Bao Zhao - Hosho

A poet from the Southern Song Dynasty in China. His pen name was Mingyuan. He was from Donghai Commandery (Jiangsu Province). He first presented a poem to Linchuan King Liu Yiqing (editor of the New World Tales), who recognized him and made him a State Attendant. He later served in various positions directly under the central government, including Doctor of Imperial Studies, Secretary of the Central Secretariat, Minister of Haiyu, and Minister of Yongjia. However, because he was from a humble family of lower-class aristocrats, he was destined to fail in his upwardly mobile ambitions. When he was a military advisor to Linhai King Liu Zixu, a power struggle among the royal family escalated into civil war, and Linhai King also rebelled against the central government. The rebellion ended in failure, and Bao Zhao was killed by rebel soldiers during the battle. As a poet, Bao Zhao is known as one of the "Three Great Masters of the Yuan-jia Period" along with his contemporaries Xie Lingyun and Yan Yanzhi. He opened up new horizons in descriptive poetry, but his greater distinctive feature was his excellence in music. Having faced the irrationality of aristocratic society himself, he applied his critical stance to the music tradition, singing of the sorrows of the lower aristocracy and the hardships of the common people. His major works are collected in the "Wen Xuan" and include the 10-volume "Bao Shi Ji." His younger sister, Bao Linghui, is also famous as a female poet.

[Tetsuo Naruse]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

中国、南朝宋(そう)の詩人。字(あざな)は明遠。東海郡（江蘇(こうそ)省）の人。初め詩を献じて臨川王劉義慶(りゅうぎけい)（『世説新語』の編者）に認められ国侍郎(じろう)となり、その後、太学博士(たいがくはかせ)、中書舎人(しゃじん)、海虞令(かいぐれい)、永嘉(えいか)令など中央政府直属の官職も歴任したが、下層貴族の寒門(かんもん)出身であったため、上昇志向の挫折(ざせつ)を運命づけられていた。臨海王劉子頊(りゅうしぎょく)の参軍であったとき、皇族間の権力闘争が内乱に発展し、臨海王も中央に反旗を翻した。反乱は失敗に終わり、鮑照は攻防のさなか乱兵に殺害された。詩人としての鮑照は、同時代の謝霊運(しゃれいうん)、顔延之(がんえんし)とともに「元嘉(げんか)の三大家」とよばれ、叙景詩に新生面を開いたが、より大きな特色は、楽府(がふ)に優れていたことである。彼自身が貴族社会の不合理に直面していたため、現実批判の姿勢を楽府の伝統のなかに生かし、下層貴族の悲哀や民衆の苦難を歌った。主要な作品は『文選』に収められ、『鮑氏集』10巻がある。なお、妹の鮑令暉(ほうれいき)も女流詩人として名高い。

［成瀬哲生］

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