Okura Yamanoue - Okura Yamanoue

Japanese: 山上憶良 - やまのうえのおくら

Year of death: Tenpyo 5? (733)
Year of birth: 660
A poet of the Nara period. In the Manyoshu, he left behind 11 long poems, including some that are presumed to be works, over 60 short poems, one tanka, and three Chinese poems and prose. He also compiled the Ruijukarin, but it no longer exists. When he was appointed as a Kentō (School Record) in 701, he is mentioned in the Shoku Nihongi as "Muizan o kokurō." He traveled to Tang China the following year, and returned to Japan in 704 or three years later. In 714, he was promoted to Junior Fifth Rank. As was the custom for those of humble origins, he maintained his rank until his graduation. Around 726, he became the governor of Chikuzen Province. His literary exchange with Otomo no Tabito, who became Dazai no Suke two years later, determined his success as a poet. The fact that only six short poems were included in the Manyoshu shows how valuable this encounter was. In the 5th year of Jinki (728), Tabito lost his wife soon after arriving at his post, but he composed and submitted "Japanese Elegy" (Volume 5), which appears to have been mourned for his wife on Tabito's behalf, and at the same time selected "Songs Reflecting Emotions," "Songs Thinking of Children," and "Songs Lamenting the Unlivability of the World" (Volume 5). All three of these works have prefaces written in classical Chinese, and have a novel format that organically combines with the poems. "Songs Reflecting Emotions" is a compound long poem consisting of three long poems, and this attempt would bear fruit in "Questions and Answers about Poverty" (Volume 5). Furthermore, he strings together five or six tanka poems, developing the theme from multiple angles, with the typical example being "A poem about old age, illness, and the hardships of growing older and older, and thinking of his children" (Volume 5). All of these can be seen as efforts to avoid falling into the style of Kakinomoto no Hitomaro, while remaining aware of his own realistic, prosaic style. Works that express the feelings of someone struggling to resist death while old and ill, and sing of the love for one's children, are unique. In addition, in "Poor Dialogue Song," he compares himself to people suffering under the oppression of the Ritsuryo system, as someone from a humble background who was hindered by the clan-based system, and laments the impoverishment of reality. In general, he greatly expanded the world of poetry, based on the pride and anguish of an intellectual. There is great significance in standing at the origin of individual literature together with the traveler. <References> Tetsuo Imura, "Okura and Mushimaro," Susumu Nakanishi, "Yamanoue Okura," Izuru Murayama, "Study of Yamanoue Okura"

(Norio Haga)

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

Japanese:

没年：天平5?(733)
生年：斉明6(660)
奈良時代の歌人。『万葉集』に,推定作を含む長歌11首,短歌60首余,旋頭歌1首,漢詩文3首を残す。また『類聚歌林』を編んだが,現存しない。大宝1(701)年遣唐少録に任ぜられる際に,「无位山於億良」と『続日本紀』にみえる。翌2年渡唐,慶雲1(704)年もしくはその3年後に帰朝。和銅7(714)年従五位下。寒門出身のならいで,以後位は卒年まで据え置かれた。神亀3(726)年ごろ筑前国守。2年ほどのちに大宰帥となった大伴旅人との文学的な交流が,歌人としての活躍を決定づけるに至る。『万葉集』に収められる従前の作が,短歌6首にすぎないことによっても,その出会いの貴重さが窺えよう。神亀5(728)年,旅人は着任早々妻を失うが,旅人に代わって亡き妻を悼んだと覚しき「日本挽歌」(巻5)をものして謹上し,同時に「惑情を反さしむる歌」「子等を思ふ歌」「世間の住まり難きことを悲しぶる歌」(巻5)を撰定している。この3作は,すべて漢文の序を付し,歌との有機的な結合をはかる斬新な形式を持つ。また,「惑情を反さしむる歌」は,3つの長歌から成る複式長歌で,その試みが「貧窮問答歌」(巻5)に結実する次第となる。さらに,「老身に病を重ね年を経て辛苦み児等を思ふに及る歌G07D4(巻5)を典型として,反歌を5首,6首と連ね,主題を多面的に展開してもいる。いずれも,自身の現実的,散文的な作風を承知したうえでの,柿本人麻呂の亜流に堕さないための工夫とみてよい。老病の身を抱えて死にあらがう情を述べ,また,子への愛を歌う作品が異色である。加えて,「貧窮問答歌」では,律令体制下の重圧にあえぐ人々に,寒門出身で門閥的な制度に阻まれたみずからを重ね,現実のすべなさを慨嘆するなど,総じて,知識人としての自負と苦悩を根幹に据え,歌の世界を大幅に広げていった。旅人と共に,個我の文学の原点に立つ意義は大きい。<参考文献>井村哲夫『憶良と虫麻呂』,中西進『山上憶良』,村山出『山上憶良の研究』

(芳賀紀雄)

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