Biwa-kou

A long poem by Bai Juyi, a poet of the Tang Dynasty in China. Written in 816. The character "行" in the title was originally "引" (in). "引" is one of the words for poetry. At the time of its creation, Bai had been falsely accused of a crime and exiled from the center to Xunyang, which was thought to be the end of the earth. One autumn moonlit night, he meets a woman who was once praised as a master of the pipa in Chang'an, but is now a destitute woman wandering the riverside. Moved by the melody played by the capital's hands, he sings a fantasy that arises, such as "The nightingale's words are in the distance, the smooth, faint water of the spring, the suffering under the ice." He tries to translate the melody into language and fix it in writing. Eventually, the story turns into a confession of destitution, swept away by fate, spoken without the player's permission. The poem is then concluded with the poet's lamentation of his own defeat, illuminated by the confession. With this impressive introduction, the woman's confession and the poet's demotion all resonate in a "dreary" melody, which finally resembles the melody of the biwa, which raises the poet's lament of his "fallen into the depths of the world." The piece flashes vivid lyricism between dramatic narration, expands the rhythm with strong intonations, and crystallizes into an unshakable image. It is truly a "final tune of a thousand autumns," as it was once described. As such, it has impressed many people since its inception, and Emperor Xuanzong, in his funeral poem, wrote, "Even the young man can sing this biwa piece." It was even sung by young people outside the region. It went on to have a widespread influence not only on early modern Chinese literature, but also on Japanese literature, from The Tale of Genji onwards to the haiku world.

[Hideki Hanabusa]

"Bai Juyi" by Arthur Waley, translated by Hideki Hanabusa (1959, Misuzu Shobo)" ▽ "A Study of Bai Juyi" by Hideki Hanabusa (1971, Sekai Shisosha)" ▽ "A Study of Song of Everlasting Regret and Pipa-gyo" by Haruo Kondo (1981, Meiji Shoin)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、唐代の詩人白居易(はくきょい)の長歌。816年の作。題の「行」の字はもともと「引」。「引」とは歌詩の一体。制作の当時、白氏はあらぬ罪を着せられ、中央から地の果てとも思われた潯陽(じんよう)に追放されていた。秋のある月の夜、かつて長安で琵琶の名手とうたわれ、いまうらぶれて江辺に漂泊する女性に巡り会う。その都の手ぶりにかき鳴らす曲調に心動かされ、沸き上がるファンタジーを「間関たる鶯語(おうご)　花底に滑らかに、幽咽(ゆうえつ)せる泉水　氷下に難(なや)む」などと歌う。曲調を言語に翻訳し文字に定着しようとする。やがて奏者の問わず語りの、運命のままに流される落魄(らくはく)の告白に転ずる。そしてその告白に照らし出された、詩人自らの敗残の身上への嘆きに結ばれる。かくて印象の強い前奏によって、女性の告白も詩人の左遷のことも、すべて「淒淒(せいせい)」たる曲調となって響き、ついに自らの「天涯淪落(りんらく)」の嘆きをせり上げる琵琶の調べそのものに似る。一編は劇的な叙事の間に鮮烈な叙情をひらめかせ、抑揚の強いリズムを広げ、揺るぎない形象に結晶している。まさしくかつて評されたように「千秋の絶調」である。ために当時から多くの人々に感銘を与え、宣宗皇帝も弔詩で「胡児(こじ)も能(よ)く唱(うた)う　琵琶の篇(へん)」という。域外の若者にさえ歌われたのである。そしてそのまま中国の近世文学のみならず、わが国の文学にも、『源氏物語』以後、俳壇に至るまで、広く影響を及ぼすものとなった。

［花房英樹］

『アーサー・ウェーリー著、花房英樹訳『白楽天』（1959・みすず書房）』▽『花房英樹著『白居易研究』（1971・世界思想社）』▽『近藤春雄著『長恨歌・琵琶行の研究』（1981・明治書院）』

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