Fujiwara no Akihira - Fujiwara no Akihira

Japanese: 藤原明衡 - ふじわらのあきひら

Year of death: 2nd year of the reign, October 18th (November 8th, 1066)
Year of birth: Unknown. A scholar and Chinese poet of the mid-Heian period. Son of the monjo hakase Atsunobu. He entered the university in 1004, but was hindered by the barriers of academic cliques and suffered hardship. Finally, in 1032, he passed the exam and was appointed as Saemon Gon no Shoju. He subsequently held the posts of Izumo no Kami and Shikibu Shoyu, but was not blessed as an official, and in 1058, at the age of 70, he lamented his situation of still remaining in the fifth rank. In the same year, he became a monjo hakase, and then served as Togu Gakushi and Daigaku no Kami, and in his later years, he finally obtained a prominent position as a scholar and reached the rank of Jushi Shiki. In 1066, he resigned from his post due to old age and illness, and passed away. His sons Atsuhito and Atsumoto became monjo hakase, and established the Fujiwara Shiki family as a family of scholars during the Insei period. As the leading literary figure of the reign of Go-Reizei, he was active in selecting era names and names of princes, creating tables and prayers, and composing poetry at composition meetings. Nearly 100 of his poems remain, including "Honcho Zoku Mon'ui" and "Honcho Mudai Shi," but his greatest achievement is the compilation of "Honcho Mon'ui." He left an enduring name as the editor of an anthology that compiled 432 exquisite poems from the Heian period in 14 volumes. His "Meiho Orai" (also known as "Unshu Shosoku"), a collection of model letter examples, was a pioneer of communication material. He also produced "Shin Sarugaku-ki," which vividly portrayed the era through descriptions of the Sarugaku music that was popular at the time and the spectators who attended. He was an active successor to tradition, but he also wrote works that accurately captured the stirrings of a new era, occupying a unique position. <References> Shosuke Ozone, "A Study on Fujiwara no Akihira" (Japanese Language and Literature, Vol. 35, No. 3), Tadao Miho, "A Brief Chronology of Fujiwara no Akihira" (Shimadai Kokubun, No. 14)

(Akio Goto)

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

Japanese:

没年：治暦2.10.18(1066.11.8)
生年：生年不詳
平安中期の学者,漢詩人。文章博士敦信の子。寛弘1(1004)年大学に入学するが,学閥の壁に阻まれて不遇をかこち,ようやく長元5(1032)年対策に及第し,左衛門権少尉の官に就く。その後出雲守,式部少輔などを歴任したが,官人としても恵まれず,康平1(1058)年70歳でなお五位にとどまる境遇を嘆いている。同5年文章博士となり,次いで東宮学士,大学頭を兼ね,晩年に至ってようやく学者としての顕職を得て従四位下に至る。治暦2(1066)年,老齢と病気によって辞職し,没する。子の敦光,敦基が文章博士となり,院政期に学問の家としての藤原式家を確立した。後冷泉朝の文人の第一人者として年号や皇子の名の選進,表や願文の制作,作文会での詩作に活躍した。その詩文は『本朝続文粋』『本朝無題詩』ほかに100首に近い作が残るが,最大の業績は『本朝文粋』の編纂である。平安朝の文章の精粋432首を全14巻に収めるアンソロジーの編者として不朽の名を残した。また書簡の模範文例を集めた『明衡往来』(『雲州消息』とも)は往来物の先駆をなす。さらに当時流行した猿楽と見物の人びとの描写を通して時代を活写した『新猿楽記』がある。伝統の継承者として活躍するとともに新しい時代の胎動を的確に捉えた作品を書き,独自の位置を占めた。<参考文献>大曾根章介「藤原明衡論」(『国語と国文学』35巻3号),三保忠夫「藤原明衡略年譜」(『島大国文』14号)

(後藤昭雄)

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

<<: Akimitsu Fujiwara

>>: Fujiwara no Akitaka - Fujiwara no Akitaka