Harumi Murata

Japanese: 村田春海 - むらた・はるみ

Year of death: Bunka 8.2.13 (1811.3.7)
Year of birth: Enkyo 3 (1746)
A poet and Japanese scholar of the mid-to-late Edo period. His real surname was Taira, and his pen name was Kan. He was commonly known as Heishiro and Denzo. He was also known by the pen names Orinisha and Kotogo-o. He was also adopted into the Shogunate's Renga masters, the Saka family, for a time, and was known as Saka Masakazu and Saka Daigaku. He was the second son of Murata Harumichi, a dried sardine wholesaler in Kofune-cho, Nihonbashi, Edo, and his older brother was Harugo. Harumichi became the patron of Kamo Mabuchi, who held Harugo's talent in high regard, so naturally Harumi sought Mabuchi's guidance, but in his youth he was more interested in Chinese poetry and prose, and studied under Udono Shinei and Hattori Chuei, among others. He also met Akiyama Gyokuzan of Kumamoto as a boy. Harumi's friendship with Chinese poets and Confucian scholars continued after this. After the successive deaths of his elder brother Harusato, his father Harumichi, and his teacher Mabuchi, Harumi, who was not originally the type to devote himself to academics, lived a life of leisure and refined pleasure, and the family fortune rapidly dwindled. He is well known as a fishing chief and was counted as one of the 18 great masters, but his true identity is unclear. However, it is certain that he handed over his assets to others, almost to the point of bankruptcy, and began an unstable life earning a living by teaching waka and Japanese literature. He occasionally traveled to Kyoto and Osaka, and became acquainted with Kamigata writers such as Minagawa Kien, Kimura Kenkado, Ban Kokei, and Kamo Suetaka. Of particular note was his negotiations with Motoori Norinaga. Although only their conflicts tend to be highlighted, we should not forget that Harumi respected Norinaga's scholarship and followed Norinaga's wishes when compiling Mabuchi's family anthology, Kamo no Okina Kashu. However, he was critical of Norinaga's somewhat excessive worship of ancient times and rejection of Chinese thought. He was a disciple of Kato Chikage, who was also praised as a representative of the Edo school, and participated in group readings of the Manyoshu. Although he was not able to leave behind a comprehensive body of work as a scholar of Japanese classics, his unique waka poetry and prose, which combined a foundation in Chinese poetry and prose with classical learning, were highly praised in the city of Edo. His representative work is the collection of poems and prose, Kingoshu. His other works include Gojuonbenko, Utagatari, and Orinisha Zuihitsu. <References> Sekine Masanao, Karasukago; Mori Senzo, Murata Shunkai, Murata Shunkai Iji (Mori Senzo Collected Works, Volume 7)

(Keichi Kubota)

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

Japanese:

没年：文化8.2.13(1811.3.7)
生年：延享3(1746)
江戸中・後期の歌人,国学者。本姓平。字士観。通称平四郎,伝蔵。織錦舎,琴後翁と号した。また一時幕府連歌師阪家の養子となり,阪昌和,阪大学と称す。江戸日本橋小舟町の干鰯問屋村田春道の次男。兄は春郷。春道は賀茂真淵の庇護者となり,真淵は春郷の才を高く評価していたため,自然と春海も真淵の指導を仰ぐことになったが,若年時の関心はむしろ漢詩文の方にあり,鵜殿士寧,服部仲英などに学んだ。また熊本の秋山玉山にも少年の折に会したことがあった。春海の漢詩人,儒者との交遊はこののちも続くことになる。兄春郷,父春道,師真淵が相次いで没したあとは,もともと学問に専念するタイプではないだけに風流な享楽生活を送るのみで,家産は急速に減じた。漁長の名で十八大通のひとりに数えられたのは有名だが,実体は明らかでない。しかし破産同然に財産を人手に渡したのは確かで,和歌,和文の教授に生活の資を得る不安定な生活が始まった。京坂に上ることもあり,皆川淇園,木村蒹葭堂,伴蒿蹊,賀茂季鷹ら上方の文人とも知り合う。なかでも特筆すべきは本居宣長との交渉である。対立のみが取り上げられがちなふたりであるが,春海が宣長の学問に敬意を表し,真淵の家集『賀茂翁家集』編纂に当たっては宣長の意向を汲んでいる事実も忘れてはならない。ただし宣長のやや行きすぎた古代崇拝と漢意排斥には否定的であった。ともに江戸派の代表として並び称された加藤千蔭には兄事し,万葉集の会読にも参加している。国学者としてまとまった著述は残し得なかったが,漢詩文の素養と古学の融合した独特の和歌,和文は江戸市中にもてはやされた。歌文集『琴後集』が代表作。他に『五十音弁誤』『歌がたり』『織錦舎随筆』などがある。<参考文献>関根正直『からすかご』,森銑三「村田春海」「村田春海遺事」(『森銑三著作集』7巻)

(久保田啓一)

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

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