Mother of Michitsuna Fujiwara

A poet of the mid-Heian period. Her father was Fujiwara Tomoyasu, Junior Fourth Rank, and her mother is said to have been the daughter of Gyobu no Daibu Minamoto no Mitomu in "Sonpi Bunmyaku" and other sources, but the common theory is that she was Tonomonokami Harumichi. Her real name is unknown, so she is called Tomoyasu no Musume, after her father's name, or Michitsuna no Haha, Fu no Dainagon no Haha, or Fu no Tono no Haha, after the names of the children she gave birth to. Her half-brother was Nagayoshi, who was known as a poet, and the author of "Sarashina Nikki" was his niece.

Michitsuna no Haha was well-known as a poet from an early age, with 38 of her poems included in imperial anthologies such as the "Shui-shu" and others, and her family anthology "Fudainagondono Hahajo-shu" (also known as "Michitsuna no Haha-shu"). Her memoirs of her married life in her later years, "Kagero Nikki," are considered to be one of the representative works of female literature in the Heian period. While other female writers of the time were ladies-in-waiting who served in the imperial court or other organizations, she is distinctive in that she was the only writer who remained at home alone.

The life of Michitsuna's mother up to the age of about 40 is detailed in the "Kagerou Nikki." According to it, in 954 (Tenryaku 8), when she was about 20 years old, she married Kaneie, the third son of Fujiwara no Morosuke, the Minister of the Right, who was the most powerful family at the time, and gave birth to Michitsuna the following year. The famous poem "I know how long the night will last, when I lie alone, lamenting, until dawn comes," which is also included in the "Hyakunin Isshu," was written in the second year of their marriage, when Kaneie was obsessed with another wife and did not visit her. In the "Kagerou Nikki," she laments her husband's frequent lack of travel, and wishes, "For 30 days and 30 nights, he will be with me." She competed with Fujiwara no Tokihime, Kaneie's early wife, for the position of the Northern Lady, but she was unable to surpass Tokihime, who was blessed with many children. For this reason, she made repeated pilgrimages to Hatsuse and Ishiyama, praying for a childbirth, but her prayers were unsuccessful, and at around the age of 40, she retired from her husband, who rarely visited her, and spent her later years at her residence in Nakagawa, near the Kamo River. After that, she was active as a poet, even writing poems on behalf of Michitsuna for the Imperial Court Poetry Contest in 986 (Kanwa 2), but she died around the beginning of May in 995 (Chotoku 1) at the age of just over 60.

[Masuda Shigeo]

"Mother of Michitsuna - An Artistic Study of the Diary of Lady Murasaki" by Kazuo Oka (1970, Yuseido Publishing) "Japanese Writers 9: Mother of the Right General Michitsuna" by Shigeo Masuda (1983, Shintensha)

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安中期の歌人。父は正四位下藤原倫寧(ともやす)、母は『尊卑分脈(そんぴぶんみゃく)』などに刑部大輔(ぎょうぶのだいぶ)源認(みとむ)の女(むすめ)とするが、通説は主殿頭(とのものかみ)春通女。実名は不明なので、父の名から倫寧女(ともやすのむすめ)、またはその生んだ子の名によって、道綱母、傅大納言母(ふのだいなごんのはは)、傅殿母(ふのとののはは)などとよばれている。異母弟に歌人として知られた長能(ながよし)があり、また『更級(さらしな)日記』の作者はその姪(めい)である。

　道綱母は、早くから歌人として著名であり、『拾遺(しゅうい)集』以下の勅撰(ちょくせん)集に38首が入集(にっしゅう)し、その家集に『傅大納言殿母上集』（『道綱母集』とも）がある。またその結婚生活を晩年に回想した『蜻蛉(かげろう)日記』は、平安時代の女流文学の代表的作品の一つとされている。当時の他の女流作家が、いずれも宮中などに仕えた女房であったのに対して、ただ1人家庭にあった作家としても特色をもつ。

　道綱母の40歳ごろまでの生活は『蜻蛉日記』に詳しい。それによると、20歳ごろの954年（天暦8）に、当時第一の権勢家の右大臣藤原師輔(もろすけ)三男の兼家(かねいえ)と結婚し、翌年道綱を生んだ。『百人一首』にもとられて有名な「嘆きつつひとり寝(ぬ)る夜の明くる間(ま)はいかに久しきものとかは知る」は、結婚生活2年目に、兼家が他の妻に夢中になって訪れなかったときに詠んだものである。『蜻蛉日記』のなかでは、夫の足が絶えがちなのを嘆き続け、「三十日三十夜(みそかみそよ)はわがもとに」と願った話はよく知られる。兼家の早くからの妻の藤原時姫(ときひめ)とその北の方の地位を争ったが、多くの子女に恵まれた時姫を超えることはできなかった。そのため初瀬や石山等に物詣(ものもうで)を重ね、出産を祈ったがかなわず、40歳ごろに、通うこともまれになった夫から身を退(ひ)いて、晩年鴨河(かもがわ)近くの中河の屋敷で過ごした。その後、986年（寛和2）の内裏歌合(だいりうたあわせ)に道綱の代作を出詠するなど、歌人として活躍していたが、995年（長徳1）5月初めごろ60歳余で没した。

［増田繁夫］

『岡一男著『道綱母――蜻蛉日記芸術攷』（1970・有精堂出版）』▽『増田繁夫著『日本の作家9　右大将道綱母』（1983・新典社）』

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