Izumi Shikibu

Japanese: 和泉式部 - いずみしきぶ

Dates of birth and death unknown. A female poet of the mid-Heian period. Daughter of Oe Masamune. Her mother is said to be the daughter of Taira Yasuhira. The most widely accepted theory is that she was born during the Enyu era (970s). As she has court ladies' names such as "Masamune Shikibu" (Shuishū) and "Go Shikibu" (Mido Kanpakuki), it is assumed that she had already served as a young girl. She is said to have served Empress Reizei, Princess Masashi, through her father, who was Daishin. Eventually, by 999 (Choho 1), she married Tachibana Michisada, and from then on she was commonly known as "Izumi Shikibu" after her husband's official title as Izumi no Kami. The couple soon had a daughter, Koshikibu no Naishi, but her life as a couple fell apart due to a series of love affairs with Danjo no Kami Tametaka (the third son of Reizei) and Dazai no Sochi no Atsumichi (the fourth son of Reizei), and she was disowned by her father Masamune. The details of her love affair with Sochi no Miya are detailed in the Izumi Shikibu Diary. She also lost Sochi no Miya in 1007 (the 4th year of the Kanko era), and Shikibu's feelings of grief are crystallized in the more than 120 elegies in her Kashu. In 1009, she was summoned to serve Jotomon'in (Fujiwara no Shoshi), which led to her remarrying to Fujiwara no Yasumasa, a steward of Fujiwara no Michinaga, and she even traveled with her husband to Tango (Kyoto Prefecture), where she was stationed. In the winter of 1025 (Manju 2), her daughter Koshikibu died at a young age of 20, and at the time she left behind a poem of anguished mother mourning her child. There is no clear information about Shikibu's life after that, but the last record of her survival is an article in September 1027 in which she presented a jewel ornament on behalf of Yasumasa at the 77th day memorial service for Empress Dowager Fujiwara no Kenshi, and accompanied it with a poem (Eiga Monogatari, "Jewel Ornament"). Shikibu's keen sensibility and fluctuating emotions are beautifully embodied not only in her improvised everyday poems, but also in her restricted compositions such as set poems, series of poems, and poems on a theme, and her lyric poems, which make full use of fresh and free terminology, shine as a body of work worthy of the name of the greatest poet of the mid-Heian period. The "family anthologies," which contain the majority of her works, include the "Izumi Shikibu Seishu" with 902 poems and the "Izumi Shikibu Zokushu" with 647 poems.

The darker and darker the road I must enter, the far-off moon shining on the edge of the mountain.

The legend of Izumi Shikibu

A narrative legend with a female poet from the mid-Heian period as the main character. It is unrelated to the real Izumi Shikibu. Her birthplaces are scattered all over the country, from Iwate Prefecture in the north to Kyushu in the south, and there are many graves. Most of the legends are centered around waka poetry, and the most representative ones can be divided into roughly three types.

(1) Uruka Dialogue When Shikibu asked the daughter of a house he stayed at on his way to visit Mount Shosha if she would sell cotton, she replied in a song about uruka, the innards of sweetfish. The girl was the child Shikibu had abandoned in Gojo.

(2) The Song of the Sore: Shikibu, who was suffering from a sore, was cured by the reply song of the Yakushi during his retreat. This is a legend that was carried over to the Yakushi faith.

(3) A conversation between Shikibu and a high priest in a poem. The most famous story is the poem she sent to Shoku, a famous monk from Shosha. It is also included in the Otogi-zoshi (fairy tale) "Izumi Shikibu," in which Shikibu falls in love with the monk Domei without knowing that he is her son.

The people who brought these legends were the same group of people who brought the legends of women such as Komachi, Murasaki Shikibu, Shizuka Gozen, and Tora Gozen, and are thought to have been women who traveled around the country while performing religious rites at springs and riversides. Seiganji Temple in Kyoto is a likely place of temporary stay for these women, and in addition to her grave and the plum blossoms planted by Shikibu, she appears in the Seiganji Temple Engi Emaki. There are about nine Shikibu-mono (traditional Japanese songs) based on many of the legends, including Seiganji Temple.

[Shogo Watanabe]

"The Complete Works of Izumi Shikibu, edited by Koichi Yoshida (1959, Classic Library)" ▽ "Selected Japanese Poets 8: Izumi Shikibu, by Toru Terada (1971, Chikuma Shobo)"

[References] | Izumi Shikibu Collection | Izumi Shikibu Diary

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (56) Poet/Izumi Shikibu
<First verse> Arazaramu Kono yo no hokoi de ni Ima hito toha no aou kogana <Second verse> I wish we could meet even once more Arazaramu Kono yo no hokoi de ni Ima hito toha no aou kogana Fixed characters (fixed characters): Characters (sounds) that specify the poem / Arazara Izumi Shikibu Hishikawa Moronobu illustrations [and others] Ogura Hyakunin Isshu 1680 (Enpo 8) National Diet Library possession

Ogura Hyakunin Isshu (56) Poet/Izumi Shikibu

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

Japanese:

生没年不詳。平安中期の女流歌人。大江雅致(まさむね)の女(むすめ)。母は平保衡(やすひら)の女であるとも。生年は円融(えんゆう)朝（970年代）とする説が有力。「雅致女式部」（拾遺集）、「江(ごう)式部」（御堂関白記(みどうかんぱくき)）という女房名があることから、娘時代すでに出仕の経験があったと想像され、出仕先は大進(だいしん)であった父の縁で、冷泉(れいぜい)皇后昌子内親王のもとであったといわれる。やがて999年（長保1）までに橘道貞(たちばなのみちさだ)と結婚、和泉守(いずみのかみ)であった夫の官名から以後は「和泉式部」と一般によばれるようになった。2人の間にはまもなく娘の小式部内侍(こしきぶのないし)が生まれたが、弾正尹(だんじょうのかみ)為尊(ためたか)親王（冷泉第3皇子）、大宰帥(だざいのそち)敦道(あつみち)親王（冷泉第4皇子）との相次ぐ恋愛事件によって夫婦の生活は破綻(はたん)し、父雅致からも勘当を受ける身の上となった。このうち帥宮(そちのみや)との恋愛の経緯は『和泉式部日記』に詳しい。その宮とも1007年（寛弘4）には死別し、悲嘆に暮れる式部の心情は、「家集」中の120余首にも上る挽歌(ばんか)群として結晶している。1009年、召されて上東門院（藤原彰子(しょうし)）のもとに仕え、それが機縁となって藤原道長(みちなが)の家司、藤原保昌(やすまさ)に再嫁、夫とともに任国の丹後(たんご)（京都府）に下ったこともあった。1025年（万寿2）冬、娘の小式部が20歳代の若さで没し、そのおりにも子を悼む母親の痛哭(つうこく)の歌を残している。以後、晩年の式部の消息はさだかでないが、1027年9月、皇大后藤原妍子(けんし)の七七日の法事に、保昌にかわって玉の飾りを献上し、詠歌を添えたという記事が生存を伝える最後の記録となっている（『栄花(えいが)物語』玉の飾り）。即興即詠の日常詠はもとより、定数歌や連作、題詠など制約のある詠作のなかにも、式部の鋭敏な感性と揺らめく情念はみごとに形象化されており、新鮮で自由な用語を駆使したその叙情歌の数々は、平安中期最高の歌人の名にふさわしい作品群として輝いている。作品の大部分をとどめる「家集」には、902首を収める『和泉式部正集』、647首の『和泉式部続集』などがある。

　くらきよりくらき道にぞ入りぬべきはるかに照らせ山の端(は)の月
［平田喜信］

和泉式部伝説

平安中期女流歌人を主人公とした叙事伝説。実在の和泉式部とは無関係。生地も、北は岩手県から南は九州まで全国にわたって散在し、墓も数多い。もっとも多いのは和歌を中心とする伝承で、代表的なものはおよそ三つの型に分けられる。

(1)うるか問答　式部が書写山参詣(さんけい)の途次泊まった家の娘に綿を売るかと尋ねると、鮎(あゆ)のはらわたである「うるか」のことを歌で答える。その娘は、式部が五条で捨てた子であった。

(2)瘡(かさ)の歌　瘡を患った式部が参籠(さんろう)中に、薬師(やくし)の返歌で平癒する。薬師信仰に運ばれた伝承。

(3)式部と高僧との歌問答　有名なのは書写山性空(しょうくう)に贈った歌の話。御伽草子(おとぎぞうし)『和泉式部』にもとられ、わが子と知らず道命法師と恋をすることになっている。

　これらの伝承を運んだのは、小町、紫式部、静御前(しずかごぜん)、虎(とら)御前などの女性伝承を伝えた一群の人々と同じで、泉や川辺に宗教行事を行いながら回国した女たちと考えられる。その寄留地として有力なのが京都誓願寺で、墓や式部手植えの梅のほかに、『誓願寺縁起絵巻』にも式部がみえる。多くの伝承から謡曲にも『誓願寺』をはじめ9曲ほどの式部物がある。

［渡邊昭五］

『吉田幸一編『和泉式部全集』本文篇（1959・古典文庫）』▽『寺田透著『日本詩人選8　和泉式部』（1971・筑摩書房）』

[参照項目] | 和泉式部集 | 和泉式部日記

小倉百人一首(56)　歌人／和泉式部
〈上の句〉あらざらむこの世のほかの思ひ出に　〈下の句〉いまひとたびの逢ふこともがな　　　あらざらむこのよのほかのおもひでに　いまひとたびのあふこともがな定まり字（決まり字）：歌を特定する字（音）／あらざ和泉式部菱川師宣画［他］『小倉百人一首』　1680年（延宝8）国立国会図書館所蔵">

小倉百人一首(56)　歌人／和泉式部

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