Hiromasa Minamoto

A gagaku musician from the mid-Heian period. He was the eldest son of Emperor Daigo's son, Prince Yoshiakira. His mother was the daughter of Fujiwara no Tokihira. He became a commoner and was given the surname Minamoto. Born in 934 (Shohei 4) with the rank of Junior Fourth Rank, he served as a Kyoto official and in 974 (Ten'en 2) was appointed as Junior Third Rank Empress Dowager's Gondaibu. For this reason, he was called Hōga Sanmi, but he was also blessed with musical talent and was well versed in various instruments, including the biwa, flute, wagon, and hichiriki, and was praised as a master of both ancient and modern music. He also composed music, and his "Chōgeshi," used for the entrance dance, is famous, and his flute scores, "Shinsen Gakufu" and "Hōga Fuefu," were selected by order of Emperor Murakami. There are many musical anecdotes about him, such as the story of how he visited Semimaru, who lived on Mount Osaka, for three years and was taught the secret biwa pieces "Ryusen" and "Takuboku," and the story of how he returned the lost imperial biwa "Genjo" from the demon of Rajomon Gate, which have been recorded in music books and collections of tales and are widely known.

[Ueki Yukinobu]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

平安中期の雅楽家。醍醐天皇皇子克明親王(よしあきらしんのう)の長男。母は藤原時平の娘。臣籍に下り源姓を賜る。934年（承平4）従四位下で出身、京官を歴任し、974年（天延2）に従三位皇太后宮権大夫(こうたいこうぐうごんのだいぶ)に任じられた。そのことから博雅三位といわれたが、音楽の才に恵まれ、琵琶、笛、和琴(わごん)、篳篥(ひちりき)をはじめとする諸楽に通じ、古今の名手とうたわれた。作曲も行い、退出に用いられる「長慶子(ちょうげし)」は有名であり、笛譜『新撰楽譜』『博雅笛譜』は村上天皇の命で撰上されたものである。音楽の逸話が多く、逢坂山に棲む蝉丸(せみまる)のもとに三年間通い続けて琵琶の秘曲「流泉(りゅうせん)」、「啄木(たくぼく)」を伝授されたとか、失われた宮中の琵琶「玄象(げんじょう)」を羅城門の鬼から返してもらった話は、楽書や説話集に記され広く知られている。

［植木行宣］

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