Old Lady Higaki

Japanese: 檜垣嫗 - ひがきのおうな

Years of birth: unknown A legendary poet of the Heian period. She lived in Tsukushi, Higo Province (Fukuoka Prefecture), and was known even in the capital for her love of women. She is also known as a prostitute of Higo. In the Gosenshu, her representative work, "As I grow older, my black hair grows old until it reaches the waters of Shirakawa," is listed as a poem she presented to the Dazai Daini Fujiwara no Okinori, but the identity of the person she was married to is unclear, and it is said that she was Daini Ono no Yoshifuru (Yamato Monogatari) or Kuni no Kami (Higaki Oshu). Should we follow the Gosenshu and assume that she was a person from around the Engi period (901-923)? The family collection Higaki Oshu is a highly fictional narrative collection of poems that cannot be recognized as her work, and it emphasizes her relationship with Kiyohara Motosuke. This may be one of the reasons why Sei Shonagon was later believed to be her daughter (Mumyozoshi). The Noh play "Higaki" is based on the legend of the old woman Higaki.

(Shizuko Aoki)

Source: Asahi Japanese Historical Biography: Asahi Shimbun Publications Inc. About Asahi Japanese Historical Biography

Japanese:

生年：生没年不詳
平安時代の伝説的歌人。肥後国筑紫(福岡県)に住み,色好みとして都にまで知られていた。肥後の遊女ともいう。『後撰集』には,代表作「年ふれば我が黒髪も白河のみづはくむまで老いにけるかな」が大宰大弐藤原興範に贈った歌として載るが,相手は大弐小野好古(『大和物語』),国守(『檜垣嫗集』)ともいい,実体は定かではない。『後撰集』に従って延喜(901～23)ごろの人とすべきか。家集『檜垣嫗集』はその作とは認められぬ虚構性濃厚な物語的歌集で,清原元輔との関係を強調する。のちに,清少納言が彼女の娘とされた(『無名草子』)一因はここにあろう。謡曲「檜垣」は,檜垣嫗伝説に取材したもの。

(青木賜鶴子)

出典　朝日日本歴史人物事典：（株）朝日新聞出版朝日日本歴史人物事典について　情報

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