind," which are thought to symbolize the aimless sense of wandering felt by travelers and the fundamental anxiety of human beings.

[Koji Inaoka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

生没年未詳。8世紀前半の歌人。683年（天武12）に連(むらじ)の姓を賜った高市県主(あがたぬし)の家系に属し、持統(じとう)・文武(もんむ)両朝に仕えた下級官人であったらしい。『万葉集』に短歌18首を残す。すべて旅中の作で、その足跡は、大和(やまと)のほか、山城(やましろ)、近江(おうみ)、摂津から尾張(おわり)、三河、越中(えっちゅう)の諸国に及ぶ。官人機構の拡大とともに地方へ赴任する官吏が増加し、交通も頻繁となって、黒人のような旅の歌人を生んだのである。黒人は好んで自然を詠み、叙景的な歌をつくっているので、後の山部赤人(やまべのあかひと)の先蹤(せんしょう)とすべき叙景歌人ともいわれる。しかし赤人よりも主観的な詠嘆をあらわにする傾向が強い。黒人の歌に「旅にしてもの恋しきに山下の朱(あけ)のそほ船沖に漕(こ)ぐ見ゆ」や「四極山(しはつやま)うち越え見れば笠縫(かさぬひ)の島漕ぎ隠る棚無し小舟(をぶね)」のように遠ざかる舟を歌うことが多いのは、旅人の感ずるあてどない漂泊感や、人間の根源的な不安を象徴的に表すとみられる。

［稲岡耕二］

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