Tanka - Hanka

A tanka poem added after a choka. In the Man'yoshu, there is only one poem in the form of a sedo-ka (a round-headed song), but all the others are tanka poems, and the word "tanka" is often written before the poem. It is said that the name was modeled after the Chinese "hanchi" (a round-headed song). There is a strong view that this tanka style was created when the last paragraph of a choka became independent as it was being sung, but it is difficult to accept that it was created as a result of such a popular song. Looking at the choka poems in the Man'yoshu, the earliest tanka to have tanka is the poem by Nukata no Okimi (Volume 1, 17, 18), and it is recognized that the form of adding tanka to a poem was established by Kakinomoto no Hitomaro. It is a new style that was created through the medium of Chinese literature, and it is correct to see it as having been established at the level of description. Hitomaro established tanka, and also significantly changed the quality of tanka from a style that simply repeated and summarized choka to one that included independent content. Hitomaro also started the style of including multiple tanka poems, which developed into compositions that combined long and short poems.

[Kanno Shitaka]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

長歌のあとに付された短歌。『万葉集』では、旋頭歌(せどうか)の形のものが一首だけあるが、これを除いてみな短歌であり、その前に多く「反歌」と頭書する。その名称は中国の「反辞」に倣ったものかという。この反歌の様式を、長歌の最後の段落が、歌われるなかで分離独立することによって生じたとする見方も有力であるが、そのような歌謡的生成とは認めがたい。『万葉集』の長歌を通じてみれば、反歌をもつことの確実なのは額田王(ぬかたのおおきみ)の歌（巻1、17、18歌）がもっとも早く、柿本人麻呂(かきのもとのひとまろ)によって反歌を付す形が定着したと認められる。中国文学を媒介にして新しく生み出された様式であり、記載の次元で成立したとみるのが正しい。人麻呂は反歌を定着するとともに、長歌を反復・要約するようなありようから、独立的な内容を盛り込むものへと、その質をも大きく転換した。複数の反歌を付す形も人麻呂によって始められ、長歌と短歌との組合せによる構成体という方向へ展開された。

［神野志隆光］

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