Fujiwara no Sadatoshi - Fujiwara no Sadatoshi

A gagaku musician in the early Heian period. He was the sixth son of Fujiwara Tsuguhiko, the third head of the Fujiwara clan's Kyoto family. He was a master of the biwa, and served three emperors: Ninmyo, Montoku, and Seiwa. In 838 (Jowa 5), ​​he traveled to Tang China as a junior judge on a mission to the Tang Dynasty, where he was taught secret pieces such as "Ryusen," "Takuboku," and "Yang Zhencao" by the biwa master Ren Shobu (also known as Ryujiro). The following year, he returned to Japan with two famous biwa instruments, Genjo and Seizan, which he presented to the Imperial Court, and also brought back a biwa score for the piece "Kaden." He contributed to the development of Japanese biwa notation and tuning, which had been used since the Nara period, and is known as the father of biwa. One volume of the "Biwa Shocho Shibon" (Various Biwa Tunings), which he taught, still exists today.

[Yoko Hashimoto]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安初期の雅楽家。藤原氏京家の3代目藤原継彦の第6子。琵琶(びわ)の名手で、仁明(にんみょう)・文徳(もんとく)・清和(せいわ)の3代の帝(みかど)に仕えた。838年（承和5）遣唐使准判官として唐に渡り、琵琶の名人廉承武(れんしょうぶ)（劉次郎とも）から『流泉(りゅうせん)』『啄木(たくぼく)』『楊真操(ようしんそう)』などの秘曲を伝授される。翌年、玄象(げんじょう)・青山(せいざん)という琵琶の名器を携えて帰国、朝廷に献上し、また『賀殿(かでん)』の曲も琵琶譜で持ち帰る。奈良時代以来用いられていた琵琶の記譜法と調弦を日本的に修正して貢献し、琵琶の祖といわれる。伝授された『琵琶諸調子品(しょちょうしぼん)』1巻が現存する。

［橋本曜子］

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